Victoria
Diving in Phillip Island & Western Port
Phillip Island's Pinnacles at Cape Woolamai are granite towers with fur seals, bull rays and sponge walls in 20–38 m; Flinders Pier and Crawfish Rock in Western Port have seadragons and tidal sponge gardens; and the north coast of the island around Cowes and Ventnor has easy shore dives and the Kitty wreck.
THE LOCAL PLANNING BRIEF
Understand the options around Phillip Island & Western Port
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.
What this regional directory records Counts describe published records, not bookable trips or confirmed open sites.
There are 27 published site records in Phillip Island & Western Port. The recorded categories include reef (10), shore/rock platform (5), jetty/pier (4), wreck (3). These categories reflect the database; they are not a ranking, a conditions report or an assessment of your suitability.
Use the Phillip Island & Western Port site cards to compare recorded access and depth, then open the individual pages for the map accuracy and source notes. Sites grouped in a region are not necessarily close enough to combine in one day.
Research operators in Victoria →Ask before booking
- Is this trip inside the bay, at the Heads or on the open coast?
- Who determines the current and weather window?
- 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 →Questions, answered
How do I choose a dive in Phillip Island & Western Port?
Begin with the individual site and its source notes, then discuss the proposed trip with a local provider. The 27 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 Phillip Island & Western Port 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.
Dive sites in this region
WreckPhillip Island & Western Port
George Kermode
A 70 m steam bucket dredge scuttled in 1976 as Victoria's first artificial reef – huge boilers, giant cogs and dredge buckets in…
Shore/Rock PlatformPhillip 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…
Pinnacle/BommiePhillip Island & Western Port
The Pinnacles (Cape Woolamai)
Granite spires rising from 38 m to 9 m, coated in sponge and soft coral and thick with schooling fish, with seals from the Cape…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Berrys Reef
Basalt platforms and seaward channels dropping to 12 m beneath Wild Dog Bluff with crayfish ledges and sponge walls; a scenic…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Cape Woolamai Reef
Granite columns, boulders and swim-throughs at a comfortable 12–15 m directly under Phillip Island's highest cliffs; a reliable…
Jetty/PierPhillip Island & Western Port
Corinella Jetty
A sheltered, easy-access pier on Western Port's eastern shore known chiefly for bottle and relic fossicking at slack water.
Jetty/PierPhillip Island & Western Port
Cowes Jetty
Phillip Island's easiest and most reliable dive – a long Western Port pier with seahorses, crabs and octopus on the pylons, ideal…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Cowrie Beach
Easy, west-facing reef and weed bay near The Nobbies that is diveable on easterly winds when Phillip Island's south coast is…
Shore/Rock PlatformPhillip Island & Western Port
Cunningham Bay
Multiple basalt reefs in 5–12 m below the Grand Prix circuit bluffs, with some shelter from south-westerly swell and almost no…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Flynns Reef
A clear-water, colourful shallow reef on Phillip Island's sheltered western shore, with locally named bommies and 'Coral Gardens'…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Gull Island (Bird Rock)
Sheltered, shallow rock in the lee of Cape Woolamai with colourful crevices and a circumnavigation any Open Water diver can…
Jetty/PierPhillip Island & Western Port
Newhaven Jetty
Short, current-swept pier dive on the Phillip Island side of The Narrows with pylon growth fed by six-knot tidal streams; a…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Phillip Island Cray Reef
Long undercut ledges packed with crayfish and swell sharks off the tip of Cape Woolamai; one of Phillip Island's classic hunting…
WallPhillip Island & Western Port
Pyramid Rock
Columnar basalt walls dropping from a landmark sea stack to 15 m with kelp, sponge and strong fish life; one of Phillip Island's…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
Right Point, Cat Bay
Shallow basalt reef patches off a historic point named by George Bass, with old jetty pylons in Cat Bay as a bonus; an easy…
DriftPhillip Island & Western Port
San Remo Bridge Drift
A tidal reef under the Phillip Island bridge with invertebrate cover to rival an offshore pinnacle; ten minutes of slack water in…
Jetty/PierPhillip Island & Western Port
San Remo Jetty
The best pylon growth in Western Port's eastern arm, produced by 5–6 knot tidal streams, and a short, sheltered beach entry –…
IslandPhillip Island & Western Port
Seal Rocks (Phillip Island)
Australia's largest fur seal colony 1.5 km off The Nobbies – tens of thousands of animals, with juveniles that mob divers and…
Shore/Rock PlatformPhillip Island & Western Port
Smiths Beach
Bommies and undercut ledges with colourful sponge growth at 8–14 m off a well-serviced surf beach; a rewarding south-coast shore…
WreckPhillip Island & Western Port
Speke
The second-largest full-rigged ship ever built, wrecked in 1906 – her bow standing on the rocks at Watt Point and the eroded hull…
Shore/Rock PlatformPhillip Island & Western Port
Sunderland Bay
An easy, shallow basalt-reef shore dive and snorkel in a gap in the south-coast bluffs; close parking and a quick swim to gutters…
Shore/Rock PlatformPhillip Island & Western Port
Surfies Point
Extensive basalt platforms and gutters off a south-coast surf point; a shallow, adventurous rock-platform dive for flat,…
WreckPhillip Island & Western Port
TSS Coramba
A Western District coastal steamer lost with all 17 hands in a 1934 storm, found by Southern Ocean Exploration in 2011 lying…
ReefPhillip Island & Western Port
YCW Beach
Basalt swim-throughs, crevices and overhangs under Smiths Point at 5–14 m, with blue devils and resting sharks; a direct entry…