Australia & New Zealand · Australia
Albany — King George Sound
A 133 m destroyer scuttled off Seal Island, 20 minutes from the marina
Photo: Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA 3.0
Albany sits on Western Australia's south coast, where King George Sound holds two dive wrecks and a spread of limestone reef. The 133 m destroyer HMAS Perth II was scuttled off Seal Island in 2001, lies in 5–36 m and is dived on a fixed mooring 20 minutes from the marina; the 47.9 m whale chaser Cheynes III, sunk in 1982, bottoms out at 23 m. Reef sites such as Willy's Lump and The Caves run 20–28 m, and southern right and humpback whales use the Sound between July and October.
About diving in Albany — King George Sound
Charters leave from the Albany Town Marina and run 20 to 40 minutes out into the Sound: 20 minutes to the former HMAS Perth II and Limestone Head, 25 to Willy's Lump, 30 to Herold Reef, 35 to The Fingers and 40 to The Cables. The Perth II is a boat dive only and carries a fixed mooring, and the regional tourism board recommends contacting the local dive shop before diving it. Shore entries inside the Sound — Frenchman Bay, Little Beach, Emu Point and the Murray Road boat ramp — fill in around the charters and carry the night diving.
The ground is limestone. Willy's Lump is a large reef structure averaging 20–25 m, The Caves a smaller complex of stone bommies with swim-throughs to 28 m, and Herold Reef a drowned ancient coastline in 4–16 m. Sponge and coral growth covers the harder structure, the Perth II included, where plaques mark the habitats that have developed on the hull since 2001. South Point is a nursery ground holding thousands of juvenile Old Wife, Bight Redfish, Moonlighter and Breaksea, and Australian sea lions, New Zealand fur seals and dolphins work the islands.
This is temperate diving in Southern Ocean water: the Sound averages 20.5°C in summer and 13.6°C in winter, visibility runs 10–15 m, and swell decides the day more than anything else. Exposed sites such as The Fingers are difficult to anchor on and call for live-boat technique and an SMB, and even the sheltered Cheynes III is out in S–SW winds. The area suits wreck divers and anyone who likes cold-water reef structure and a single, long-established local operator. Divers after coral and warm, clear water should look north to Ningaloo.
Best time to dive Albany — King George Sound
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime |
| Sea surface | 20°C68°F | 21°C70°F | 21°C70°F | 21°C70°F | 20°C68°F | 19°C66°F | 18°C64°F | 18°C64°F | 17°C63°F | 18°C64°F | 18°C64°F | 19°C66°F |
| Daytime high | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 27°C81°F | 24°C75°F | 21°C70°F | 19°C66°F | 21°C70°F | 22°C72°F | 25°C77°F | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F |
| Rain | 23 mm0.9 in | 22 mm0.9 in | 35 mm1.4 in | 47 mm1.9 in | 63 mm2.5 in | 85 mm3.3 in | 95 mm3.7 in | 90 mm3.5 in | 65 mm2.6 in | 45 mm1.8 in | 39 mm1.5 in | 25 mm1.0 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 20°C68°F | 21°C70°F | 21°C70°F | 21°C70°F | 20°C68°F | 19°C66°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 27°C81°F | 24°C75°F | 21°C70°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 23 mm0.9 in | 22 mm0.9 in | 35 mm1.4 in | 47 mm1.9 in | 63 mm2.5 in | 85 mm3.3 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 18°C64°F | 18°C64°F | 17°C63°F | 18°C64°F | 18°C64°F | 19°C66°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 19°C66°F | 21°C70°F | 22°C72°F | 25°C77°F | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 95 mm3.7 in | 90 mm3.5 in | 65 mm2.6 in | 45 mm1.8 in | 39 mm1.5 in | 25 mm1.0 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
Charters run year-round; December to March is the dry, warm half of the year, June to August the wet half with July the wettest month, and the whales are in the Sound July to October.
Best months: January, February, March, December
Albany water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface runs from 17 °C (63 °F) in September to 21 °C (70 °F) in February. Most rain falls from May to September, peaking at about 100 mm (3.9 in) in July; December to February are the driest. Daytime highs reach 30 °C (86 °F) in January and drop to 19 °C (66 °F) in July. Below the surface the water can drop to about 14 °C (57 °F), so pack a 7 mm suit with a hood, or a semi-dry.
Dive types & marine life
Southern right and humpback whales congregate in the Sound to mate and calve between July and October. Australian sea lions and New Zealand fur seals are the seals most often sighted along the coast and on the islands, common and bottlenose dolphins are both recorded here, and carpet sharks and kingfish hold on the Perth II. South Point carries juvenile reef fish in numbers.
- Wreck
- Reef
- Cave & cavern
- Night
- Seals & sea lions
- Dolphins
- Whales
- Trevally & jacks
- Reef fish swarms
Best dive sites in Albany — King George Sound
A 47.9 m whale chaser sunk as an artificial reef, deepest point 23 m
A sheltered 6 m cove dive around a swimming jetty
Reef
An ancient submerged limestone coastline in 4-16 m
Wreck
A 133 m destroyer on a fixed mooring, 5 m down to 36 m
An easy shore entry onto a small rock wall at about 5 m
Reef
Broken ground in 10-15 m carrying juvenile fish in thousands
Coral garden
Dense plate coral rising from 18 m up to 13 m
Reef
An old communication cable tangled through the reef, 8-28 m
Cave & cavern
Beginner and intermediate caves in stone, down to 28 m
An 1857 hull, abandoned in 1908, with bow and stern at 20 m
Reef
A large limestone reef structure averaging 20-25 m
The Fingers
Exposed limestone site for experienced divers; hard to anchor on, so live-boat and SMB.
How to get to Albany — King George Sound
Albany is 418 km southeast of Perth on the Albany Highway, with 23 Rex flights a week into Albany Airport and road-coach services via Walpole, Katanning or Kojonup. The one dive centre, Southcoast Diving Supplies, is at 84B Serpentine Road in town, and its charters depart the Albany Town Marina.
Photos from Albany — King George Sound
Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo credits
- Striped western crested morwong swimming over an encrusted wreck with red sponge growth by Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Curved steel ribs of a wrecked steam tug arching out of the water at Gull Rock Beach by Calistemon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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