The Holyhead was an A1-class four-masted iron barque of 2,237 tons, 89.6 m long, built at Liverpool by R.J. Evans & Co in 1889 – one of the last generation of big iron sailing ships – and, like the George Roper beside her, she was lost on her maiden voyage. She left Liverpool on 28 November 1889 for Melbourne, arrived off the Heads in February 1890 and failed to obtain a pilot; at about 3.30 pm on 12 February 1890 she struck the Lonsdale Reef. The Queenscliff lifeboat took off all 51 of her crew within hours. Salvage recovered part of the cargo before the sea broke her up.

The Scuba Doctor listing describes a debris field roughly 100 m long in 6–10 m: the steering gear and the rudder, broken in two, at the seaward end; hull plating and mast stumps; the windlass; and cargo of slate and railway iron scattered across the reef. Because it lies a little deeper and further out than the Roper the iron is less buried, and the site reads more clearly as a ship. Kelp and coralline algae cover the plates, crayfish and abalone are in the frames, and the fish are those of the outer reef – bluethroat wrasse, sweep, morwong – with seals passing from the point.

The listing's description of the environment is the key to the dive: heavy surge in a 'highly oxygenated white water zone', dived only between the end of the ebb and the start of the flood, on the flattest of days. That makes it, with the Roper, one of the least-visited historic wrecks at the Heads despite being within a few hundred metres of a car park, and one of the most rewarding for a diver with the experience to choose the day. A protected historic shipwreck.

As for the George Roper: from the Point Lonsdale lighthouse car park down the path past Buckley's Cave onto the rock platform (walkable near low water only) and a 250–300 m swim south-west over broken reef; or by boat from Queenscliff (10 minutes), standing off in deep water and dropping divers at ebb slack on a flat day. The wreck is a few metres seaward of the Roper in 6–10 m. Air fills Dive Victoria Group, Queenscliff.

Melway 499 J7.

Shore dives on the Point Lonsdale platform are only possible at slack water at the end of the ebb, in the 20–40 minute window before the flood begins to pour in over the reef; the Point Lonsdale Light listing warns 'do not attempt this dive with the incoming tide washing in over the Point Lonsdale Reef, as you will be easily swept away'. Slack water at Port Phillip Heads does not coincide with high or low water: it falls roughly three hours after high or low water at Point Lonsdale, and the usable window is typically 20–40 minutes. Use the Ports Victoria / Port of Melbourne slack-water predictions for The Heads (also republished by charter operators and WillyWeather 'Rip Bank') rather than a standard tide table.

The platform faces the Rip and Bass Strait: it needs a swell under about 1 m and no southerly or westerly wind – in practice a few days of northerlies or a dead-calm morning – and even then surge runs through the gutters. Winter brings 11–13 °C water and bigger swells; late summer and autumn give most of the workable days. Visibility on the platform is usually clear (5–15 m) because the water is straight from Bass Strait.

The listing: 'best to dive between the end of the ebb and start of the flood tide', and it warns of 'heavy surge' in a 'highly oxygenated white water zone'.

Reach the site at the end of the ebb, find the rudder and steering gear at the stern and work forward along the 100 m debris field over the hull plating, mast stumps and slate and railway-iron cargo to the windlass at the bow; include the George Roper 31 m inshore, and turn after 15–20 minutes to be off the reef before the flood.

No commercial operator runs these shore dives; Dive Victoria Group (Queenscliff) can advise on conditions and occasionally guides the platform for experienced groups. Dived independently by Bellarine and Geelong club divers on the rare calm ebb slacks.