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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

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

  1. Is this trip inside the bay, at the Heads or on the open coast?
  2. Who determines the current and weather window?
  3. 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.

Prepare for this destination

Find your region

Bass Coast8 sitesEast Gippsland4 sitesGeelong & Bellarine22 sitesMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay44 sitesMornington Peninsula58 sitesPhillip Island & Western Port27 sitesPort Phillip Heads118 sitesPortland & the West19 sitesShipwreck Coast & Warrnambool33 sitesSurf Coast & Great Ocean Road27 sitesWilsons Promontory35 sites

Dive sites to explore

Find local operators
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Port Phillip Heads

J5 Submarine

An upright, intact WWI submarine glowing with yellow zoanthids; several penetration points through large deck openings.

Boat (day trip)Up to 36 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteMuck/Sand

Mornington Peninsula

JL's Scallop Beds

Scallop drift over open sand off Whitecliffs named for a Melbourne diving legend; easy first boat drift.

BoatUp to 17 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay

Joanna

An 1856 Port Phillip-built schooner lost in 1857 with a cargo of bagged lime that set to concrete and preserved her – rigging,…

Boat (day trip)Up to 7 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Port Phillip Heads

Kelp Beds Reef

The bommie field in Lonsdale Bight where the chart-marked giant kelp forest once stood – now smaller kelps over rock and sponge…

BoatUp to 23 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Phillip Island & Western Port

Kitty Miller Bay

Phillip Island's most protected and most dived shore site – an easy seagrass-and-reef bay next to the Penguin Parade, with the…

ShoreUp to 12 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Port Phillip Heads

Knawesome Bommie

An 18 m-high bommie rising from 40 m to 22 m in the channel off Shortland Bluff, with a ship's anchor grown into its side, soft…

BoatUp to 40 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Mornington Peninsula

Koonya Ocean Beach

Shallow, fish-rich reef on an open ocean beach; sharks, cowfish and wrasse among the gutters.

ShoreUp to 5 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Port Phillip Heads

Lady Cheryl

A 27 m steel trawler lost in 2012 on the reef inside Point Nepean – upright, intact, wheelhouse in place and a huge starboard…

BoatUp to 14 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Port Phillip Heads

Lonsdale Arches

Natural sandstone arches and tunnels at 12–18 m on the outer Lonsdale reef, wide and safe to swim through and completely lined…

BoatUp to 18 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Port Phillip Heads

Lonsdale Bommies

Cluster of encrusted outcrops and gutters at 12–18 m on the outer Lonsdale reef, famous for crayfish and a natural pairing with…

BoatUp to 18 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Port Phillip Heads

Lonsdale Wall

A tidal wall dive at Port Phillip Heads. Compare the exact wall section, planned depth and slack-water window before booking.

BoatUp to 38 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Port Phillip Heads

Lonsdale Wall Shallow

A shallower section of the Lonsdale wall system, with a published 12–25 m range and boat access timed around slack water.

BoatUp to 25 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay

McGregor Rock, Quiet Corner

The sheltered fallback corner of Ricketts Point; profuse fish life over shallow ledges when other bayside sites are blown out.

ShoreUp to 5 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteJetty/Pier

Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay

Middle Brighton Pier

Melbourne's standard training and night-dive pier with a sheltered breakwater full of critters and good facilities.

ShoreUp to 8 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteIsland

Shipwreck Coast & Warrnambool

Middle Island, Warrnambool

A 15 m canyon between two islands packed with sharks, rays, cuttlefish and crayfish, swum to from Stingray Bay – the best shore…

ShoreUp to 15 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay

Middle Reef, Ricketts Point

Uncrowded shallow reef edge between the teahouse and the life saving club; simple night dive and a good intertidal-to-subtidal…

ShoreUp to 3 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteJetty/Pier

Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay

Mordialloc Pier

Long, lit suburban pier with reliable macro life and an infamous shopping-trolley graveyard; easy night and training dive.

ShoreUp to 6 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteJetty/Pier

Mornington Peninsula

Mornington Pier

Deepest of the northern piers with a reef along Schnapper Point; cuttlefish, seahorses and squid; diveable when southerlies blow…

ShoreUp to 12 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Mornington Peninsula

Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary

A protected basalt reef where nothing is taken – crayfish and abalone in the open, seadragons in the seagrass and Victoria's best…

ShoreUp to 12 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Port Phillip Heads

Nepean Bay

Sheltered, clear 1–12 m bay inside Point Nepean with scattered reef, kelp, recovering fish life and the debris of two centuries…

BoatUp to 12 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Port Phillip Heads

Nepean Wall

The vertical Nepean side of The Rip: a boomerang-shaped trench whose northern wall drops from 18 m to 65 m through large caves…

BoatUp to 65 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Port Phillip Heads

North Wall

Deep wall on Spectacular Reef off Shortland Bluff – overhangs, small caves and swim-throughs from 19 m to beyond 60 m, sheltered…

BoatUp to 60 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Port Phillip Heads

North Wall Corner

The 90-degree corner of Lonsdale Wall: towering split faces on two sides dropping from 19 m to 66 m, with blue devils and the…

BoatUp to 66 m
VICYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Mornington Peninsula

Number Sixteen Beach, Rye

Undercut ledges full of fish along a sea terrace, the Dragon's Head rock formation and the Craigburn wreck just offshore.

ShoreUp to 5 m