Awesome Reef is one of the group of deep reef and bommie sites off Shortland Bluff on the Queenscliff side of the Heads, between the sponge gardens of Lonsdale Bight and the deep walls of Spectacular Reef. The Scuba Doctor listing calls it 'a spectacular reef formation off Shortland Bluff, Port Phillip, near the shipping channel', gives a depth range of 12–40 m and an Advanced Open Water rating, and states that it 'is subject to shipping movements and should only be dived on slack water'.

Beyond that the listing carries no description, and the neighbouring Knawesome Bommie – 101 m away and described in detail – is the best guide to what the diver finds: limestone structure rising from sand at 40 m to tops in the low twenties and shallower, with overhanging ledges and small caves, heavy soft-coral, sponge and gorgonian growth on every face, and the fish of the Queenscliff channel reefs – southern blue devils, magpie morwong, boarfish, schools of pike and sweep – with crayfish in the ledges. The reef top at 12 m carries kelp and sponge garden, and the channel edge gives it the flow that feeds the growth.

The operational picture is that of all the Shortland Bluff sites: slack water only, a shipping report before the dive because the channel is a few metres away, no anchoring in the lane, and a live boat tracking DSMBs. With a 40 m base it is dived mostly by experienced groups and clubs, and it is a good choice for Advanced divers who have done the Lonsdale sections and want something less visited. The name is one of a pair – Awesome and Knawesome – coined by the Queenscliff divers who mapped these reefs; data confidence is moderate because the published description is a single sentence.

Boat access only. Charter boats leave from Portsea Pier (Dive Victoria Group, Bayplay) and Queenscliff Harbour (Dive Victoria Group, Red Boats); run time is about 10 minutes. Private boats launch at Sorrento Boat Ramp (Point Nepean Road, Sorrento, all-tide concrete ramp with trailer parking) or Queenscliff Boat Harbour ramp (Larkin Parade, Queenscliff), roughly 8 minutes to the site.

The site is off Shortland Bluff on the Queenscliff side, 8 minutes from Queenscliff Harbour; it is 'subject to shipping movements' so the shipping check is a condition of the dive. Skippers must call Lonsdale VTS (Point Lonsdale) or listen to VHF 12 for shipping movements before dropping divers, and must carry a dive flag; anchoring is not permitted in the shipping channel, so a live boat and a drop-shot or drift float is the normal method.

It is dived only on slack water, either at the end of the flood (SWF) or the end of the ebb (SWE); most operators prefer the flood slack so that any residual current sets into the bay rather than out to sea. Slack water at Port Phillip Heads does not coincide with high or low water: it falls roughly three hours after high or low water at Point Lonsdale, and the usable window is typically 20–40 minutes. Use the Ports Victoria / Port of Melbourne slack-water predictions for The Heads (also republished by charter operators and WillyWeather 'Rip Bank') rather than a standard tide table.

Inside the Heads it is sheltered from most swell, but a south-west swell over about 2 m still surges across the top of the wall and a westerly or south-westerly wind over 15–20 knots makes the boat work unpleasant; big seas outside drop visibility to a few metres for a day or two. Visibility is best in late summer and autumn (Feb–May) when the water is clear and the westerlies have eased; winter brings 11–13 °C water and bigger swells but often the clearest days after a run of settled weather. Heavy rain has little effect this close to the ocean.

Listed as 'slack water subject to shipping': the dive is scrubbed if a ship is due through during the window.

Shot onto the reef top at 12–15 m at slack. Drop down the structure to a planned maximum of 30 m (Advanced) or 40 m (deep-trained), work the ledges and outcrops with a torch, and climb back to the top for a DSMB ascent; Knawesome Bommie with its encrusted anchor is 100 m south and can be combined by strong divers.

Base 40 m; nitrox 28–30% suits; shipping-subject slack; DSMB ascent with tracking boat.

Dive Victoria Group (Portsea/Queenscliff) – runs the deep Heads walls for advanced and technical divers on suitable slack-water days; Red Boats (Queenscliff) – deep-wall and technical charters on request; otherwise private club boats (VSAG, Power House Underwater Club, Scuba Diving Melbourne). Not a routine training-boat site.