Banksia Point is the quietest of the Ricketts Point sanctuary entries, a modest sandstone point between Quiet Corner and the yacht club that most visitors drive past on the way to the teahouse. It is also the shallowest: the reef flat is barely a metre deep and the outer ledges only reach about 3 m, so this is a site for high tide and calm water, and it is snorkelled more than it is dived. What it offers is close-to-shore reef with everything the sanctuary is known for and almost no company.

The ledges and gutters hold zebrafish, scalyfin, blennies, leatherjackets, moonlighters and juvenile snapper, the sand patches have flathead, fiddler rays and small stingrays, and a slow look under the overhangs finds octopus, cushion stars, urchins and nudibranchs. Seagrass along the reef edge is worth checking for pipefish and seahorses. Because the water is so shallow it is a good site for confidence-building snorkel sessions, for children, and for photographers who want tame fish in bright light, and it is a pleasant, easy night dive with a straight steps-to-beach entry.

Its limitations are the same shallowness (nothing to see at low tide except exposed rock), the lack of any facilities and the crossing of Beach Road with gear. Most divers treat it as a starting point for a longer traverse: enter here at high water and drift south-east with the reef on the right to the yacht club beach, where a second car or a short walk back along the Bay Trail completes the loop.

On Beach Road at Beaumaris, park in Coronet Grove (residential street, free) and cross Beach Road carefully; there is no beachside parking. Take the steps opposite Coronet Grove down to the beach; the carry is about 80 m. Entry and exit are from the sand directly below the steps.

The reef lies immediately offshore and runs both ways along the coast, so the dive can go north-west toward Quiet Corner or south-east toward Tea House Reef. The yacht club car park and toilets are 400 m further south-east if you would rather start there and swim up.

Best with offshore light northerly to south-easterly winds. Avoid moderate to strong onshore southerly through westerly to north-westerly winds, which raise chop across the shallow reef flats, stir the sand and make the rock entries unpleasant; if you see white water over the reef from Beach Road, go elsewhere (Quiet Corner is the fallback). Dive just before high tide for the clearest water and enough depth over the reef top, which is exposed or awash at low water.

Visibility 3-8 m on a good day, better in winter, poor for two or three days after rain. No swell. Boat traffic outside the swimming zone is constant in summer, so tow a flag.

Enter below the steps, fin out over the reef flat, descend where it reaches 2 m and follow the outer ledge south-east toward Tea House Reef at 2-3 m, turn after 20 minutes or at half gas, and return along the inner gutters to the entry beach.

No commercial dive boat – shore site dived independently and by Melbourne dive shops for training and night dives (Scuba Culture in Cheltenham is the closest shop and uses the sanctuary regularly; Aquability and Melbourne Diving Services run club nights). Marine Care Ricketts Point runs guided snorkels in summer and Parks Victoria licensed tour operators run snorkel tours.