Blue Lagoon (Clerke Reef)

Meet the site

Blue Lagoon is the classic easy dive of the Rowley Shoals: a series of lagoons inside Clerke Reef with coral-rubble floors, sheer walls and coral heads in 8–12 m, reaching around 25 m in places. Divernet describes anemonefish, trevally schools and whitetip sharks; Diveplanit lists schools of barracuda, trevally, fusiliers, surgeonfish, snapper and sweetlips, with Maori wrasse, coral trout, mackerel, wahoo, rainbow runners, potato cod, moray eels, garden eels and dogtooth tuna; another Divernet feature recorded red, pink, yellow, white and orange soft corals, gorgonians and whip corals, with visibility beyond 40 m.

Because it is sheltered, it is often the first check-out dive of a trip and a favourite for snorkellers and night dives.

About the Rowley Shoals: three shelf-edge atolls — Mermaid, Clerke and Imperieuse reefs — rise from 300–700 m depths on the edge of the continental shelf about 260–300 km west of Broome. Mermaid Reef is protected in the Commonwealth Mermaid Reef Marine Park (a no-take national reserve); Clerke and Imperieuse form the State Rowley Shoals Marine Park, with sanctuary zones and limited recreational fishing areas. Clerke carries Bedwell Island and Imperieuse carries Cunningham Island and its lighthouse. More than 200 coral species and 700 fish species have been recorded, and only a few hundred divers visit each year in a season of a few weeks. The 2024–25 marine heatwave hit hard: AIMS surveys in April 2025 found very high (61–90%) coral mortality at Mermaid and Clerke across all habitats to 30 m, so hard coral cover is currently much reduced, although fish, sharks and the drama of the walls and drifts remain.

What you might see

Anemonefish, trevally and barracuda schools, fusiliers, surgeonfish, snapper, sweetlips, Maori wrasse, coral trout, potato cod, moray and garden eels, whitetip and grey reef sharks, dogtooth tuna, soft corals, gorgonians

Location

Series of lagoons inside Clerke Reef with coral-rubble floors, sheer walls and coral heads, 8–25 m.

Facilities nearby

None – all services on the liveaboard (departures from Broome).