Point Ormond Reef is a small, shallow rock reef at the northern end of Elwood Beach that offers inner-suburban divers something other than pylons. The point itself is a low hill that was once an island and later a quarantine station; a stone breakwater runs off its base and the reef extends from it north-west in a broken line, with a flat top less than 2 m deep and sides dropping to 3-5 m onto sand. The dive follows the breakwater out and then the reef edge, and the most productive ground is the deeper western face where ledges and undercuts shelter leatherjackets, blennies, wrasse, sea urchins, cushion stars and the occasional octopus or cuttlefish, with stingarees and fiddler rays on the sand at the base.

Seagrass patches between the rock hold pipefish and seahorses for those who search. It is a modest site by Port Phillip standards and is more often snorkelled than dived, but its position 10 minutes from the city, combined with easy metered parking and a sandy entry, makes it a practical option for a quick evening or night dive, for training navigation, or for a second shallow dive after St Kilda Pier. Water quality is the main limitation: Elwood Canal discharges immediately south of the point and the site should be avoided after rain.

In calm easterly conditions with a high tide it is a pleasant, easy hour underwater and a good introduction to Port Phillip reef life for new divers, and the lookout on the hill above gives a useful view of the water before you commit to gearing up.

From St Kilda follow Marine Parade south to Ormond Esplanade, Elwood (10 minutes from the CBD). Park in the metered car parks at Elwood Park or Elwood Foreshore Reserve on the bay side of Ormond Esplanade between Buff Avenue and Normandy Road. Walk north along the beach about 150 m to the rock breakwater at the northern end, below the Point Ormond hill.

Enter from the sand beside the breakwater, follow the breakwater out, then turn right and follow the reef edge north-west. Exit back at the same beach. Elwood Sailing Club and Life Saving Club are just south of the point.

Best with light north-easterly to south-easterly (offshore) winds; avoid strong southerly through westerly to northerly winds, which push chop straight onto this open stretch of shore. Dive just before high tide for the clearest water and enough depth over the reef top. Visibility is usually 2-5 m and falls sharply after rain because Elwood Canal discharges beside the point.

No swell. Boat traffic from the nearby sailing club and passing craft means a flag is compulsory in practice.

Enter beside the breakwater, follow it out to its end at about 3 m, turn right along the reef edge heading north-west, exploring the ledges on the deeper (western) side at 3-5 m, turn at half gas or 25 minutes, retrace along the reef and breakwater and exit at the beach.

No regular commercial operator – dived independently and by Melbourne dive clubs and shop social-dive programs (Scuba Culture, Aquability, Melbourne Diving Services run occasional shore-dive nights at bayside piers); Ricketts Point-based snorkel tours run separately.