Old Aquarium (Breakwater Rock)

Meet the site

The Old Aquarium takes its name from the domed aquarium buildings that once stood at the end of Viaduct Road, and it is the ocean-facing reef immediately south of the Warrnambool breakwater, also known as Breakwater Rock or the Breakwater Reefs. Where the inside of the breakwater is a gentle wall dive, the outside is, in the Scuba Doctor's phrase, very rugged: crevices, overhangs, swim-throughs and kelp forests in 4–14 m, cut into limestone by the swell that pounds this shore most of the year. It is right on the boundary of the Merri Marine Sanctuary and is renowned locally as a place to catch abalone and crayfish, so divers need to know exactly where the sanctuary line runs before taking anything. The residents listed by the Scuba Doctor are longsnout boarfish, Port Jackson sharks, stingrays, southern rock lobster and black-lip abalone; to those add the usual western Victorian community of blue-throat wrasse, magpie perch, sea sweep, herring cale, zebrafish and leatherjackets, cuttlefish in the crevices, and the occasional fur seal from the Lady Julia Percy colony.

Access is easy in distance – the car park is a minute from the water – but the entry over the rocks onto the platform and out through the surge zone is the real test, and it should only be attempted at low tide on a low swell when the platform is not breaking. Given those conditions it is a better dive than the inside of the breakwater: clearer water, real structure, bigger fish and a chance of sharks and seals, all within 100 m of the car. It works well as a night dive because the breakwater lights give a fixed reference for the return. It suits Open Water divers with some surf experience and is the natural step up from the inside wall for anyone spending a few days in Warrnambool.

What you might see

Longsnout boarfish, Port Jackson sharks, stingrays, southern rock lobster, black-lip abalone, blue-throat wrasse, magpie perch, sea sweep, herring cale, zebrafish, leatherjackets, cuttlefish, kelp, occasional Australian fur seals

Location

Rugged reef with crevices, overhangs and swim-throughs on the ocean side of Breakwater Rock, immediately south of the Warrnambool breakwater, in 4–14 m.

Facilities nearby

Large car parks off Viaduct Road and at the breakwater; toilets and showers at the breakwater and Stingray Bay; Warrnambool Diving (179A Fairy Street) for air fills, gear and guided dives; Pavilion cafe at the breakwater; Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum nearby.