The Woodman Point Munitions Jetty is a well known diving and fishing site, I don’t know how many times I dived here, it was plenty of times, that I know. It is a great dive in the morning when an onshore breeze is blowing, when the sea breeze came in during the afternoon, forget it,as it was skuzzed out and the visability is terrible.

So, I am scanning my memory, I liked diving here, but it had to be the right conditions though, an easterly breeze blowing across the shore. No westerly breeze, and definitely no south westers, as Cockburn Sound has all its seagrass chewed up from the dredging beginning in the 1960s, the limestone sea bottom is gone and all that is left is a powdery silt bottom.

The visibility is non-existent, the seagrass beds that once inhabited this area are long gone. The breakwater and bridge connecting Rockingham to Garden Island prevents proper flushing of the sound. So that is what wrecks the visibility at the Woodman Point Munitions Jetty, but what is good about the dive. The jetty extends out to a 9 metre depth, the pylons have excel ent sponge and cold water coral growth. This attracts marine life, this is why this site is so popular with fishers, I have never had an interest in fishing, but I can see why people go there.

So what about the upgrades? The Woodman Point Munitions Jetty was constructed back in 1903 and has only been open to the public since 1984, the life of the jetty has exceeded planning requirements. Fortunately funds have been allocated and a new platform has been designed, the concrete piles driven in 1939 will be retained due to the extensive growth and marine life it attracts. There will be a ramp to a sub deck with T type jetty end. The jetty itself will be demolished with new piles driven to support the new jetty, the old piles will be retained with the new jetty providing shade for the old piles.