BootsnAll's Travel Community

What the best city to go diving out of in Western Australia?

Carnarvon? Exmouth? Dampier/Karratha? Other?

Diving is the most important consideration, but I do not want to be in a town that has zero night life either.

Thanks,

Luck

Go to Exmouth. The diving and fishing are both sensational. In season you can do whale sharks too, and the freediving options are brilliant as well. Very easy to pluck large painted crays from bommies which is a tasty proposition. For the better dives obviously boat trips are advisable, inc. one to the Murion islands where you'll see more. To dive off the shore you'll need to head round from town 30 min by car towards the Cape Range Nat. Park which is where the outer reef is closest to the shore (but obviously from the shore you wouldn't be moving too far).

Head into Bluewater (in town) and talk to Matt about free-diving some of the closer areas as he does a bit of that for crays.

As for nightlife, the Potshot Hotel is always cranking, not the cheapest place to stay (there is a YHA there though). There is another backpackers but for the life of me I can't remember their name... whatever it was I've heard very good things about it vs. the Potshot YHA.

When I go up we usually stay at the Lighthouse Caravan park as it's halfway between town and the boat ramp on the west side of the cape. Sharing 4 people, you're looking at AU$21 each a night for a week in one of their cabins, BUT it means you aren't stumbling distance from you room when you've finished at the pub... so someone always has to be designated driver! (which means of course you've got to have a car...)

Carnarvon is a bit of a dump but if you head from Perth you'll probably stop there anyway (although the drive / bus can be done in one go). Most of these northern towns will surprise you... our state is very big, but aside from Perth and a couple of southern spots, they're mainly all mining towns and are far from picturesque (except underwater!), and don't have much in the way of nightlife other than a bunch of drunk locals at the local hotel.

I'd say Exmouth would suit you perfectly rather than heading way way north which can not only be hard during the Wet, but the number of dive charters etc diminshes greatly. The Ningaloo Reef at Exmouth is a world-class destination.

Let me know if you need any more info..

cheers
Chris