Firefish Bend - Rottnest Island snorkelling

Firefish Bend is a rocky reef corner on Rottnest's south coast, just south-west of Green Island and its small sandy cove. Limestone shelves and reef run along this shore, and a community snorkel listing reports large caves, Turbinaria coral and cleaner wrasse here.

Firefish is the Australian name for lionfish, which the same listing mentions, although recorded sightings around Rottnest come mostly from other sites. Wrasses, scalyfin and other colourful reef fish are common along this coast, and western rock lobster tuck into the crevices. The bend lies inside the Green Island Sanctuary Zone, so everything here is protected.

A little further west, near Kitson Point, the French yacht Anitra II was wrecked in the 1979 Parmelia Yacht Race, only hours from the finish at Fremantle. Nothing of her remains underwater.

• Experience level: Moderate
• Depth: 1-5 m
• Access: South coast, about 200 m south-west along the shore from Green Island; Island Explorer Stop 9 (Green Island). Toilet block with a shower at the Stop 9 car park (RIA map); no shop or drinking water. Inside the Green Island Sanctuary Zone - no fishing or taking anything. The outer reef edge takes southerly swell and drops away quickly - calm days only.
• Rocky Reef
• Limestone Shelves
• Sanctuary Zone
• Rock Lobster Habitat
• Reported Caves

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