Cottage by the Sea Reef

Meet the site

Cottage by the Sea Reef is Queenscliff's shore dive, named for the historic children's holiday home that has stood on the bluff above it since 1890. The Scuba Doctor listing gives a depth range of 1–10 m from the shore and a separate boat mark on the outer reef 400 m out, rates it Open Water and beyond, and puts it at the western end of the Queenscliff front beach where the Lonsdale Bight sponge reefs run in toward the shore.

The bottom is broken limestone ledges and gutters with kelp and seagrass in the shallows, deepening to sponge-covered reef and sand at 8–10 m. The listing's species list is long for a shore site and reflects the influence of the Heads a couple of kilometres away: Australian fur seals, smooth stingrays and southern fiddler rays on the sand, giant Australian cuttlefish in winter, southern blue devils and old wives under the ledges, weedy seadragons on the seagrass edge, southern rock lobster in the gutters, and the everyday reef fish – damselfish, morwong, wrasse, bluespotted goatfish, leatherjackets – over the top. Sea stars are abundant on the sponge patches.

It is dived at low water on the ebb slack, because the flood runs east along the shore toward the Queenscliff channel and can be strong, and it is protected from northerly to westerly winds, which makes it a useful fallback when the bay-side piers are blown out. The main hazard is traffic: boats and personal watercraft use the bight heavily in summer and a float and flag are mandatory. For divers based in Queenscliff who want a shore dive with real Heads fauna – seadragons, blue devils, seals – without a boat, this is the one.

What you might see

Australian fur seal, smooth stingray, southern fiddler ray, giant Australian cuttlefish, southern blue devil, old wife, weedy seadragon, southern rock lobster, damselfish, magpie morwong, bluethroat wrasse, bluespotted goatfish, leatherjackets, sea stars, sponges, kelp

Location

Shore reef off the rock platform below the Cottage by the Sea children's holiday camp at the corner of Swanston Street and The Esplanade, Queenscliff, on the Lonsdale Bight shore; boat mark 400 m offshore at -38.2759, 144.649833.

Facilities nearby

Small reserve car park at Swanston Street / The Esplanade; no toilets at the entry (public toilets on the Queenscliff foreshore 500 m east); cafes in Hesse Street; air fills Dive Victoria Group, Queenscliff Harbour