Ranked for photographers who shoot small: sites recording seadragons, seahorses, pygmy pipehorses, nudibranchs, frogfish and cephalopods, weighted toward the sheltered piers and shore reefs where you can spend an hour on one pylon.
Updated daily from the directory. 30 sites listed.
1. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Blairgowrie Pier
The best pier dive in Australia: seadragons, cuttlefish, frogfish, seahorses and the spider crab aggregation in May.
2. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Rye Pier
Seahorses on nearly every pylon, the annual giant spider crab aggregation, big stingrays and superb night diving – all in 7 m from a car park.
3. Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
Queenscliff Pier
Queenscliff's training pier with oceanic-flushed visibility and richly grown piles; the sheltered base for a Heads diving weekend.
4. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Flinders Pier
Weedy seadragons almost guaranteed in 5 m of water on Western Port.
5. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Portsea Pier
Port Phillip's oldest dive pier, with sea dragons and night-dive octopus.
6. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Dromana Pier
Ultra-shallow training and night dive with the pylons and rail wheels of the old jetty 200 m out; sheltered from southerlies by Arthurs Seat.
7. Portland & the West · VIC
Portland Lee Breakwater
Portland's sheltered training and night dive: seadragons in the seagrass, conger eels, crays and nudibranchs along a kilometre of rock wall, with penguins on the rocks after dark.
8. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Rosebud Pier
Uncrowded pier with rich seagrass nursery; seahorses and rays without the Rye crowds.
9. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Point Lonsdale Jetty
A small pier at the western jaw of The Rip with oceanic-clear water and thick pile growth – seahorses and nudibranchs under the deck, Heads reef patches beyond – for experienced divers at slack water only.
10. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Mornington Pier
Deepest of the northern piers with a reef along Schnapper Point; cuttlefish, seahorses and squid; diveable when southerlies blow out everything else.
11. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Portsea Hole
A 75 m vertical calcarenite wall from 12 m to 27 m with a sand bowl to 33 m, 500 m off Portsea Pier – sixteen sponge species, clouds of perch and Victoria's standard deep-training dive.
12. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Sorrento Pier
One of Melbourne's best night dives: colourful sponge-covered ferry pylons, weedy seadragons and antique bottles under an 1870 pier.
13. Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
St Leonards Pier
The Bellarine's best pier: 4-6 m of sheltered, weedy water with seahorses, stargazers and cuttlefish, an 1850s wreck's ribs, and superb night diving.
14. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Black Rock Jetty, Half Moon Bay
Sheltered bayside jetty beside the Cerberus hulk; one of Melbourne's favourite spring night dives for bioluminescence.
15. Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
Clifton Springs Piers
Ruins of a Victorian spa resort's piers in shallow, sheltered water full of seahorses and nudibranchs; historic bottles and a good night dive.
16. Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
Clifton Springs Steamship Pier
Heritage-listed remains of an 1890 steamer pier with rails and fittings on a shallow seagrass bottom; seahorses and a quiet night dive.
17. Phillip Island & Western Port · VIC
Cowes Jetty
Phillip Island's easiest and most reliable dive – a long Western Port pier with seahorses, crabs and octopus on the pylons, ideal for night dives and check-outs.
18. Surf Coast & Great Ocean Road · VIC
Lorne Pier
The only pier dive on the Otway coast: seahorses, cowfish, crabs and rays on the pylons and sand in a few metres of water, with a car park and cafe beside the entry.
19. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Middle Brighton Pier
Melbourne's standard training and night-dive pier with a sheltered breakwater full of critters and good facilities.
20. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Point Ormond Reef
Natural reef and breakwater ten minutes from the CBD; simple navigation and a sandy entry make it a handy snorkel or quick night dive.
21. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Portsea Pier East Reef
Nursery reef under the Portsea moorings to 11 m, linking the pier to Point Franklin; young fish, seadragons and macro life in clean water.
22. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Seaford Pier
Easy, very shallow seagrass pier dive beside Seaford station; garfish schools in the weed and simple night diving.
23. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
St Kilda Pier
Extensive seagrass nursery beside a landmark pier reachable by tram; good macro and night diving close to the city.
24. Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
Andersen Reserve, Indented Head
Calm, sheltered seagrass shallows at the Batman landing site with seahorses and nudibranchs; a picnic-reserve dive with everything close at hand.
25. Geelong & Bellarine · VIC
Curlewis
Sheltered north-facing Corio Bay beach with seahorses, pipefish and nudibranchs in seagrass and hydroid beds; a quiet refuge from southerlies.
26. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Banksia Point, Ricketts Point
Quietest entry in the sanctuary; very shallow close-in reef for snorkelling, children and relaxed night dives.
27. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
McGregor Rock, Quiet Corner
The sheltered fallback corner of Ricketts Point; profuse fish life over shallow ledges when other bayside sites are blown out.
28. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Middle Reef, Ricketts Point
Uncrowded shallow reef edge between the teahouse and the life saving club; simple night dive and a good intertidal-to-subtidal study site.
29. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Popes Eye
An 1880s fort foundation turned marine reserve: a sheltered inner lagoon packed with tame fish, an outer wall of gorgonians and feather stars to 14 m, nesting gannets overhead and seals dropping in – the most reliable easy dive at the Heads.
30. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary
Melbourne's flagship marine sanctuary: eight shallow reef entries, tame fish, sea caves and seagrass twenty minutes from the CBD, perfect for beginners, snorkellers and night dives.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best macro diving in Australia?
The piers of the Mornington Peninsula (Blairgowrie, Rye, Portsea, Flinders), the Yorke Peninsula jetties (Edithburgh), Nelson Bay's Fly Point and the Pipeline, and Sydney's Kurnell, Bare Island and Clifton Gardens.
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