Dive slate · divesites.com.au · printed 7 Nov 2026
Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep
Port Phillip Heads, Victoria · near Portsea / Queenscliff
| Depth | 30–103 m |
|---|---|
| Minimum level | Technical (decompression) |
| Difficulty | Expert/Technical |
| Access | Boat |
| Entry | Giant stride or backward roll from a live boat onto a drop-shot; free ascent under DSMB, pick-up by boat |
| Current | Strong |
| Visibility | 5-15 m |
| Water | summer 17-20 °C, winter 11-14 °C |
| Suit | 7 mm semi-dry with hood and gloves, or drysuit; drysuit strongly preferred May–November |
| Best season | Year-round on slack water; February–May usually gives the calmest seas and clearest water |
| Bottom time | 15 min |
| Position | -38.30035, 144.63917 (GPS) |
| Permit | Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park – no take of any marine life; no permit needed for diving; Parks Victoria diver guide applies |
| Nearest chamber | The Alfred Hospital hyperbaric unit (Melbourne) |
| Emergency | 000 · DAN Asia-Pacific diving emergency 1800 088 200 |
Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep
Also known as Trimix Corner, Entrance Deep, The Hole
The descent point for Entrance Deep, Victoria's deepest known dive at 103 m in the drowned Yarra channel inside the Heads – black, barren, treacherous and for expert trimix teams only.
Near Portsea / Queenscliff · Port Phillip Heads, Victoria
- Depth
- 30–103 m
- Minimum level
- Technical (decompression)
- Access
- Boat
- Boat ride
- ~15 min
- Water
- 17-20 °C
- Visibility
- 5-15 m
Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep30–103 m · Technical (decompression)
Dive factsDepths, conditions, location & safety
Season
Off-peak nowBest months: February, March, April, May.
Year-round on slack water; February–May usually gives the calmest seas and clearest water
- Best months
- Now (November)
Dive facts
- Depth
- 30–103 m
- Typical depth
- 60 m
- Certification
- Technical (decompression)
- Difficulty
- Expert/Technical
- Depth tier
- Technical (40 m +)
- Access
- Boat
- Offshore
- 1 km
- Dive centre needed
- Yes – boat access only
- Shore / independent
- No
- Boat ride
- ~15 min
- Current
- Strong
- Visibility
- 5-15 m
- Water temp (summer)
- 17-20 °C
- Water temp (winter)
- 11-14 °C
- Water
- Temperate
- Bottom time
- 15 min
- Dive traffic
- Rarely dived (private boat/club only)
- Night dive
- No
- Snorkel friendly
- No
Exposure suit
7 mm semi-dry with hood and gloves, or drysuit; drysuit strongly preferred May–November
Location
Nepean side of The Rip · Port Phillip Heads – The Rip
-38.30035, 144.63917
Published GPS position.
Open in Google MapsDive site map (external) →Primary source: scubadoctor.com.auMarine park & permits
Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park – no take of any marine life; no permit needed for diving; Parks Victoria diver guide applies
Nearest recompression chamber
The Alfred Hospital hyperbaric unit (Melbourne)
Diving emergency: call 000, then DAN AP 1800 088 200.
Trip planner
Build a trip around Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep →
A day-by-day plan for Port Phillip Heads with this site locked in.
This guide is a planning aid. Conditions change daily — confirm with a local dive centre and dive within your training. Data & safety notes.
Dive profile
How this site rates
Scores are computed from the recorded data, not opinions. How?
At a glance
Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep is a wall boat dive in Port Phillip Heads, VIC, 30–103 m, suited to Technical (decompression) divers, strong current, about 15 minutes by boat.
Rated expert/technical because of depth to 103 m, strong current, boat traffic overhead, cold water.
Why dive here
- The descent point for Entrance Deep, Victoria's deepest known dive at 103 m in the drowned Yarra channel inside the Heads – black, barren, treacherous and for expert trimix teams only.
- Rarely dived: expect to have the site to yourself, and plan your own logistics.
Conditions to avoid
- Swell above about 1.5 m
- Strong southerly or south-east swell and wind
- Strong westerlies
- Outgoing tide or run-off after rain (poor visibility)
- Any time other than slack water
About Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep
Trimix Corner is the starting point for the deepest dive in Victoria. The Scuba Doctor listing gives the site a range of 30–103 m and describes it as the corner of the Nepean-side wall from which divers 'descend along the wall seeking the deepest spot' – Entrance Deep, 'Victoria's deepest known dive location at 103 metres, the bottom of the ancient River Yarra just inside the Port Phillip Heads in the main shipping channel'. It lies 28 m from the Nepean Wall mark; the recreational Nepean Wall dive and this one begin within a boat-length of each other and have nothing else in common.
The wall below 40 m is, in the listing's words, 'very black, barren and rocky, with incredibly treacherous currents'. The encrusting life of the upper terraces gives way to bare rock and rubble in the dark of the channel floor, and the interest of the dive is the place itself – the deepest point of the drowned river that carved The Rip, in the middle of the shipping lane through which the port's traffic passes. Sevengill sharks are the most likely large animals.
