Stanley Crescent is the fourth of the five gullies that The Scuba Doctor lists along the Mount Martha cliff coast, and it forms a close pair with Ian Road only 320 m to its south-west – the two entries are near enough that they can be treated as alternative starts for the same stretch of reef, and a diver who finds one gully surgy can walk to the other. The source page carries the shared description: a 3–5 m shore dive with easy track access down a creek gully, suitable for Open Water divers, on 8 km of low cliffs between Balcombe Point and Martha Point. The reef below is the cliff-foot platform common to the whole coast – sandstone and basalt ledges and undercuts, boulder falls, brown algae and Sargassum, seagrass in the sand gullies – shelving gently to about 5 m.

The fish and invertebrates are the eastern bay's rocky-shore community: magpie perch, old wives, zebrafish, leatherjackets, hulafish and bullseyes, decorator crabs, small octopus and abalone in the cracks, fiddler rays, stingarees and flathead on the sand, and giant cuttlefish inshore in winter. Because Stanley Crescent and Ian Road are the southern pair, they are closest to Martha Point and the Safety Beach marina at Martha Cove, which means more boat traffic passing along the shore in summer than at the northern gullies and a shorter drive to the marina's facilities. The site is for self-sufficient shore divers who enjoy exploring low-relief reef with a flag and a camera, and for local snorkellers; it offers no depth, no structure to aim for and no facilities, and it is unpleasant in any westerly wind.

On a calm high-tide morning with an easterly it is clear, bright and empty, and the short hop to Ian Road makes a one-way dive easy.

From Mount Martha village follow the Esplanade south along the cliff top for about 4 km to Stanley Crescent, or approach from Safety Beach to the south. Park on Stanley Crescent or the Esplanade – residential streets with no formal car park – and take the walking track down the creek gully to the shore, 100–200 m with a moderate climb back. Enter over the rock platform at the gully mouth at high tide and swim out to the reef in 3–5 m.

Exit at the same gully or at Ian Road, only 320 m to the south-west.

The Mount Martha cliff coast faces west-south-west and is fully exposed to westerly and south-westerly winds, which raise a shore break over the rock platforms and make the gully entries slippery and surgy; anything above 10 knots from the west quarter is a poor day. Dive on easterly or north-easterly winds, at or near high tide so that the inshore platforms are covered. There is no current.

Visibility drops for a day or two after rain when the gullies run. Summer sea breezes arrive most afternoons, so mornings are the reliable window.

Enter at the gully mouth at high tide, descend as soon as there is 2 m of water and swim straight out to the 4–5 m reef edge, then follow the rock parallel to the cliffs with the shore on one side for a fixed time or gas fraction. Turn, return along the same line slightly shallower, and surface at the gully.

No regular operator – independent shore divers and snorkellers only.