Some of Australia's best diving is at the end of a long ride: the Yongala from Townsville, the outer Great Barrier Reef from Cairns, the Abrolhos from Geraldton. This list ranks day-trip sites by the recorded boat time from the usual departure point.
Updated daily from the directory. 25 sites listed.
1. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
HMAS Bayonet
Boat ride: 110 min · An Attack-class patrol boat scuttled in 1999 and found in 2001 – upright and clean in 82 m off Cape Schanck with waterline marks still readable; a rare rebreather expedition dive.
2. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
South East Point (Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse)
Boat ride: 100 min · Granite walls plunging to 70 m with caves and swim-throughs directly beneath the Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse; the eastern Prom's deep wall.
3. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse Landing
Boat ride: 100 min · Granite walls and 10 m boulders below the historic lighthouse landing, with perch clouds and a century of lost lighthouse supplies on the sand.
4. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Waterloo Point
Boat ride: 85 min · A gently sloping, kelp-covered boulder field full of small crevices at the south-eastern end of Waterloo Bay; the eastern Prom's easy dive.
5. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Waterloo Bay, North Wall
Boat ride: 80 min · A 2 km granite wall of 10 m boulders, swim-throughs and overhangs from 10 m to 60 m with perch clouds and zoanthid colour; a repeat-worthy eastern Prom dive.
6. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Bare Back Cove
Boat ride: 75 min · Granite boulders with gorgonians, zoanthids and bearded cod in the crevices off a white quartz-sand cove; sheltered, snorkel-friendly and boat-diveable to 30 m.
7. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Brown Head Pinnacle
Boat ride: 75 min · A granite pinnacle rising from a 25–35 m sponge garden to 8 m, wrapped in clouds of butterfly perch, 100 m off Brown Head.
8. Surf Coast & Great Ocean Road · VIC
City of Rayville
Boat ride: 75 min · The first American merchant ship lost in WWII, intact and upright in 82 m off Cape Otway – Victoria's premier deep technical wreck.
9. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Larkin Cove
Boat ride: 75 min · Low granite swim-throughs and a 12 m cave at 7 m in a quiet quartz-sand cove on the eastern Prom.
10. Phillip Island & Western Port · VIC
TSS Coramba
Boat ride: 75 min · A Western District coastal steamer lost with all 17 hands in a 1934 storm, found by Southern Ocean Exploration in 2011 lying almost upside down in 66 m south of Seal Rocks.
11. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Horn Point
Boat ride: 70 min · A rocky wall to 20 m with basket stars, sea spiders, large sponges and occasional weedy seadragons and southern coralfish; the eastern Prom's macro dive.
12. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Refuge Cove, North Wall
Boat ride: 70 min · Boulder swim-throughs, caves and overhangs along the north shore of the Prom's natural harbour, with salmon hunting baitfish and big numbers of boarfish and perch; the eastern Prom's most accessible dive.
13. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Refuge Cove, South
Boat ride: 70 min · A sheltered 2–9 m boulder slope off the campsite beach in the Prom's natural harbour; the eastern coast's easy dive, snorkel and night dive.
14. Wilsons Promontory · VIC
Sealers Cove
Boat ride: 65 min · A gentle fringing reef of kelp-covered boulders with big numbers of boarfish and leatherjackets along the southern shore of the Prom's most famous cove.
15. Portland & the West · VIC
Discovery Bay Marine National Park (Whites Beach)
Boat ride: 60 min · Sponge-garden reefs in 30–60 m under the Bonney Upwelling's blue whale feeding ground, on Victoria's most exposed coast – an expedition frontier, not a day trip.
16. Portland & the West · VIC
Blowhole & Thunder Point, Lady Julia Percy Island
Boat ride: 55 min · An 18 m wide sea cave penetrating deep under Deen Maar, diveable only in a flat calm – few have seen it, fewer have dived it.
17. Portland & the West · VIC
Leopard Seal Reef, Lady Julia Percy Island
Boat ride: 55 min · Giant swell-scoured rock pools floored with car-sized boulders in 10–14 m on the wild southern side of Deen Maar, beside a sea cave and the seal colony.
18. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Bunyip
Boat ride: 50 min · An 1879 Renfrew-built Harbour Trust bucket dredge – one of the oldest hulls in the ground, scuttled in 1955 after breaking adrift in a storm – lying in about 58 m at the remote south-western edge.
19. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
D McLennan
Boat ride: 50 min · A 1912 Dutch-built bucket dredge bought from Batavia by the Harbour Trust and scuttled in 1949 – on sand in 58 m at the remote south-western edge, rarely dived and little documented.
20. Portland & the West · VIC
Lady Julia Percy Island (Deen Maar)
Boat ride: 50 min · Victoria's largest fur seal colony under basalt cliffs and sea caves 8 km offshore – the wildest big-animal dive in the state, for the few days a year the crossing allows.
21. Portland & the West · VIC
Landing Bay, Lady Julia Percy Island
Boat ride: 50 min · The sheltered northern cove of Deen Maar – the island's easy seal dive and the anchorage that is possible when the exposed sides are not.
22. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Batman
Boat ride: 45 min · A compact, easily navigated 1883 hopper barge and one-time Victorian Navy gunboat with a large upright boiler at the bow – the standard Melbourne technical training wreck.
23. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Beverwijk 19
Boat ride: 45 min · An upturned Dutch steam dredge with huge dredging cog wheels, boiler and propeller exposed; the last vessel scuttled in the Graveyard (1963).
24. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Dunloe
Boat ride: 45 min · An 1870 Clyde-built iron barque and coal hulk whose 1947 scuttling nearly ended in disaster – intact bow, blown-out stern, in 44–46 m beside the Batman; a technical training favourite.
25. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Euro
Boat ride: 45 min · A remarkably complete 1897 steam tug – triple-expansion engine, boilers, tow anchor, steering quadrant and even the toilets – with real penetration in 44–50 m.
Frequently asked questions
Is a long boat ride worth it?
Usually yes: distance from the coast means clearer water, healthier reef and bigger animals. Take seasickness precautions and expect weather cancellations on exposed runs.
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