Everything about the dive is dictated by the tide. The slack is very short at the entrance, and the ascent must be made up the shot line for as long as possible, because once the ebb begins it 'will quickly push you back over Rip Bank with a minimum depth of 20 metres' – that is, a team on decompression will be carried out through the Heads, and the recovery happens outside in Bass Strait. That requires a dedicated surface team, agreement with Lonsdale VTS, calm seas and divers whose deco can be completed drifting in the open. It is a dive for a handful of the state's most experienced trimix divers, made rarely, and it is included here because it is the extreme end of the Port Phillip Heads system rather than because anyone should plan to do it.
Getting there & entry
The corner of the Nepean-side wall 28 m north-north-west of the Nepean Wall mark, from which technical divers descend to Entrance Deep – the 103 m bottom of the ancient Yarra channel in the main shipping lane just inside Port Phillip Heads.
Boat access only. Charter boats leave from Portsea Pier (Dive Victoria Group, Bayplay) and Queenscliff Harbour (Dive Victoria Group, Red Boats); run time is about 15 minutes. Private boats launch at Sorrento Boat Ramp (Point Nepean Road, Sorrento, all-tide concrete ramp with trailer parking) or Queenscliff Boat Harbour ramp (Larkin Parade, Queenscliff), roughly 15 minutes to the site.
The site is on the Nepean side of the entrance beside Nepean Wall, in the main shipping channel; the surface support boat must hold a shot line, track the team throughout and coordinate closely with Lonsdale VTS because deco is completed in the channel. Skippers must call Lonsdale VTS (Point Lonsdale) or listen to VHF 12 for shipping movements before dropping divers, and must carry a dive flag; anchoring is not permitted in the shipping channel, so a live boat and a drop-shot or drift float is the normal method.
Entry: Giant stride or backward roll from a live boat onto a drop-shot; free ascent under DSMB, pick-up by boat
Weather, swell & tides
It is dived only on slack water at the end of the flood (SWF), so that any current after the turn carries divers back into the bay rather than out through The Rip. Slack water at Port Phillip Heads does not coincide with high or low water: it falls roughly three hours after high or low water at Point Lonsdale, and the usable window is typically 20–40 minutes. Use the Ports Victoria / Port of Melbourne slack-water predictions for The Heads (also republished by charter operators and WillyWeather 'Rip Bank') rather than a standard tide table.
Being outside or right at the entrance, it is exposed to Bass Strait swell: anything over about 1.5 m from the south-west or south, or a strong southerly/westerly wind against the ebb, produces standing waves in The Rip and charters cancel. Northerlies flatten the entrance and give the best days. Visibility is best in late summer and autumn (Feb–May) when the water is clear and the westerlies have eased; winter brings 11–13 °C water and bigger swells but often the clearest days after a run of settled weather.
Heavy rain has little effect this close to the ocean. The listing's guidance is uncompromising: 'slack water is very short, and the ascent must be back up the shot for as long as possible as the outgoing tide will quickly push you back over Rip Bank with a minimum depth of 20 metres'; the ascent must begin while the incoming tide continues, and recovery may occur outside the Heads. Flat seas at the entrance are essential.
Best season: Year-round on slack water; February–May usually gives the calmest seas and clearest water
If it's blown out
Sheltered or shore sites within 25 km that often work when Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep doesn't.
- Portsea Pier · 7 km · Max 7 m
- Chinamans Hat · 8 km · Max 12 m
- Blairgowrie Pier · 13 km · Max 7 m
- Rye Pier · 18 km · Max 7 m
How the dive is usually run
Trimix team only. Descend the shot at the very start of the flood slack, follow the wall down from the 30 m corner to the target depth (60–80 m for most teams; 103 m at Entrance Deep for the very experienced), turn after a short bottom time, and begin the ascent up the shot before the slack ends; complete decompression drifting under a DSMB with the boat tracking, accepting that the ebb may carry the team back over Rip Bank and out of the Heads.
Marine life
- Sparse below 40 m – bare rock and rubble; sevengill sharks; the upper wall shares Nepean Wall's soft corals
- sponges and blue devils →
Linked species have their own page listing every site where they are recorded. All marine life →
Training required
Beyond recreational limits: decompression, mixed gas or full cave/wreck training is required.
Courses that help here
- Enriched Air Nitrox – Longer no-decompression time at 25 m and deeper.
- Drift Diver – Current is a feature of the dive.
- Drysuit Diver – Cold water; locals dive dry for much of the year.
Depth tiers: 0–10 m easy · to 18 m Open Water · 18–30 m Advanced (25 m+ is a deep dive) · 30–40 m Deep specialty · 40 m+ technical. All courses
Hazards & warnings
Extreme depth to 103 m; main shipping channel – full VTS coordination; very short slack, ebb carries decompressing divers out through The Rip over Rip Bank; treacherous currents; darkness; no recreational diving of any kind
Technical notes
Trimix with multiple deco gases and full team/surface support; bottom times of minutes; CCR strongly preferred; decompression drifting under DSMB with tracking boat, possible recovery outside the Heads; only on flat seas at the flood slack.
