Surfies Point is the basalt headland at the eastern end of Sunderland Bay's Esplanade, named for the surf break that forms on its reefs, and it is the most marginal of the south-coast shore dives that Scuba Doctor lists. The listing covers Surfies Point West and East together: wide intertidal and shallow subtidal platforms of basalt on either side of the point, cut by gutters and channels, with depths of only 1–5 m. On the rare mornings when the swell drops right away, those channels are worth exploring.

They are floored with cobbles and sand, walled with kelp and coralline algae, and undercut into small ledges holding abalone, crabs, shrimp and the occasional crayfish; the platforms above are covered in Neptune's necklace, sea stars and chitons, and wrasse, zebrafish, leatherjackets and juvenile morwong move through the gutters with the surge. Spearfishing potential is noted. The strong currents over the reefs are the defining hazard – even a small swell pushes water across the flat platforms and it drains back through the gutters with surprising force – and the site is better treated as an adventurous snorkel-and-scuba exploration for divers used to rock platform entries than as a standard dive.

Its neighbour Sunderland Bay, 1 km west, offers the same kind of reef with a beach entry and less water movement, and most divers choose it. Surfies Point earns its listing because the reef here is extensive and the point is the last accessible piece of coast before the cliffs run east to Cape Woolamai; on a flat day it is uncrowded and has a wilder feel than the beaches. Check the surf report as well as the swell forecast: if there is a rideable wave at Surfies, there is no dive.

From the Phillip Island Tourist Road turn into Sunderland Bay Road and then along The Esplanade, which runs along the clifftop; Scuba Doctor advises parking along The Esplanade with the most convenient spot where Batman Avenue ends. Tracks lead down the low bluff to the rock platform; the carry is short, 50–150 m, but over uneven basalt. Entries are through gutters in the platform on the western or eastern side of the point depending on swell direction.

Sunderland Bay beach, 1 km west, is the alternative easier entry.

A surf point on the open south coast where, in Scuba Doctor's words, Bass Strait waves break across extensive reefs; it is only diveable in near-flat conditions with an offshore northerly and a swell of well under a metre, around high tide so there is water over the platforms. The listing warns that although the shore is low, there are strong currents over the reefs, generated by waves pushing water across the platforms and draining out through the gutters. Surfers use the point whenever there is swell, which is most of the time.

Dive early on the calmest mornings of a northerly spell, mostly in late summer and autumn.

Enter through a gutter on the lee side of the point at high tide, swim out along the gutter to the outer edge of the platform at 3–5 m and work along the reef face parallel to shore, staying in the deeper channels. Turn early – at a third of gas – because the return is against any wave-driven current, and exit through the same gutter. Abort if sets begin breaking on the outer reef.

No dive shop or dedicated dive charter is based on Phillip Island. Sites are dived by Melbourne clubs (VSAG, Melbourne University Underwater Club, Frankston/Peninsula clubs) and private boats launched at Newhaven or Rhyll; Mornington Peninsula shops (Dive Victoria Group, Portsea; The Scuba Doctor, Rye) run occasional Phillip Island days. Ocean Adventures Phillip Island (Cowes) runs seal-snorkel tours only.