Andersen Reserve is a foreshore picnic reserve at Point George, on the northern edge of the Indented Head township, where John Batman's party first landed in 1835 to found what became Melbourne. It is a quiet, sheltered corner of the Bellarine's Port Phillip coast and one of the peninsula's easier shallow shore dives. The Scuba Doctor describes the waters as generally calm and sheltered and the site as suitable for night diving, with a 1-4 m depth range; the bottom off the point is sand and seagrass with patches of low rock and hydroid beds, deepening only slowly.

The life is the same suite that makes the northern Bellarine shore worthwhile for macro divers: seahorses and pipefish in the seagrass, nudibranchs on the hydroids and sponges, globefish hovering in the weed, southern fiddler rays and stingarees on the sand, with octopus, dumpling squid, flathead and flounder emerging at night. Fish are small and scattered by day. There is nothing here to interest a diver wanting depth or drama, and everything for someone who wants an hour of unhurried critter hunting in calm water with a picnic table and toilet within fifty metres of the entry.

It suits snorkellers, children, new divers and first night dives, and it is a natural companion to the Pipelines 2 km south and Governor Reef offshore. Like all the sites on this coast it is a high-tide dive that is at its best in a south-westerly, when the ocean beaches and the Mornington side are unworkable.

From Portarlington follow The Esplanade (C125) south-east for 6 km, or from Drysdale take Hood Road (C125) to the coast and turn onto The Esplanade; Andersen Reserve is signposted at Point George on the northern edge of Indented Head. Park in the reserve car park beside the picnic area (free) and walk 50 m to the beach. Enter from the sand at Point George and fin out over the shallows.

Exit on the same beach. The Batman memorial marking the 1835 landing is beside the reserve.

Generally calm and sheltered; best with an offshore south-westerly wind, and tolerable in most winds without north in them. Northerlies and north-easterlies put chop onto the point. Dive at high tide; very shallow at low water.

Visibility 3-6 m, better in winter, reduced after rain. No swell. Boat traffic from the nearby ramp and moorings means a flag is needed.

Enter at Point George, fin out to 2 m, descend and work slowly along the seagrass and low reef parallel to the shore at 2-4 m, turn at half gas or 30 minutes and return along the same line to the beach.

No regular commercial operator – dived independently and by Geelong and Melbourne dive clubs; Bay City Scuba (East Geelong) and Dive Victoria Group (Queenscliff) are the nearest shops and use the Bellarine piers for training and night dives.