Bastion Point is the rocky headland at the southern side of the Mallacoota Inlet entrance, the site of the town's ocean boat ramp and breakwater and the northern end of the wild stretch of coast that runs south past Secret Beach, Quarry Beach and Betka to Shipwreck Creek and the Croajingolong wilderness. Visit Mallacoota lists shore-based diving from Bastion Point to Shipwreck Creek with a wide range of marine life within earshot of the car park, and the point is the most accessible of it. The reef is granite and metamorphic rock running out from the platform in 2–12 m, kelp-covered on top and undercut along the gutters, and the marine life is East Gippsland's transitional mix: morwong, parrotfish (blue-throat and other wrasses), sea sweep, luderick and drummer over the reef; abalone, sea urchins and crayfish in the crevices – this is one of Australia's most productive abalone and urchin coasts, and the 15 abalone and 8 urchin licence-holders based in the town work these reefs; seahorses and pipefish in the weed; mussels and oysters on the platform; and rays and flathead on the sand.

Little penguins, dolphins and seals from Gabo Island are regular in the water off the point and whales pass close between May and November. Warm East Australian Current water reaches here in late summer, bringing clear water and the odd tropical stray. Bastion Point is the only place in Mallacoota where a diver can park, gear up with toilets nearby and walk into a reef, and it is where locals snorkel; south of it the beaches need longer walks and more swell judgement.

There is no dive shop, no air and no guided diving in the town, so the site suits self-sufficient divers passing through on the Princes Highway or staying for the fishing and the inlet, and it is the natural shore dive to pair with a charter run to Gabo Island. Recreational take limits apply (5 abalone, 40 urchins per day); Cape Howe Marine National Park lies further east beyond Gabo.

Mallacoota is 520 km (6.5 hours) from Melbourne and 3 hours from Merimbula via the Princes Highway and Genoa; Bastion Point is 2 km south of the town at the end of Bastion Point Road, with a large car park, toilets and the ocean boat ramp and breakwater. The carry to the beach or platform is 50–150 m. Enter off the sand on the sheltered side of the point or through a gully in the platform at high tide and swim out to the reef; exit the same way.

Visit Mallacoota notes a wide range of marine life within earshot of the car park along the coast from Bastion Point south to Shipwreck Creek.

Bastion Point faces south-east and is exposed to southerly and easterly swell; the reef is diveable on a westerly or north-westerly wind with swell under 1 m, at high tide, and is unworkable in the easterly swells that also close the Bastion Point ramp. The inlet entrance immediately north produces strong tidal outflow and discoloured water on the ebb after rain, so dive on the flood. Late summer and autumn are best, when warm East Australian Current water reaches the far east coast; winter is clear but cold and rough.

Whales pass May–November.

Enter on the sheltered side of the point at high tide on the flood, follow the reef south along the platform edge with the shore on your right through the kelp and gutters to 8–12 m, turn at half gas and return along the same edge at a shallower depth, exiting where you entered. Stay well south of the inlet entrance and the boat ramp channel.

No dive shop in Mallacoota. Shore diving is independent; Mallacoota's 15 commercial abalone and 8 sea-urchin divers work this coast. Charter boats (Mallacoota Fishing Charters and Tours, Wilderness Coast Charters, Gabo Island Escapes) run to Gabo Island but do not offer guided diving; air fills are not available locally – bring cylinders or a compressor.