Eagle Rock is a solitary rock standing off the cliffs below the Warrnambool Golf Club, about 900 m north-west of Thunder Point and east of Shelly Beach, and the reef that links it to the shore is one of the most rugged pieces of bottom on the Warrnambool coast. The Scuba Doctor describes a long finger-like reef extending about 30 m out from the shore toward the rock, with crevasses carved 5 m deep into the bottom and walls and caves cut into them, on a rocky seabed that continues to deepen gradually for about 2 km to seaward. The whole site faces south-west into the Southern Ocean and takes racing currents and rough seas, and it is that water movement, the Scuba Doctor notes, that makes it so rich in marine life. It is a well-known abalone and crayfish ground, outside the Merri Marine Sanctuary, and the crevasses and caves are where those animals live in numbers; the walls carry sponges, ascidians and bryozoans, the ridge tops kelp, and the fish are the western Victorian reef community with the sharks and rays that frequent the sanctuary next door – Port Jackson sharks, wobbegongs, eagle rays and stingrays – plus fur seals and the occasional passing school of salmon or kingfish in summer.

It is a boat dive, and an awkward one: the Warrnambool ramp is close but the run around Thunder Point is exposed, so the Scuba Doctor recommends the long run from Port Fairy instead. That, and the need for very good conditions, keeps traffic to a handful of local boats. Given a flat autumn day it is a more dramatic dive than anything inside the sanctuary, with genuine walls and caves in 10–20 m, and it suits experienced Open Water divers who are comfortable with current and surge. It also represents the reef that continues west from Thunder Point past Shelly Beach and Levy's Point toward Killarney – a long stretch of productive, almost undived coast reachable only by boat on the right day.

Boat access only. The Scuba Doctor recommends launching at the Griffiths Street boat ramp in Port Fairy and running east about 25 km along the coast (40 minutes) because the Warrnambool (Lady Bay) ramp, although only 3 km east of the site, involves rounding Thunder Point and its reefs and is more problematic in any swell. From either ramp, anchor on sand beside the finger reef, which runs out from the shore toward the solitary Eagle Rock.

There is no practical shore access across the golf course cliffs. Warrnambool Diving on Fairy Street supplies air.

Eagle Rock faces south-west into the Southern Ocean with no protection and is, in the Scuba Doctor's words, prone to surge and swell, with racing currents and rough seas that feed the marine life. It requires very good conditions – a low swell under about 1 m and light offshore northerly to easterly winds – and the boat trip from either ramp is exposed. Southerly and westerly weather closes it entirely.

Visibility is best after settled northerly weather in autumn. The Bonney Upwelling can bring cold, plankton-rich water in summer. Perhaps twenty diveable days a year.

Anchor on sand beside the finger reef in 12–15 m, descend and follow the reef toward Eagle Rock, dropping into the 5 m deep crevasses to explore the walls and caves cut into them. Work out toward the rock and the deeper terrain to 20 m, turn at half gas, return along the reef to the anchor and ascend the line with a 3-minute stop. Watch for current along the reef.

No regular operator – Warrnambool club divers with private boats, mostly abalone and crayfish divers; Warrnambool Diving on request.