Victoria
Diving in Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Melbourne's bayside suburbs, from Williamstown around to Frankston, have shallow, easy shore dives: Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, Black Rock, Half Moon Bay and the Cerberus wreck, Frankston pier, and the artificial reefs and scuttled boats off St Kilda and Mordialloc. Visibility is modest but the life, especially at night, is good.
Dive sites in this region
Jetty/PierMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Altona Pier
Free-parking western-suburbs training pier with a small artificial reef off its end; flat, easy and sheltered from northerlies.
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Banksia Point, Ricketts Point
Quietest entry in the sanctuary; very shallow close-in reef for snorkelling, children and relaxed night dives.
Jetty/PierMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Black Rock Jetty, Half Moon Bay
Sheltered bayside jetty beside the Cerberus hulk; one of Melbourne's favourite spring night dives for bioluminescence.
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Clarence
An 1841 Hunter River-built schooner wrecked in 1850 and lying almost complete on her port side in 5 m off St Leonards – the…
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
HMVS Cerberus
The world's first breastwork monitor and only survivor of the type, scuttled as a breakwater in 1926 – now collapsed, protected…
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Hurricane
An 1853 iron clipper lying in 8–12 m of sheltered bay water – stern rising 3 m with a heritage cairn, a capstan at the bow and…
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
J3 Submarine (Swan Island)
The most complete J-class submarine in Victoria, upright with its deck above water 100 m off Swan Island and resting on the hulk…
WreckMelbourne & 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,…
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & 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.
Jetty/PierMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Middle Brighton Pier
Melbourne's standard training and night-dive pier with a sheltered breakwater full of critters and good facilities.
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & 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…
Jetty/PierMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Mordialloc Pier
Long, lit suburban pier with reliable macro life and an infamous shopping-trolley graveyard; easy night and training dive.
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
PS Ozone
The 1886 'Greyhound of Port Phillip' scuttled as a breakwater – paddle wheel above water, boilers and steering gear in 3 m, with…
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary
Melbourne's flagship marine sanctuary: eight shallow reef entries, tame fish, sea caves and seagrass twenty minutes from the CBD,…
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
SS City of Launceston
An 1863 Bass Strait steamer sunk in an 1865 collision and lying complete from keel to deck in 21 m of silt with the other ship's…
WreckMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
SS Uralba
The last wooden coal-burner built in Australia and a WWII boom-defence vessel, upright in 18 m off Carrum with foremast, water…
Jetty/PierMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Sea Scouts Jetty, Beaumaris Bay
Easiest walk-in entry near Ricketts Point via a concrete ramp, leading to a boulder field under towering sandstone cliffs with…
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Table Rock, Ricketts Point
The sanctuary's best terrain: undercut ledges and a cave-like hollow under a sandstone headland, with bigger fish and rays; a…
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Tea House Bay, Ricketts Point
The most sheltered and accessible water in the sanctuary, right in front of the teahouse; sand and seagrass critters plus reef…
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Tea House Reef, Ricketts Point
The central reef of the sanctuary with navigable channels, dense tame fish and the best facilities of any bayside shore dive; the…
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Triangle Reef, Ricketts Point
Deepest reef in the sanctuary (to 8 m) off a proper beach with showers; the sanctuary's main scuba training site and a fine night…
Shore/Rock PlatformMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Williamstown Beach Breakwater
The richest of the Williamstown shore dives: a fished-from breakwater with dense seahorse, blue-ring, nudibranch and cardinalfish…
Artificial ReefMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Aspendale Rec Reef
Concrete-module fishing reef in 11 m off Aspendale, thickly colonised and fishy; an easy small-boat dive and a study in…
Jetty/PierMelbourne & Port Phillip Bay
Gem Pier
One of Victoria's oldest piers, dived under the bow of HMAS Castlemaine; a silty urban structure dive for calm winter days.