Geoff's Scallop Hole is named for Geoff Rodda, who harvested scallops here for many years, and it is one of two named scallop grounds The Scuba Doctor lists on the flat sand between Blairgowrie and Rye piers, a kilometre or so off the Whitecliffs shore near the Tyrone boat ramp. It is not a reef and there is nothing to see in the usual sense: the bottom is featureless sand at 10–17 m, and the dive is a drift whose purpose, in the source's words, is to cover enough ground to ensure you can fill your catch bag with great big fat juicy scallops. The commercial scallop (Pecten fumatus) lives partly buried on this sand and moves seasonally – into deeper, cooler water at 14–17 m in summer, and into the shallower 10–15 m band in winter – so the marks are a starting point rather than a fixed site.

Along the way divers meet the animals of the open sand: smooth stingrays and fiddler rays, flathead, sea squirts and stalked ascidians standing on the bottom, sand octopus, and, in late autumn, the large spider crabs that cross this ground on their way to the piers (inedible and not to be taken). The dive is a Port Phillip tradition, easy in depth and current, and a good introduction to drift diving and SMB procedure for divers stepping off the piers. It is also regulated: scallop diving in Port Phillip is subject to Victorian Fisheries seasons, bag limits, size limits and a recreational fishing licence, and the rules change, so they must be checked before every trip.

JL's Scallop Beds lie 670 m east on the same ground. Geoff's Scallop Hole suits Open Water divers with boat access who want a feed and an easy drift; it offers nothing to photographers or reef lovers.

Launch at Rye boat ramp (or the smaller Tyrone ramp) and head west for about 2 km to the marks off Whitecliffs – 5–10 minutes. The dive is run as a drift: the boat drops divers up-tide with an SMB and follows the float, recovering them when their bags are full or their time is up. No anchoring is needed and nothing marks the site; a GPS position and a sounder showing 10–17 m of flat sand are all that is required.

Open to the northerly and westerly winds that build a chop across the southern bay; best on light southerly to easterly winds and flat water. There is a gentle tidal drift this far inside the Heads which is what makes the drift technique work – enough to cover ground, not enough to be a hazard. Visibility is usually reasonable over the clean sand and better in winter.

The area lies on the boat route between Rye and Blairgowrie, so the tender must fly a flag and stay with the SMB.

Drop up-tide of the marks with an SMB, descend to the sand at 10–17 m (deeper in summer, shallower in winter), and drift with the current in a loose line collecting legal-size scallops and watching for rays and spider crabs. Ascend the SMB line with a safety stop when bags are full or time is up.

No charter runs scallop dives; private boats and Peninsula clubs during the scallop season. The Scuba Doctor (Rye) publishes the marks and sells catch bags.