Ammo Jetty

Meet the site

Ammo Jetty is the benchmark Perth shore dive, the place where a large share of the city's divers did their first open-water dives and where many still go for night dives. Built in the early 1900s to load munitions from the Woodman Point magazine, the T-shaped timber and concrete jetty runs about 100 m out into Cockburn Sound. The bottom slopes gently from the beach to about 9 m at the head, so the whole dive stays shallow, sheltered and easy to navigate.

The pylons carry the interest. After more than a century in the water they are covered in sponges, ascidians, hydroids, bryozoans, small branching corals and anemones, and each pylon is its own habitat. Macro photographers work them slowly for nudibranchs, flatworms, shrimps, juvenile fish and the occasional seahorse. Crested and red-lipped morwong, old wives, fan-bellied leatherjackets, boxfish, toadfish and bullseyes shelter in the shade under the deck. On the rubble and silty sand you find octopus, cuttlefish, blue swimmer crabs, stars and, at night, crayfish, squid and hunting cephalopods. Dolphins and the odd Australian sea lion have been seen along the jetty.

What Ammo lacks is scenery on a large scale. Visibility averages 3–6 m and the fine silt rises at the first careless fin kick, so good buoyancy and a slow pace pay off. On a good autumn morning after days of easterlies the water can clear to 10–15 m and the jetty is very photogenic.

It suits students, returning divers, photographers and anyone wanting an easy night dive. Experienced divers treat it as a reliable second-choice site when the ocean coast is closed. Parking is simple, there are toilets and a shower on the path, and the gear carry is short.

What you might see

Nudibranchs, seahorses, octopus, giant cuttlefish, crested and red-lipped morwong, old wives, fan-bellied leatherjackets, cowfish and boxfish, toadfish, bullseyes, batfish, blue swimmer crabs, western rock lobster, feather-duster worms, sponges, hydroids, small branching corals, occasional dolphins and sea lions

Location

Historic T-shaped former munitions loading jetty on the northern side of Woodman Point, John Graham Reserve, Coogee, about 15 minutes south of Fremantle.

Facilities nearby

Two sealed car parks, toilets and change rooms nearby, outdoor shower on the path to the beach, picnic and BBQ areas in Woodman Point reserve; Woodman Point caravan park nearby. Air fills at Perth metro dive shops in Fremantle, Spearwood and Rockingham.