Cape Conran is the granite headland between Marlo and the Yeerung River in East Gippsland, and its coastal park – with camping at Banksia Bluff, cabins, the East Cape boardwalk and the Cape Conran Nature Trail – is one of the few places on this long, empty coast where a diver can camp beside diveable water. Parks Victoria's visitor guide calls it a great park for water activities including swimming, diving, boating, fishing or rock pooling, and identifies Salmon Rocks Beach and West Cape, reached by the Nature Trail from Cowrie Bay, as the western shore. The granite of West Cape runs into the sea as boulders and ledges in 2–10 m, with bull kelp and mixed algae on the rock, sponge and ascidian patches in the shade, crayfish, abalone, crabs and sea stars in the crevices, and the East Gippsland fish community – wrasse, morwong, leatherjackets, sweep, zebrafish, luderick and the Australian salmon that give the rocks their name – with stingarees and flathead on the sand and, in warm summers, straying NSW species.

Fur seals from Beware Reef, 5 km offshore, patrol the cape. The dive suits beginners and snorkellers on a calm morning and is chiefly a way for divers camping at Cape Conran to get wet when a boat trip to Beware Reef is not possible; the boat ramp at Joiners Channel is a short walk away, and Cowrie Bay on the eastern side of the cape offers a sheltered alternative in westerly winds. Whales pass close in from May to October and dolphins surf the beach breaks.

From Marlo drive 18 km east on Cape Conran Road (Orbost is 15 km north of Marlo; 4.5 hours from Melbourne). The Salmon Rocks/West Cape car park is signposted at the western end of the cape, a short walk from the boat ramp at Joiners Channel; a track leads to Salmon Rocks Beach – 5 minutes with gear – and the Cape Conran Nature Trail continues around West Cape to Cowrie Bay and the East Cape boardwalk. Enter off the sand beside the granite and follow the rocks seaward; exit onto the beach.

Salmon Rocks faces west-south-west and is exposed to the prevailing south-westerly swell, but the granite of West Cape gives some shelter in the corner of the beach; dive on a northerly or easterly wind with swell under 1 m, at high tide, early in the morning. Cowrie Bay on the eastern side of the cape is the alternative in westerly weather. Summer and autumn; the East Australian Current can bring warm, clear water in late summer.

Enter at the eastern end of Salmon Rocks Beach beside the granite, follow the boulders seaward and around West Cape with the rock on your left to 6–10 m, exploring the gutters and kelp; turn at half gas and return along the same rocks to the beach. Snorkellers stay in the sheltered corner.

No operator; snorkelled and occasionally dived by campers at Cape Conran and Marlo and by visiting clubs.