The North Point of Rottnest Island is where you can find a spectacular in sunlight covered cave filled with light beams from its ceiling.
| Name Dive Site: | North Point |
| Depth: | 10-26m (32-85ft) |
| Visibility: | 8-15m (26-49ft) |
| Inserted/Added by: | perthscuba |
| Rated: | Rated not yet |
| Specifications: |  |
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Dive site North Point is rated as one of the easiest sites and would have to be one of the most under rated dives at Rottnest. Eagle Bay is on the north side of the Island and is easily accessible by boat or a 5-minute swim from the shore. The bay itself, beautiful with crystal clear water and almost white sand, makes it a haven for snorkeling and sunbathing. Being protected from all of the elements, this is truly the perfect beach!
The diving here is quite spectacular. Looking from the surface, there doesn't appear to be much under the water, but don't let that fool you. Hop into the water just in front of (the Ocean side) the reef, which protrudes up from the surface and is easily visible from the beach. Descend here. Once you hit the bottom you have 2 options, you can head to the right, which is a reef wall that runs down to the sand and goes around to form a large arc. The other option is to swim directly toward the reef, which has a small cave in it. Enter the cave and follow through to the end. This ends up being a tunnel full of fish and other marine creatures and goes for about 15 meters and turns around an 'L' shape. When you come out of this cave you will find yourself at the same point as option 1. Upon your exit, you will find yourself in a huge underwater bay. The sedimentary reef here looks like a row of toppled dominoes with all types of marine life in between the layers. Here you can expect to find the iridescent Blue Devils, Crayfish (many females) and Red Banded Wrasse. As you follow this bay around you will come across a cave, which has an entry hole at sand level with about 1 meter of ground clearance for you to swim through.
This is where the bay turns into something quite spectacular! Swim under this roof and into the adjoining cave. Once inside the cave swim to the middle and lay back and watch the show! Describing this cave is never going to do it justice, diving it is the only way! But I will give it a try. The cave is circular and opens up to be around 15 meters in diameter and has a roof about 4 meters high. With the exception of another hole at the other side of the cave, it is totally enclosed. With visibility at 100% clear and no silt, there is a feeling of being in open air. The roof is scattered with holes no bigger than a hubcap (these look like dark patches of weed from the surface). These holes let in sunlight, which forms a beam of light from the roof to the floor. Because of the water refracting on the surface and top of the reef, the light moves around in circles making the beams of light move backwards and forwards like a spotlight. Add another 20 or so of these 'spotlights' and you feel as though you are in a night club. The lights dart around the cave occasionally picking up a fish or school of fish in the ray. This is one of the most stunning features of diving in caves and is sure to make you want to sit for a while you take it all in. Once you have had enough of that (which for me took a while), head out to the hole at the other side of the cave and back out into the bay. From here, take time to explore the walls and slats of reef that protrude overhead. Here you will find more Crayfish and a fairly big 'resident' Wobbegong shark sleeping or watching a batch of Crayfish. Give him a wide berth and continue along the wall until it comes back around to where you started your dive. The difficulty rating for this dive is beginner and above.
I do recommend that new divers avoid the tunnel part of this dive, as it can feel a little claustrophobic at times. The water here is calm, clear and warm and with a maximum of 4.5 meters it is a relaxing dive for one of those days where nothing else is diveable.
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