Port Campbell Bay

Shore Dive | Shore access

Port Campbell Bay

Depth: 2 m (6.56 ft) to 12 m (39 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Port Campbell Bay is a protected shore dive on Victoria's Shipwreck Coast with a number of interesting possibilities for diving and snorkelling.

Port Campbell is the only town along this section of coast, and its beach is one of the few sheltered and relatively safe spots on a notorious stretch of exposed coast. The town and beach occupy a 200 metre wide, partially in-filled valley, where the small town spreads over the eastern slopes. The 150 metre long beach is bounded by the valley sides on the east and the entrance to Port Campbell Creek in the west. A reserve, car park and caravan park, together with the Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club, back the beach.

Diving and Snorkelling at Port Campbell Bay

Port Campbell | © Sally Watson

The narrow entrance to Port Campbell Bay reduces the waves to a height averaging 0.5 metre at the beach. These produce a moderately steep beach fronted by a continuous, narrow bar. Rips only occur during big seas. These big seas often erode the beach, exposing a rocky substrate. The occasional erosion also required a low seawall to be built along the back of the beach. The surf lifesaving club, which was formed in 1963, averages 4 rescues each year.

The cliffs along the western side of Port Campbell Bay are the most interesting. The wall is covered in all types of marine grass and plant life, which is a haven for fish, Crayfish, Nudibranchs and invertebrates to shelter in and around. The western shoreline offers some slightly deeper reefs and it also deepens closer to the entrance, however, there is also more swell.

There is also the Napier shipwreck to explore. Out further in the bay are the overgrown remains of old moorings made from engine blocks and gearboxes.

In deeper areas there are the usual Bass Strait fish including Wrasse, Herring Cale, Sea Sweep and schools of Bastard Trumpeter.

On the eastern side of Port Campbell Bay is the Port Campbell Jetty. A dive amongst the jetty pylons is enjoyable.

Port Campbell Bay Parking
© Google Street View

Location: Port Campbell, Victoria 3269

Parking: There is parking along the beach side of Cairns Street in Port Campbell.

Entry/Exit: Entry is from the shore in front of the Surf Life Saving Club. Follow the reef wall on the right with a old river bed to the left. Boats often go over this area, so the use of a Diver Below Flag and float is advisable.

Ideal Conditions: Best dived on a low tide with a low swell with an offshore westerly to easterly wind. See WillyWeather (Port Campbell Bay) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide. Viz can be from 3 metres to 20 metres depending on the weather.

Crayfish Dive Site | © Ian Scholey

Divers have the opportunity to catch Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish) at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, rock lobster measure, and cray tags. Once you get back to the dive boat, or shore, make sure you clip the tail and tag your Crayfish as per Fisheries requirements. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch crays. See article-catching-crayfish for practical cray hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-cray-dives for a list of other crayfish dive sites near Melbourne. For tips on cooking your Crays, please see article-cooking-crayfish.

Eastern Maar country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Eastern Maar people of south-western Victoria between the Shaw and Eumerella Rivers and from Yambuk in the south to beyond Lake Linlithgow in the north. This truly ancient Country extends as far north as Ararat and encompasses the coastal townships of Port Fairy in the west, Warrnambool, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, Lorne, and Airies Inlet in the east, including the Great Ocean Road area. It also stretches 100 metres out to sea from low tide and therefore includes the iconic Twelve Apostles. "Eastern Maar" is a name adopted by the people who identify as Maar, Eastern Gunditjmara, Tjap Wurrung, Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrung, Kuurn Kopan Noot and/or Yarro waetch (Tooram Tribe) amongst others. We wish to acknowledge the Eastern Maar as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging.

 

Port Campbell Bay Location Map

Latitude: 38° 37.171′ S   (38.619521° S / 38° 37′ 10.28″ S)
Longitude: 142° 59.555′ E   (142.992576° E / 142° 59′ 33.27″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2021-05-28 18:19:13 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-24 05:22:16 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Port Campbell Jetty, 188 m, bearing 206°, SSW
Port Campbell, Shipwreck Coast.
Depth: 2 to 12 m.

DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.