Portsea Back Beach Wall

Reef Dive | Boat access

Depth: 17 m (56 ft) to 26 m (85 ft)

Level: Advanced Open Water and beyond.

Portsea Back Beach Wall is just outside Port Phillip Heads on the Point Nepean side. The wall runs East to West offshore from the Porstsea Back Beache in Bass Strait, Victoria. It lies an area of scattered reef with depths ranging from 12 to 30 metres.

The sea life in this is area is prolific with Blue Devils, Weedy Seadragons, Seals, Abalone and much more. Crayfish abound under ledges and often they are found in the open, walking around unafraid. Schools of Snapper, Kingfish and Barracouta have been sighted here.

There are so many reefs covering a huge area along the coast here that it's hard to describe the many different sites in this area. Subject to swells and a slight current, it's very weather dependant.

The Soft calcium that comprises most of the terrain in this area has eroded into lots of little swim throughs valleys and overhangs all topped off with a light scattering of kelp. This is a fantastic dive site for an avid fish photographer.

Bass Strait Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive in Bass Strait on Victoria's coastline. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-in-bass-strait before diving or snorkelling this site.

Abalone Dive Site
© Mark Norman, Museum Victoria

Divers have the opportunity to catch Abalone at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, legal abalone tool, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, and abalone measure. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch abalone.

See article-catching-abalone for practical abalone hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-abalone-dives for a list of other Abalone dive sites near Melbourne.

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.

Boon Wurrung / Bunurong country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Boon Wurrung / Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes parts of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-west, down to Wilson's Promontory in the south-east, including the Mornington Peninsula, French Island and Phillip Island, plus Western Port. We wish to acknowledge the Boon Wurrung as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Bunjil the Creator Spirit of this beautiful land, who travels as an eagle, and Waarn, who protects the waterways and travels as a crow, and thank them for continuing to watch over this Country today and beyond.

 

Portsea Back Beach Wall Location Map

Latitude: 38° 20.787′ S   (38.34645° S / 38° 20′ 47.22″ S)
Longitude: 144° 41.595′ E   (144.69325° E / 144° 41′ 35.7″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-08 00:17:57 GMT
Source: GPS
Nearest Neighbour: Toms Reef, 312 m, bearing 134°, SE
Depth: 17 to 26 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.