Refuge Cove, North Wall

Wall Dive | Boat access

Depth: 5 m (16 ft) to 20 m (66 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Refuge Cove, North Wall, on the eastern side of Wilsons Promontory, is suitable for both snorkelling and scuba diving. It has boulders sloping down to a sandy bottom at a depth of 14 metres. Refuge Cove, North Wall lies in the Wilsons Promontory Marine Park facing south-east into Bass Strait. There are groups of boulders forming, swim throughs, caves, and overhangs.

Refuge Cove, as the name implies, offers protection and refuge from the ocean. For 200 years, sailors and boaters have used this cove to escape the hazards of Bass Strait and as a safe and attractive anchorage. The entrance to the cove is 400 m wide and opens up inside to reach 1 km across. The cove is surrounded by steep forested slopes, rising to 200–300 m. A walking track connects the cove with Sealers Cove to the north and Waterloo Bay to the south. A camping area is located behind the southern beach. Refuge Cove houses two sandy beaches; both composed of pure, rounded, yellow quartz grains. The coarse quartz and low waves produce steep beach faces and deep water close to shore. The cove is therefore ideal for boat anchorage. The northern beach faces south-east toward the entrance, while the smaller southern beach faces due north, and is the preferred anchorage. Dense vegetation grows right to the back of the beach, with the camping area located under the trees. A creek cuts through the vegetation and across the eastern end of the beach.

Diving and Snorkelling at Refuge Cove, North Wall

The north wall of refuge Cove is an easy dive but certainly not boring. There are numerous boulders covered in kelp offering swim throughs and large quantities of marine life. It's not uncommon to see schools of Bait Fish being followed by schools of Salmon. Other fish including Blue Throat Wrasse, Long Nose Boarfish and Barber Perch are also present and in large numbers.

The best way to see this site is to be dropped off at the point of the cove and swim west into the cove itself.

The site is sheltered from most wind conditions even when easterlies prevent diving elsewhere. However, it can be prone to surge during an easterly swell.

Ideal Conditions: Refuge Cove, North Wall is best dived with calm seas, no swell and no wind. Light offshore north-westterly to northerly winds may be acceptable. Avoid strong onshore north-easterly to southerly winds. See WillyWeather (Refuge Cove) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

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.

Information for Boat Users

Boat users only require a permit if camping on land overnight. A ranger may be present at Refuge Cove and Sealers Cove.
Overnight camping for boat visitors is permitted for two nights in designated areas.
Generators are not permitted on shore. Use of compressors to fill scuba cylinders is only permitted on North Refuge Beach.
To prevent the spread of the Northern Pacific Seastar, please ensure that all watercraft and equipment are clean and dry before and after entering watercourses.
Tying stern lines to vegetation is prohibited.
Fishing is not permitted in Marine National Parks. Fishing is permitted in Marine Parks.

See also, Parks Victoria: Refuge Cove.

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.

Refuge Cove, North Wall Location Map

Latitude: 39° 2.195′ S (39.03658° S / 39° 2′ 11.69″ S)
Longitude: 146° 28.165′ E (146.469422° E / 146° 28′ 9.92″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2019-03-14 06:34:13 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-22 19:05:42 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Refuge Cove, South, 645 m, bearing 215°, SW
Wilsons Promontory Marine Park.
Depth: 5 to 20 m.

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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.