The Grotto

Reef Dive | Boat access

The Grotto | © Phil Watson

Depth: 12 m (39 ft) to 18 m (59 ft)

The Grotto is named after the many small caves and large overhangs that form this site. Located on top of the Lonsdale Wall system, this area is teeming with marine life and a photographers dream. This site gradually increases in depth to around 23 metres in a system of interesting rock formations, overhangs and swim throughs.

The marine species commonly found at The Grotto include Southern Blue Devil, Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish), curious Leather Jackets, Draughtboard Shark, nudibranchs, mosaic sea stars, yellow sea spiders, Magpie Perch and Longsnout Boarfish . On occasion, Port Jackson Shark have been sighted snoozing in groups or singularly under rock ledges. The Grotto is one of the most popular dive sites, always enjoyable and great for new divers.

The Rip & Tides Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive within "The Rip" (aka "The Heads"). This is a dangerous stretch of water, where Bass Straight meets Port Phillip, which has claimed many ships and lives. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-the-rip before diving or snorkelling this site.

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.

Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes the coastline of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-east, the Bellarine Peninsula, and down to Cape Otway in the south-west. We wish to acknowledge the Wathaurong 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.

 

The Grotto Location Map

Latitude: 38° 17.107′ S   (38.285117° S / 38° 17′ 6.42″ S)
Longitude: 144° 38.357′ E   (144.639283° E / 144° 38′ 21.42″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-06 19:47:24 GMT
Source: GPS
Nearest Neighbour: 12lb Reef, 36 m, bearing 316°, NW
Depth: 12 to 18 m.
Dive only on: SWF, SWE.

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.