Victoria
Diving in Port Phillip Heads
The entrance to Port Phillip Bay is a 3 km gap through which the whole bay drains and fills twice a day, and the currents have carved walls, canyons and caves in the limestone: Lonsdale Wall, Nepean Wall, the Boulders, the Cave, the Canyons and Popes Eye. Outside the Heads lies the Ships' Graveyard, with more than 40 scuttled vessels including the J1, J2, J4 and J5 submarines, the SS Coogee and the Eliza Ramsden. Every dive here is on slack water and every dive is from a charter.
THE LOCAL PLANNING BRIEF
Understand the options around Port Phillip Heads
Timing language needs a local interpretation
The Heads collection includes sites whose source material discusses tidal streams and specific windows. Do not translate a tide-table high or low into a diving time by yourself. Ask the operator how the proposed window is determined for the named site and what would cause a change. Historical abbreviations in a record are context for that discussion, not operating instructions. Boat logistics, training and the actual route must be discussed together.
One useful question: Who determines the site-specific current window and confirms the departure on the day?
What this regional directory records Counts describe published records, not bookable trips or confirmed open sites.
There are 118 published site records in Port Phillip Heads. The recorded categories include wreck (56), wall (29), reef (9), pinnacle/bommie (8). These categories reflect the database; they are not a ranking, a conditions report or an assessment of your suitability.
Use the Port Phillip Heads 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 Port Phillip Heads?
Begin with the individual site and its source notes, then discuss the proposed trip with a local provider. The 118 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 Port Phillip Heads 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
WallPort Phillip Heads
12lb Reef
A short, overhang-riddled wall at 8–20 m on the edge of Lonsdale Bight named for a 12-pound crayfish – soft corals, caves and big…
WallPort Phillip Heads
16lb Reef
Overhangs and small drop-offs at 12–18 m at the ocean end of Lonsdale Wall, named for a legendary 16-pound crayfish and known for…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Batman
A compact, easily navigated 1883 hopper barge and one-time Victorian Navy gunboat with a large upright boiler at the bow – the…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Beverwijk 19
An upturned Dutch steam dredge with huge dredging cog wheels, boiler and propeller exposed; the last vessel scuttled in the…
ReefPort Phillip Heads
Boarfish Reef
Multi-site reef in Lonsdale Bight with caves, swim-throughs, a 4 m upright admiralty anchor in 10 m and a 400 m sponge garden…
DriftPort Phillip Heads
Boarfish Reef Drift
Float-line drift across the Boarfish Reef sponge gardens and outcrops off Queenscliff – no navigation, no kicking, several…
Shore/Rock PlatformPort Phillip Heads
Buckleys Cave
The shore entry to the outer Lonsdale Reef beneath William Buckley's cave – Shark Gutter, Mushroom Rock and five…
WallPort Phillip Heads
Captain Nitro Drop Off
Stepped walls dropping 5–10 m at a time to beyond 60 m, with house-sized fallen boulders at the foot of each step and both red…
Pinnacle/BommiePort Phillip Heads
Castle Rock
A turreted bommie in open water outside Point Lonsdale, 200 m round and 12–20 m deep, with undercuts full of blue devils and…
DriftPort Phillip Heads
Catch Bag Reef Drift
Flood-tide drift over kelp-covered sandstone reef between Lonsdale Wall and Queenscliff, named for a lost cray bag and known for…
Artificial ReefPort Phillip Heads
Chinamans Hat
Purpose-built seal haul-out beside the South Channel where Australian fur seals sleep, spar and come out to investigate…
Pinnacle/BommiePort Phillip Heads
Corsair Rock
The pinnacle that wrecked RMS Australia, the Eliza Ramsden and a dozen others: a kelp-topped rock 3.5 m under the surface at the…
Shore/Rock PlatformPort Phillip Heads
Cottage by the Sea Reef
Queenscliff's shore dive below the historic Cottage by the Sea: ledges and sponge reef to 10 m with seadragons, blue devils,…
Pinnacle/BommiePort Phillip Heads
Deep Pinnacles
Scattered bommies, valleys and small swim-throughs in 16–25 m on the outer Lonsdale reef line, glowing with yellow zoanthids –…
WallPort Phillip Heads
Devils Drop Off
A 12-to-30 m drop-off on the Nepean side with a long soft-coral overhang at 27 m and the most dependable blue devils at the…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Dunloe
An 1870 Clyde-built iron barque and coal hulk whose 1947 scuttling nearly ended in disaster – intact bow, blown-out stern, in…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Eliza Ramsden
Upright iron barque lost in 1875 after striking Corsair Rock: intact starboard plating and decking, bluestone ballast and a…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Empress of the Sea
The burnt-out remains of a Donald McKay clipper beached in Nepean Bay in 1861 after an arson fire – keel, frames, copper…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Euro
A remarkably complete 1897 steam tug – triple-expansion engine, boilers, tow anchor, steering quadrant and even the toilets –…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Fawkner
Sister to the Batman with the hopper strongback still spanning the hold, a boiler at the stern and the propeller in place; a…
WallPort Phillip Heads
Foggy Reef
Shallow-topped end of Lonsdale Wall with heavy soft-coral and gorgonian cover, an embedded admiralty anchor and two cannons in…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
George Roper
An 83 m four-masted iron barque wrecked on her maiden voyage in 1883 – keelsons, bow winches and slate cargo in 4–6 m on the…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
HMAS Goorangai
Scattered remains of the auxiliary minesweeper cut in two by MV Duntroon in November 1940 with the loss of all 24 crew – the…
WreckPort Phillip Heads
Holyhead
A 90 m four-masted iron barque lost on her maiden voyage in 1890 – rudder and steering gear, windlass, mast stumps and…