Dive Review of Pilbara Dive Center in
Australia/Karratha shore diving

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Pilbara Dive Center: "Shore diving Karratha - sand, crocodiles and cowries", Dec, 2023, by Keith Willmott, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 13059.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We decided to stop in Karratha en route from Exmouth to Broome. Local operator Pilbara Dive Center does trips to islands off the Burrup Peninsula, but were not organizing anything during our stay given that it was the Christmas period and not the best time of year to dive anyway (hot and windy). Still, we wanted to do some diving and they very kindly arranged rental gear for us (even though they were officially closed), and offered very helpful advice about shore dives. We stayed in Dampier (slightly run-down, remote, non-touristy small town), and headed to Withnell Bay, an enclosed bay NE of Dampier on W side of Burrup Peninsula, hoping to do a night dive. Unfortunately, wind was coming precisely from NW, blowing straight into the bay, rough, zero vis, and a posted crocodile warning. We returned next morning (access rd was rough, sandy, but OK in 2WD, could be tricky if wet) in calmer conditions, swam out from boat launch site over sandy/gravelly bottom with scattered 50cm coral bommies and weed-covered rocks, depth 4 m, vis 2-3 m. Numerous sea hares, anemone-fish, couple species butterflyfish, several species nudibranchs. Unfortunately, all possible dive sites on sheltered, east side of Burrup Peninsula were off-limits since the dirt access roads were being paved, and were closed. On advice of Pilbara Dive, we headed east 20 mi or so to Point Samson, to night-dive off the beach in Point Samson Community Park. We entered by the rocks on the NW side of the bay, scattered, silt-covered rocks and sand, very little apparent life. Nevertheless, we soon started finding numerous invertebrates - nudibranchs, flatworms, 6-7 species of cowries, flatworms, bubble shells, pair of squid guarding eggs, overall an unorthodox but enjoyable dive. At right time of year, and with a bit more exploration, seems possible that these shore dives could be an entertaining intermission between boat dives, especially at night.
Websites	Pilbara Dive Center
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Florida, Belize, Panama (Coiba, Pearl Is) St Vincent and Grenadines, UK, Red Sea (Sharm), Myanmar, Sulawesi (Wakatobi), Philippines (Mindoro, Palawan), Solomons (Guadalcanal), New Zealand (Poor Knights), Papua New Guinea, west Australia
Closest Airport	Karratha	Getting There	We decided to stop here a couple of days while driving from Exmouth to Broome - it's about 6 hrs from Exmouth. There are limited flights to Karratha.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, dry	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	24-27°C / 75-81°F	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	2-3 M / 7-10 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Pilbara Dive Center in Australia/Karratha shore diving

Pilbara Dive Center: "Shore diving Karratha - sand, crocodiles and cowries", Dec, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Pilbara Dive Center in
Australia/Karratha shore diving