Story: Scuba Diving the Rowley Shoals
Episode: 15
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
Air Date: 31 May 2026

Trevor explores the colourful coral reef across the ocean floor of the Rowley Shoals, encountering an extensive variety of tropical fish and even some deadlier, and larger fish too.

• Rowley Shoals is located about 300 km west of Broome on the edge of the continental shelf in the Indian Ocean.
• The Rowley Shoals consists of three coral atolls, Mermaid Reef, Clerke Reef, and Imperieuse Reef, which rise steeply from deep ocean waters.
• The region is regarded as one of Australia’s premier remote sport-fishing destinations due to its pristine reef system and abundant pelagic fish species.
• Popular target species for anglers include giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, yellowfin tuna, Spanish mackerel, wahoo, sailfish, and marlin.
• Giant trevallies are especially prized by sport fishers because of their speed, aggression, and powerful fights near coral reefs.
• More than 680 species of fish and over 230 species of coral have been recorded at the Rowley Shoals, making it one of Western Australia’s richest marine ecosystems.
• Fishing expeditions to the Rowley Shoals are usually conducted via liveaboard charter boats because the reefs are so remote from the mainland.
• The isolation of the Rowley Shoals has helped protect its marine environment, with scientists describing it as one of Australia’s healthiest coral reef systems.

For more information, head to
kimberleyexpeditions.com.au