Eagles Nest is the landmark of the Bunurong coast – a sandstone stack standing off the cliffs between Inverloch and Cape Paterson, famous as the site of Australia's first dinosaur fossil find in 1903 and the eastern gateway to Bunurong Marine National Park – and Parks Victoria names it, with Shack Bay, as one of the two shore access points for divers in the park. The reef is Cretaceous sandstone and mudstone rather than the granite and basalt of the Prom and Phillip Island, weathered into flat platforms, gutters and ledges that run seaward from the stack to 12–15 m, and the difference shows underwater: the rock is layered and undercut, the gutters are straight-sided, and the ledges form long shelves under which, in Parks Victoria's words, groups of Port Jackson sharks rest and southern rock lobsters shelter in the deeper areas. Kelp and mixed algae cover the platform tops; the gutter walls and ledge undersides carry sponges, ascidians and bryozoans; and the invertebrate life the park is known for – brightly coloured sea stars, feather stars, crabs, large marine snails – is everywhere.

Fish include zebrafish, sweep and blue-throat wrasse in numbers, with morwong, leatherjackets, old wives and boarfish, and because the park has been no-take since 2002 the crayfish and abalone are noticeably larger and bolder than outside it. Weedy seadragons and rays are seen in the sand-edged gutters. The dive is at its best at high tide on a flat northerly morning; at other times the platforms break and the gullies are dangerous.

Parks Victoria stresses that only experienced snorkellers and divers should visit and warns of strong currents, undertows and large unexpected waves. Eagles Nest is the Bunurong coast's signature dive – a marine national park reef with excellent invertebrate diversity under one of Victoria's best-known coastal landmarks – and it suits confident Open Water divers who can read a rock-platform entry.

From Inverloch take the Bunurong Coastal Drive (Cape Paterson–Inverloch Road) west for about 6 km to the signposted Eagles Nest car park on the clifftop (Inverloch is 145 km, 2 hours, from Melbourne). The car park has a wheelchair-accessible lookout path to the stack; steps and a track lead down to the platform and beach – a 5–10 minute carry. Enter through a gully in the rock platform on the sheltered side of the stack at high tide and swim out to the reef; exit the same way before the tide drops and the platform starts to break.

The Bunurong coast faces south-west into Bass Strait and is a surf coast; shore diving is only possible on a northerly or north-easterly wind with swell under about 1 m, at or near high tide for depth over the platforms, and preferably early in the morning. Parks Victoria warns of strong currents and undertows, large unexpected waves and sudden swell changes, so watch the forecast for the day, not just the morning. Visibility is best in autumn after settled weather and drops for days after a south-westerly blow.

Year-round in principle; autumn most reliable.

Enter through the gully at high tide, swim out past the stack and follow the reef seaward along a gutter to 8–12 m, then work parallel to the shore along the outer ledges where the Port Jackson sharks and crayfish sit. Turn at half gas or when surge builds, return along an inner gutter at 4–6 m and exit through the same gully. Snorkellers stay in the gullies close to the stack.

No dive shop on the Bunurong coast; sites are dived by independent divers and Melbourne/Gippsland clubs (SEADS – South East Australian Dive Society, Dive La Trobe, VSAG). Nearest air fills in Melbourne's south-east or by arrangement in the Latrobe Valley.