Sunderland Bay

Shore Dive | Shore access

Sunderland Bay | © Unknown

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 5 m (16 ft)

Sunderland Bay is a 200 metre wide gap in the basalt bluffs of southern Phillip Island, into which waves from Bass Strait break over extensive reefs and rocks and around a sea stack. This has produced a 300 metre long, south facing beach composed of sand and basalt cobbles.

Waves are lowered to about 0.5 metres by the time they hit the beach, which is steep and narrow, with no bar, but interesting reefs to dive to and explore off the beach. The Sunderland Bay Estate borders the eastern side, with parking available on the eastern bluffs and at the back of the beach, via a gravel road. The western side of the bay is bordered by the 40 metre high Sunderland Bluffs.

Just to the east of Sunderland Bay is Surfies Point where more interesting reef shore dives can be made.

Location: Sunderland Bay, Phillip Island, Victoria 3922
MELWAY Ref: Page 732 C7
Emergency Beach Location: A6a

See WillyWeather (Sunderland Bay) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

See also, Sunderland Bay and Surfie's Point in "Shore Dives of Victoria" by Ian Lewis, 3rd edition page 144.

Sunderland Bay is named after James Sunderland, who lived nearby, and became a Shire Councillor (Phillip Island Historical Society).

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.

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.

 

Sunderland Bay Location Map

Latitude: 38° 30.365′ S   (38.506081° S / 38° 30′ 21.89″ S)
Longitude: 145° 16.293′ E   (145.271548° E / 145° 16′ 17.57″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2019-06-07 04:30:56 GMT, Last updated: 2022-03-14 15:56:11 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Surfies Point, 957 m, bearing 111°, ESE
Phillip Island.
Depth: 1 to 5 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.