Meet the site
Governor Reef is a natural sandstone shoal lying about a kilometre off the Bellarine coast midway between Indented Head and St Leonards, marked by warning poles and better known to anglers, who fish it for King George whiting and squid, than to divers. The Scuba Doctor lists it as a shallow reef of 1-4 m, suitable for snorkelling from boats and for adventurous shore dives, and notes that the southern side has a prominent drop-off while the northern side lacks features and most of the action is on the shallow top. That is a fair summary. The shoal rises from sand in 4 m to within a metre of the surface, its crest covered in mixed brown algae and seagrass and its southern edge falling away in a short but definite step with undercuts along its base. The top is squid country: southern calamari lay their egg clusters in the weed in spring and hunt over it at dusk, and the whiting that draw the fishing fleet are visible over the sand at the edges. The drop-off holds leatherjackets, wrasse, zebrafish, blennies and juvenile snapper, sea stars, urchins and nudibranchs on the rock and octopus in the undercuts, and rays and flathead lie on the surrounding sand. It is a small site that a snorkeller can cover in half an hour and a diver in a slow lap, shallow enough for children on a calm day and sheltered in the southerlies that blow out the ocean coast. The cautions are all about boats: it is a popular anchorage, the shoal is a hazard to navigation (hence the poles), and anyone swimming out from shore is crossing a kilometre of open water used by fishing traffic. A boat and a flag make it an easy, pleasant dive.
What you might see
Southern calamari (eggs in spring), King George whiting, leatherjackets, wrasse, zebrafish, blennies, juvenile snapper, sea stars, sea urchins, nudibranchs, octopus, rays, flathead
Location
Natural subtidal shoal roughly 1 km offshore halfway between Indented Head and St Leonards, marked by warning poles, a well-known whiting and squid fishing ground.
Facilities nearby
St Leonards and Indented Head boat ramps with parking and toilets
Before you make plans
Conditions, access and operator schedules can change. This is a location guide, not a dive plan. Ask a local operator about current conditions and suitability for your training and experience.
Sources & further reading
scubadoctor.com.auscubadoctor.com.auRecord updated 26 Sept 2026. Source claims are being reviewed.