Rowley Shoals

📍 Rowley Shoals, about 300 km off Broome, Western Australia

The northernmost of the three atolls and the least visited: a protected Commonwealth marine park where the reef is in the condition it is in because almost nobody reaches it. Steep drop-offs, dense hard coral and big fish life, in water whose clarity is among the best in Australia.

Access is by permit and in practice by expedition vessel, with the park's own rules on anchoring and what visitors may do. Confirm current park rules with your operator, and treat the protection as the reason the reef looks like this rather than as paperwork.

📍 Rowley Shoals, Western Australia

The middle atoll, and the one most expeditions spend their time on: a shallow lagoon inside the reef with coral, sand and giant clams, and well-known sites around the rim where the coral wall falls away. The lagoon is the calm, sheltered water here and the closest thing the Shoals offer to a snorkel.

Important split: the wall and channel sites around the rim are dive sites and are labelled as such. The lagoon is where a snorkeler can actually spend time — shallow, clear and inside the break — but only in settled weather and only as the boat's schedule allows.

📍 Rowley Shoals, Western Australia

The southernmost atoll, built the same way as its neighbours: a shallow reef top and lagoon inside, steep coral walls outside, in clear water that no river or runoff reaches. It sees the fewest visitors of the three.

Like the rest of the group it is reached only from a vessel and is entirely weather-dependent, and the interesting structure is at depth. Do not read 'reef' on this page as 'swim from a beach'.

📍 The outer rims of all three atolls

The reason a boat crosses 300 kilometres of the Indian Ocean: near-vertical coral walls, current-fed channels and drop-offs with dense coral cover, big groupers, sharks and schooling fish, in visibility that is famous among Australian divers. It is world-class diving water.

HONEST FRAMING: these are dive sites, at dive depth and often in current, and this catalog does not present them as snorkel sites. A snorkeler at the surface sees the top edge of a wall and a lot of blue. Book this as a dive trip with snorkeling on the side, or do not book it.

On an expedition vessel your entire food supply is what the crew provisioned before sailing, and the galley is the centre of the trip between dives: cooked breakfasts, substantial lunches, and a dinner that is usually the day's event. It is the honest version of eating at this destination.

Tip: Tell the operator about dietary requirements and allergies before you sail, and bring anything you cannot do without — there is no shop, no kitchen option and no resupply once you are offshore.

Almost every Shoals expedition starts and ends in Broome, and the town's table is worth the stop: barramundi and local reef fish, pearl meat from the cultured-pearl industry, mango in season, and a Chinatown strip of small Asian restaurants left by a century of pearl diving.

Tip: Book ahead in the dry season, when the town fills up. If a weather delay has you grounded, this is the place to be stuck — but check the vessel's schedule before you plan a night out.

The far north-west runs on roadhouses and bakeries: big breakfasts, iced coffee, beef pies and fridge-cold water, served to a mix of tourists, station workers and divers. If you are driving any part of the Kimberley before or after a trip, it is the local institution.

Tip: Carry more drinking water than you think you need on any drive out here, and fill up whenever you can — distances between services are long and the heat is serious.