Divers can explore any part of the jetty and see impressive marine life, but by far the most outstanding section of the jetty is at the very end and is best reached by boat. The Dive Shed run daily boat dives to the Busselton Jetty and we recently joined them for a wonderful day of diving under the boardwalk.
The visibility was brilliant, over 15m, as we swam towards the jetty. Sitting in only 9m of water, the Busselton Jetty is surrounded by sea grass beds, which are home to many fish, including sea dragons if you can find them. We entered a forest of timber pylons, a fantasy land of colour as each pylon is completely covered in sponges, anemones, ascidians, hard corals, bryozoans and especially soft corals. The shadow of the jetty allows telesto soft corals to thrive, thick orange fingers sprout from every available space with their white polyps extended.
We spent the first couple of minutes under the jetty dazzled by the amazing colours of the pylons, and then started to notice masses of fish and other marine life.
Metre long dusky morwong were lazing on the bottom, while beside them goatfish and wrasse were feeding in the sand. Above us schools of yellowtail were slowly weaving between the pylons and at times they were so thick that they blocked out the sunlight.
Within minutes we encountered many wonderful fish species, including many unique to Western Australia. Moonlighters, western talma, Shaw’s cowfish, freckled porcupinefish, white barred boxfish, ringed toadfish, black banded sea perch, western king wrasse, crested morwong, banded sweep and horseshoe leatherjackets were just some of the fish species we saw.
Nudibranchs were the most abundant invertebrate species, especially the large short tailed nudibranchs. However, we also found flatworms, crabs, shrimps, sea cucumbers and numerous sea stars. With so many photographic subjects we found ourselves swimming very slowly from pylon to pylon, inspecting every nook and cranny. Under one fallen pylon we spotted a large cuttlefish and a very bizarre looking pineapplefish.
On the way back to the boat we found a large school of old wives, fish that are more commonly seen in pairs, and also thick schools of bullseyes. After an hour under the jetty we explored the sea grass beds looking for those elusive sea dragons, finding leatherjackets, boxfish, cardinalfish and one very strange worm eel.
Busselton is a lovely holiday town located 230km south of Perth. There are many other wonderful dive sites off Busselton, including many limestone reefs covered in sponge gardens and fish life. However the other famous dive site in the area is the HMAS Swan.
The HMAS Swan was a River Class Destroyer Escort that was purposely sunk for divers in Geographic Bay in December 1997. The ship is 113m long and now rests in 30m of water. We only had time for one dive on the HMAS Swan and it was simply stunning.
We descended to the bow and were amazed at the growth on the ship. She is covered in sponges and soft corals, a real feast of colour. As we slowly swam along the port side of the ship we encountered abundant reef fish; wrasse, leatherjackets, boxfish, morwong, old wives, porcupinefish and many more.
Entering one of the many access holes cut into the side of the ship we were amazed to see the inside was just as colourful as the outside, the walls carpeted with encrusting sponges. We then explored a number of rooms, finding toilets and the operations room. It was then onto the bridge, which still has the captain’s chair in place and is a popular stop for photos.
Continuing along the side of the ship we explored more rooms and passageways, passing stairs, handrails, hose reels and other items. Above us loomed the mast and funnel, which were surrounded by schools of yellowtail, batfish, trevally and one huge samsonfish. There was just so much to see around the mast structure that we ran out of time to explore the stern.
We had a fantastic dive on the HMAS Swan and know we will have to return to explore more of this colourful warship.
Diving conditions are generally good year round off Busselton, except over the winter months when strong winds push cold dirty water into Geographic Bay. During the rest of the year the visibility averages 15m to 20m and can be over 30m, while the water temperature varies from 15C to 22C.
Plan at least a week to explore all of Busselton’s dive sites and other attractions, which include the nearby wineries of the Margaret River region. The wines from this area are world famous and have probably led to a few dives being missed under the boardwalk.