AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS
Diving in Victoria
Explore 395 listed dive sites and find the local knowledge to help plan your visit.
THE LOCAL PLANNING BRIEF
Separate bay, Heads and open-coast diving
Victoria’s directory includes Port Phillip Bay, the Heads, peninsula piers and the open coast. Those labels describe different settings, not interchangeable levels of difficulty. Start by identifying the precise location and proposed trip. A record near Melbourne should not be read as an easy shore dive simply because it is close to a city.
Choose the setting, then the trip Counts describe published records, not bookable trips or confirmed open sites.
There are 395 published site records across Victoria. The recorded categories include wreck (98), reef (95), shore/rock platform (74), wall (38). These categories reflect the database; they are not a ranking, a conditions report or an assessment of your suitability.
Start with one of the regional pages below. State-wide totals are useful for browsing, but the actual choice should be made at the level of an operator, a site and a proposed itinerary.
Research operators in Victoria →Ask before booking
- Is this trip inside the bay, at the Heads or on the open coast?
- Who determines the current and weather window?
- Which exposure protection and equipment arrangements should we discuss?
Save the answers with the contact name and date. Separate confirmed arrangements from items still waiting for a reply.
Record your trip questions →Bay and peninsula
Compare Melbourne, Mornington and Bellarine records by access and facilities. Check the current status of piers and nearby works with the relevant manager.
Port Phillip Heads
Take tide and current questions to an experienced local operator. A tide-table time or a historical site note does not establish a suitable diving window.
Open coast and wrecks
Discuss the actual route, vessel, training and exposure protection with the provider. A wreck listing is background information, not permission to enter a structure.
Questions, answered
How do I choose a dive in Victoria?
Begin with the individual site and its source notes, then discuss the proposed trip with a local provider. The 395 published records are research options, not a list of trips available today. Match the plan to your training, recent experience and the operator’s current requirements.
When should I visit Victoria for diving?
Choose dates with a provider who runs the activity you want, then discuss seasonal patterns, recent conditions and alternative itineraries. A generic best-month claim cannot establish the conditions at your exact site or guarantee a wildlife encounter.
Can I use these maps to enter or navigate a dive site?
No. Recorded and approximate map positions support orientation only. Confirm the exact access, permissions, meeting point and route with the responsible local provider or manager.
Regional planning context: Visit Victoria — scuba diving ↗. Directory counts come from published YouDive records. Individual site claims remain subject to their source and review notes.
Find your region
Dive sites to explore
ReefSurf Coast & Great Ocean Road
Point Roadknight North
Calcarenite gullies and ledges on the sheltered side of Anglesea's headland, with an easy car park and the best odds of a…
ReefSurf Coast & Great Ocean Road
Point Roadknight South
A maze of undercut limestone blocks and sand channels on the ocean side of Point Roadknight, full of crays and cuttlefish; flat…
Shore/Rock PlatformShipwreck Coast & Warrnambool
Port Campbell Bay
The Shipwreck Coast's only reliably sheltered shore dive – a kelp-covered reef wall from the town beach to the bay mouth, with…
Jetty/PierShipwreck Coast & Warrnambool
Port Campbell Jetty
The Shipwreck Coast's sheltered pier dive: rays under the pylons, crays and abalone in the gutters and the Napier wreck a short…
ReefShipwreck Coast & Warrnambool
Port Fairy Lighthouse Reefs (Griffiths Island)
Boulder ridges and bommies off the Port Fairy lighthouse from 5 to 30 m, rated among the best reef dives in the region, with a…
ReefMornington Peninsula
Portsea Pier East Reef
Nursery reef under the Portsea moorings to 11 m, linking the pier to Point Franklin; young fish, seadragons and macro life in…
WallPhillip Island & Western Port
Pyramid Rock
Columnar basalt walls dropping from a landmark sea stack to 15 m with kelp, sponge and strong fish life; one of Phillip Island's…
Jetty/PierGeelong & Bellarine
Queenscliff Pier
Queenscliff's training pier with oceanic-flushed visibility and richly grown piles; the sheltered base for a Heads diving weekend.
IslandWilsons Promontory
Rabbit Island, North
Shallow fringing reef, sand and seagrass around a granite island at the mouth of Corner Inlet, thick with schooling sweep and…
IslandWilsons Promontory
Rabbit Island, South
A weedy granite fringe with wrasse, dusky morwong and old wives on the Bass Strait side of Rabbit Island; the northerly-wind…
WallWilsons Promontory
Ramsbotham Rocks
Caves and swim-throughs among giant granite boulders at 20–30 m on the sheltered north-east corner of Great Glennie; the Glennie…
Shore/Rock PlatformMornington Peninsula
Ranelagh Beach, Mount Eliza
Scenic beach-shack cove with a beacon-marked reef offshore; a quiet beginner and snorkel site on the Mount Eliza cliffs.
WallWilsons Promontory
Refuge Cove, North Wall
Boulder swim-throughs, caves and overhangs along the north shore of the Prom's natural harbour, with salmon hunting baitfish and…
ReefWilsons Promontory
Refuge Cove, South
A sheltered 2–9 m boulder slope off the campsite beach in the Prom's natural harbour; the eastern coast's easy dive, snorkel and…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Right Point, Cat Bay
Shallow basalt reef patches off a historic point named by George Bass, with old jetty pylons in Cat Bay as a bonus; an easy…
Jetty/PierGeelong & Bellarine
Rippleside Pier, Geelong
Quiet, sheltered inner-harbour pier in a family park; an easy Geelong training, night or snorkel site when the coast is blown out.
ReefMornington Peninsula
Rosebud Reef
Natural rocky ridge with sponge cover, wobbegongs and sevengill sharks a kilometre off Rosebud.
Shore/Rock PlatformMornington Peninsula
Royal Beach, Mornington
Quiet rubble reef beside Mornington Pier; can be linked to the Schnapper Point reef for a one-way dive.
WreckPort Phillip Heads
SS Alert
An upright, largely intact 1877 iron steamer in 75 m, lost with 15 lives in 1893 and found by Southern Ocean Exploration in 2007;…
WreckPortland & the West
SS Barwon & Horseshoe Reef, Cape Bridgewater
Boiler and plating of an 1871 coastal steamer lost in fog, beside a kelp-covered snorkel reef in the calmest water on Cape…
WreckWilsons Promontory
SS Federal
A collier lost with all hands in a 1901 gale and found by CSIRO sonar in 2019, lying broken in 115 m off Cape Conran – a…
WreckWilsons Promontory
SS Gulf of Carpentaria
An unsalvaged 1881 cargo liner lying collapsed at the foot of the uncharted pinnacle that sank her in 1885, in 48–50 m of…
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
SS Kakariki
Salvaged remains of a 1926 steamer lost in the port of Melbourne's worst collision (1937, five dead), dumped off Williamstown in…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
SS Malaita
A 1893 island trader with a chequered life, lying at 65 m – one of the deep Graveyard set dived only by trimix and rebreather…