A large estuarine crocodile of mangrove coasts and river mouths from northern Australia through South-East Asia.
The largest living reptile, to six metres and occasionally more. It uses mangrove creeks, river mouths, tidal flats and the sea between them, and it moves considerable distances along open coast.
Its range includes waters that are dived: northern Australia, parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Philippines. Encounters on the reef are rare, but the animal is not confined to rivers and should not be assumed to be.
This one is not managed by technique. Local knowledge decides where it is sensible to enter the water, and that knowledge is held by the operators who work there. Take the local advice at face value, do not swim or snorkel in mangrove creeks and river mouths in that range, and treat a briefing about crocodiles as the most important thing said that day.
This entry carries no occurrence record. The animal is listed because it is a hazard a diver should be able to look up, and its range is given above, but none of the destinations this site holds data for is inside that range. A record will be added when there is one to add rather than an estimate to invent.