Mangles Bay dive trail shut to all vessels for mid-November weekend

All vessels will be barred from the waters over the Mangles Bay Dive Trail off Rockingham from 6:00AM on 14 November 2026 until 9:00PM on 15 November 2026 under a closure order signed by Graeme Meinema, Director Waterways Safety Management and delegate of the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure. The order, notice MA401, appears in the Government Gazette of Western Australia No. 136 of 27 October 2026, in the Marine/Maritime division. A companion instrument gazetted beside it, notice MA402, restricts all motorised vessels to eight knots in the waters adjacent to the trail over the same period.

Both notices are made under the Western Australian Marine Act 1982 — section 66 for the closure of navigable waters and section 67 for the restricted speed area — and are signed by the same departmental delegate. The closure does not simply repeat an earlier arrangement: MA401 expressly cancels the notice of the same number published in the Government Gazette on 11 November 2025, replacing it with a new set of boundaries and times. Every coordinate in the two instruments is stated to be based on GDA 2020.

Two closed zones, one continuous shutdown

The MA401 order shuts two separate areas, with the second beginning a minute after the first ends.

• Dive trail zone: all waters over the Mangles Bay Dive Trail, closed from 6:00AM on 14 November 2026 to 9:00PM on 15 November 2026, bounded by lines running from 32°16.402′S, 115°43.813′E — approximately 190 metres north-west of Flinders Lane — north-westerly about 140 metres to 32°16.337′S, 115°43.763′E, then north-easterly about 228 metres to 32°16.270′S, 115°43.884′E, then south-easterly about 140 metres to 32°16.334′S, 115°43.932′E and back south-westerly to the starting point.
• Southern zone: all waters of Mangles Bay bounded by a line from the foreshore near Railway Terrace, Rockingham, at 32°16.511′S, 115°43.678′E, running about 230 metres north-north-westerly to 32°16.408′S, 115°43.636′E, then about 465 metres north-easterly to 32°16.270′S, 115°43.884′E, then about 230 metres south-easterly to the foreshore at 32°16.367′S, 115°43.956′E.
• Effective date: the notice states that it takes effect as of 6:00AM on 14 November 2026.

The second area is closed “commencing from 9:01PM on 15 November 2026” with no closing time stated in the instrument, unlike the two-day dive trail closure that precedes it.

Eight-knot ceiling on the approach waters

Notice MA402 applies a separate, parallel control: from 6:00AM on 14 November 2026 to 9:00PM on 15 November 2026, all motorised vessels are restricted to eight knots in the waters adjacent to the dive trail. The restricted area starts at the foreshore at 32°16.367′S, 115°43.956′E next to Bell Park, runs approximately 83 metres north-west to 32°16.335′S, 115°43.931′E, then south-west to 32°16.401′S, 115°43.812′E, and continues north-west to the border of the water ski area at 32°16.338′S, 115°43.762′E. From there the boundary runs south-west to 32°16.408′S, 115°43.635′E, south-south-easterly to the foreshore at 32°16.511′S, 115°43.677′E, and back along the foreshore to the point of commencement.

Read together, the two instruments create a closed core over the dive trail surrounded by a speed-limited buffer that reaches from Bell Park across to the water ski area boundary and south towards the Railway Terrace foreshore.

Who has to change course

The orders are framed in terms that catch every water user in the bay, not just divers.

• Boating and fishing: the closure is to “all vessels”, with no exemption for recreational craft, and is in force across a full weekend, from Saturday morning to Sunday night.
• Motorised craft: the eight-knot ceiling applies specifically to motorised vessels, covering ski boats, runabouts and tenders transiting the buffer zone.
• Dive operators and shore users: the dive trail itself, its entry points near Flinders Lane and Bell Park, and the foreshore approaches are all inside the restricted footprint.

Compliance and enforcement

The notices are made by delegation from the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure, the same department that issues waterways safety directions across the State, and they carry the statutory force of the Western Australian Marine Act 1982. Coordinates, bearings and distances are set out to metre-level precision in the gazette, so the boundaries can be plotted directly on charts and marine navigation systems rather than being left to signage on the day.

Anyone planning to launch, anchor, fish or run a motor off Rockingham over the second weekend of November should check the boundary lines before departing, because both the total prohibition and the eight-knot limit begin at the same hour, 6:00AM on 14 November 2026.

Source: Government Gazette of Western Australia, No. 136, 27 October 2026, Marine/Maritime, p. 2445–2446 (official reference: MA401 and MA402).