Middle Reef is the stretch of Ricketts Point sanctuary between the teahouse bay and the life saving club, centred on a broad intertidal platform that dries at low water and is ringed by shallow ledges. It is not a deep dive by any measure; the published range is 1-3 m and much of the dive is spent at snorkelling depth along the reef edge. What it does offer is a good look at the sanctuary's intertidal and shallow subtidal life without crowds, because most visitors stop at the teahouse or go on to the life saving club beach.

The reef edge is undercut in places and the overhangs shelter moonlighters, old wives, zebrafish, blennies and juvenile snapper; scalyfin guard their algae gardens on the flat; cushion stars, urchins and nudibranchs crowd the rock; and the sand and seagrass patches on the seaward side hold flathead, fiddler rays, pipefish and the occasional seahorse. Octopus are frequent in the holes and easy to find at night. Because of the shallow depth it is best at high tide, when there is enough water to swim over the platform edges, and it is a very good night dive: the reef is close to the beach, the edge is easy to follow and the return is straightforward.

It is also a useful site for snorkel-based training and for divers wanting to practise shallow buoyancy without touching anything. Middle Reef, Triangle Reef and Table Rock can be linked into one long southward traverse for fit divers with a second car at Rennison Street.

Park in the ticketed car park off Beach Road south of the Ricketts Point teahouse (the southern car park). Take the path down to the beach, a carry of around 80 m, and enter from the sand where the path ends. Head west from the beach, follow the edge of Middle Reef south-west, then explore the structures toward Ricketts Point itself before returning.

You can exit by retracing the route to the entry beach or, at high tide, by scrambling carefully over the reef, which is not recommended in gear. Showers are 200 m south at Beaumaris Beach near the life saving club.

Best with offshore light northerly to south-easterly winds. Avoid moderate to strong onshore southerly through westerly to north-westerly winds, which raise chop across the shallow reef flats, stir the sand and make the rock entries unpleasant; if you see white water over the reef from Beach Road, go elsewhere (Quiet Corner is the fallback). Dive just before high tide for the clearest water and enough depth over the reef top, which is exposed or awash at low water.

Visibility 3-8 m on a good day, better in winter, poor for two or three days after rain. No swell. Boat traffic outside the swimming zone is constant in summer, so tow a flag.

Enter at the path, fin west, descend at the reef edge and follow it south-west at 2-3 m to the point, poke into the gutters and overhangs, turn at half gas or 25 minutes and return along the same edge to the entry beach rather than crossing the reef flat.

No commercial dive boat – shore site dived independently and by Melbourne dive shops for training and night dives (Scuba Culture in Cheltenham is the closest shop and uses the sanctuary regularly; Aquability and Melbourne Diving Services run club nights). Marine Care Ricketts Point runs guided snorkels in summer and Parks Victoria licensed tour operators run snorkel tours.