Dive centres that go here
No recreational operator. Dived only by experienced trimix teams from private and technical-club boats, occasionally supported by Dive Victoria Group or Red Boats as a dedicated technical charter. Entrance Deep at 103 m is Victoria's deepest known dive.
Operators recorded for Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep
The Scuba Doctor
ProfiledRye · Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
A Victorian equipment and service business with an extensive retail presence, located to serve both Melbourne and Mornington Peninsula divers.
scubadoctor.com.au · (03) 5985 3322
Diveline Scuba Centre
ListedFrankston · Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
A Victorian business associated with technical training and gas support alongside recreational courses.
diveline.com.au · (03) 9783 7166
Scubabo Dive Victoria (Dive Victoria Group)
Named by sitesQueenscliff · Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Rebranded as Scubabo Dive Victoria, Queenscliff; dive.scubabo.com is live for 2026 with active charter bookings.
dive.scubabo.com · (03) 5258 1188
Bayplay
Named by sitesPortsea · Port Phillip Heads · VIC
PADI dive resort and adventure tours.
bayplay.com.au · (03) 5984 0888
Red Boats
Reported closedPortsea · Port Phillip Heads · VIC
TripAdvisor marks RedBoats Portsea as permanently closed (last review November 2021) and the domain is now an unrelated boating blog.
Other dive centres in Port Phillip Heads
Aquability
ListedMordialloc · Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
A Victorian operation associated with technical diving training. Exact agency, course levels and gas support require verification.
aquability.com.au · (03) 9587 1811
Bay City Scuba
ListedEast Geelong · Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
A Victorian business associated with recreational and technical training alongside equipment and gas services.
baycityscuba.com · (03) 5248 1488
Scuba Culture
ListedBurwood · Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
A Melbourne business providing training and equipment support for local divers.
scubaculture.com.au · (03) 9808 0033
Scubabo Dive Victoria (Queenscliff)
ListedQueenscliff · Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
A Queenscliff operation, strategically located for access toward Port Phillip Heads.
dive.scubabo.com · (03) 5258 1188
Divein2Scuba (Geelong Dive Centre)
ListedGeelong · Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
A Geelong business providing training, equipment and local diving support.
divein2scuba.com · (03) 5221 3342
Ocean Divers
ListedBentleigh East · Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
A Victorian operation associated with recreational and technical training and access to Port Phillip diving.
oceandivers.com.au · (03) 9579 2600
Map
7 pinned sites. Pins marked approximate on their pages show the general area only; not for navigation.
Satellite views


Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep: frequently asked questions
How deep is Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep reaches a maximum depth of 103 m, with the shallowest part at about 30 m; most of the dive is spent around 60 m.
What certification do I need to dive Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
Technical (decompression) is the recommended minimum. Rated expert/technical because of depth to 103 m, strong current, boat traffic overhead, cold water.
Can I shore dive Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
No, it is reached by boat (about 15 minutes). A dive centre is required: boat access only.
When is the best time to dive Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
Year-round on slack water; February–May usually gives the calmest seas and clearest water.
What marine life will I see at Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
Regularly recorded: Sparse below 40 m – bare rock and rubble; sevengill sharks; the upper wall shares Nepean Wall's soft corals, sponges and blue devils.
What wetsuit do I need at Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
7 mm semi-dry with hood and gloves, or drysuit; drysuit strongly preferred May–November.
How cold is the water at Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
Typically 17-20 °C in summer and 11-14 °C in winter.
What are the main hazards at Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
Extreme depth to 103 m; main shipping channel – full VTS coordination; very short slack, ebb carries decompressing divers out through The Rip over Rip Bank; treacherous currents; darkness; no recreational diving of any kind. See the hazards section above for the full list.
Where is the nearest recompression chamber to Trimix Corner / Entrance Deep?
The Alfred Hospital hyperbaric unit (Melbourne). In an emergency call 000, then DAN Asia-Pacific on 1800 088 200.
Diving in Port Phillip Heads
The entrance to Port Phillip Bay is a 3 km gap through which the whole bay drains and fills twice a day, and the currents have carved walls, canyons and caves in the limestone: Lonsdale Wall, Nepean Wall, the Boulders, the Cave, the Canyons and Popes Eye. Outside the Heads lies the Ships' Graveyard, with more than 40 scuttled vessels including the J1, J2, J4 and J5 submarines, the SS Coogee and the Eliza Ramsden. Every dive here is on slack water and every dive is from a charter.
Getting there: Charters from Queenscliff, Portsea and Sorrento, timed to the slack. Ninety minutes from Melbourne.
All Port Phillip Heads dive sites and a suggested itinerary →
Sources
- scubadoctor.com.au/divesite.htm?site=Trimix-Corner
- scubadoctor.com.au/divesite.htm?site=Nepean-Wall
- scubadoctor.com.au/diveshop/index.php?main_page=divesite
Data confidence: High. Last updated September 2026. Know this site better? How to send a correction
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