Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Australia · Wall
Barry's Pool
Drop to 40 m for sea fans, finish in a 9 m ocean pool
Area photo: photoboothrental.com · CC BY-SA 3.0
A wall on the north-western side of Horsburgh Island, dived by dropping over the edge to 30 or 40 m for sea fans and rose wall corals. Conditions permitting, the dive finishes in a 9 m ocean pool on top of the reef, which turns a deep profile into an unusually relaxed shallow ending.
Where it is and how deep
12.0853° S, 96.8366° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive starts on top of the reef and goes over the wall early. Depth is the price of admission here: the sea fans and rose wall corals that give the site its character sit at 30 to 40 m, so the deep part of the profile comes first and everything after it is a controlled walk back up the face. Like the other sites along the north-western side of Horsburgh Island, the coral cover on this wall is the reason it is on the schedule.
The finish is what the site is named for. Subject to suitable conditions, the dive ends in an ocean pool 9 m deep on top of the reef — a shallow, contained bit of water that makes an easy place to run out the last of your gas and off-gas after the wall. When conditions do not allow it, the pool is skipped and the dive ends as a normal ascent, so treat it as a bonus rather than as part of the plan.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Cocos (Keeling) Islands: Divable year-round; Apr–Jun and Oct–Nov are calmest, with the wet season from December to March bringing more wind.
Know before you go
- A 30 to 40 m wall profile leaves little no-decompression time; plan the turn on gas and depth before you go over the edge.
- The finish in the ocean pool depends on conditions on top of the reef and is not always available — have a normal ascent plan ready.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Barry's Pool?+
The wall is dived to 30 or 40 m for the sea fans and rose wall corals, and the dive can finish in a 9 m ocean pool on top of the reef.
Who is Barry's Pool suitable for?+
More experienced divers. The profile drops over a wall to 30 or 40 m, which is beyond the range most newly qualified divers should be planning.
Sources
- Barry's Pool - Cocos (Keeling) Islands — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
More dive sites in Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Wall
An undercut in the wall at 40 m, west of Ski Run
Reef
Sand at 5 m, coral to 9 m, and room to get buoyancy right
Coral garden
Cabbage coral from 5 to 20 m with a swim-through canyon alongside
Wall
A Montipora stand owning the wall from 16 to 35 m
Wall
Ridges to the drop-off with resident trevally and barracuda
Wall
Sea fans and a cave at 40 m under a reef top anyone can dive
Reef
An 8 m reef-and-rubble bottom out towards the drop-off
Reef
Reef top at 10 m, then a short drop to 18 m on the eastern side
Similar dives elsewhere
An overhung wall to 40 m with grey reef and silvertip sharks
Sea fans from 14 m to 35 m, with macro tucked into the overhangs
Coral walls to 35 m turning into a sheer drop to the blue, cut with overhangs
Straight drop from 10 m to 35 m with soft-coral overhangs at 12-18 m