Sites commonly dived at night, when octopus, cuttlefish, crustaceans and sleeping reef fish come out. Many are sheltered shore or jetty dives.
71 sites · the first 48 shown as cards, the rest listed by state below
Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Free-parking western-suburbs training pier with a small artificial reef off its end; flat, easy and sheltered from…
Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
Calm, sheltered seagrass shallows at the Batman landing site with seahorses and nudibranchs; a picnic-reserve dive with…
Quietest entry in the sanctuary; very shallow close-in reef for snorkelling, children and relaxed night dives.
The sheltered river side of the Bluff, leading to a kelp-fringed bay between the reef pincers at Point Flinders with…
Sandstone pincer reef with kelp forests, small arches and sponge gardens on the ocean face of the Bluff; the best of…
The Bellarine's main ocean shore dive: kelp forests, sandstone arches and sponge gardens around a marine-sanctuary…
Ledges, overhangs and swim-throughs at 8-9 m (Friendly Bommie) reachable from a Queenscliff beach, with Heads-quality…
Sheltered bayside jetty beside the Cerberus hulk; one of Melbourne's favourite spring night dives for bioluminescence.
Isolated offshore shoal off Black Rock with larger fish than the shore reefs; a quiet small-boat dive on calm days.
Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Victoria's premier pier dive: sponge-covered pylons, 100+ nudibranch species, seahorses, four octopus species and…
Ruins of a Victorian spa resort's piers in shallow, sheltered water full of seahorses and nudibranchs; historic bottles…
Heritage-listed remains of an 1890 steamer pier with rails and fittings on a shallow seagrass bottom; seahorses and a…
Phillip Island & Western Port · VIC
Phillip Island's easiest and most reliable dive – a long Western Port pier with seahorses, crabs and octopus on the…
Geelong's deepest pier dive under a 1850s wool pier, sheltered from south and west winds; a study in native versus…
Sheltered north-facing Corio Bay beach with seahorses, pipefish and nudibranchs in seagrass and hydroid beds; a quiet…
Ultra-shallow training and night dive with the pylons and rail wheels of the old jetty 200 m out; sheltered from…
Port Phillip Heads · VIC
A 138 m guided-missile frigate scuttled in 2009 and sitting almost upright in 28–32 m with the bridge at 8 m – bridge,…
Boulder reef to 10 m with more fish than the piers; easy loop navigation around the marker post; good night dive.
The weedy seadragon capital of the world – dozens of residents in seagrass at 3–4 m under a heritage pier, plus…
Closest pier dive to Melbourne; seahorses and globefish on the pylons; easy training and night dive with facilities on…
One of Victoria's oldest piers, dived under the bow of HMAS Castlemaine; a silty urban structure dive for calm winter…
Shallow natural shoal off Indented Head with a southern drop-off and squid on top; a boat snorkel and easy dive when…
Easy reef dive beside Brighton Beach station with simple navigation; a good beginner and night site minutes from the…
Urban sanctuary with lava-flow boulders, seagrass, saltmarsh and small kelp in one shallow dive; the western suburbs'…
Twenty minutes from the CBD; a rebuilt, well-lit pier with reliable critter life on the piles for easy night and…
Closest pier dive to the Melbourne CBD; an easy, very shallow snorkel or check-out dive with a lit pier for night dives.
Surf Coast & Great Ocean Road · VIC
The only pier dive on the Otway coast: seahorses, cowfish, crabs and rays on the pylons and sand in a few metres of…
The sheltered fallback corner of Ricketts Point; profuse fish life over shallow ledges when other bayside sites are…
Melbourne's most sheltered training dive beside a heritage sea-baths building; ramp entry and full facilities.
Melbourne's standard training and night-dive pier with a sheltered breakwater full of critters and good facilities.
Uncrowded shallow reef edge between the teahouse and the life saving club; simple night dive and a good…
Long, lit suburban pier with reliable macro life and an infamous shopping-trolley graveyard; easy night and training…
Deepest of the northern piers with a reef along Schnapper Point; cuttlefish, seahorses and squid; diveable when…
Shipwreck Coast & Warrnambool · VIC
Port Fairy's basalt shore reef with a reputation as one of the best night dives in western Victoria – octopus and…
Rugged crevices, overhangs and swim-throughs with boarfish and Port Jackson sharks on the ocean side of the breakwater,…
The western shore's only sanctuary reef: basalt lava ledges and seagrass with basking fiddler rays and small sharks…
Basalt lava ledges at the tip of Williamstown with excellent nudibranch macro; free parking and a heritage-park setting.
Natural reef and breakwater ten minutes from the CBD; simple navigation and a sandy entry make it a handy snorkel or…
An 1880s fort foundation turned marine reserve: a sheltered inner lagoon packed with tame fish, an outer wall of…
The Shipwreck Coast's only reliably sheltered shore dive – a kelp-covered reef wall from the town beach to the bay…
The Shipwreck Coast's sheltered pier dive: rays under the pylons, crays and abalone in the gutters and the Napier wreck…
Sheltered north-facing Bellarine pier, reachable by ferry from Melbourne, with reliable seahorses and small artificial…
Portland & the West · VIC
Portland's sheltered training and night dive: seadragons in the seagrass, conger eels, crays and nudibranchs along a…
The most reliable bay-side weedy seadragon pier, with clean ocean-flushed water, kelp at the head and adjoining reefs;…
Queenscliff's training pier with oceanic-flushed visibility and richly grown piles; the sheltered base for a Heads…
Wilsons Promontory · VIC
A sheltered 2–9 m boulder slope off the campsite beach in the Prom's natural harbour; the eastern coast's easy dive,…
Melbourne's flagship marine sanctuary: eight shallow reef entries, tame fish, sea caves and seagrass twenty minutes…
Tiny, sheltered fishing jetty in Rippleside Park; a quick local Geelong dive or snorkel paired with Rippleside Pier.
Other ways to find a dive