The Southern Pinnacle

Reef Dive | Boat access

Depth: 6 m (20 ft) to 18 m (59 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

The Southern Pinnacle is the most southern portion of the shallow section of Beware Reef. It is dominated by a small dome of granite, that comes within 6 metres of the surface and due to its location is exposed to strong tidal currents and heavy swell from time to time.

There are extensive drop-offs that lie around the pinnacle mainly to the east, south and west. Once you get down below where the urchins have grazed the reef bare, there is much to see in the sponge beds for the photographer and exploring diver. Large sections of the rock face are covered with yellow Zoanthids, corals and sponges. So much so that many marine invertebrates seem to grow one upon the other.

The fish life on this site is dominated by mid-water species, such as the Butterfly Sea Perch, and Silver Sweep who feed constantly on the micro-organisms floating past in the water column. Keep your eyes open for the unexpected, as many visiting fish species and some invertebrates not usually seen along our coast have been observed at this site from time to time. Large humpback whales can pass quite close to this pinnacle in their annual migrations to and from Antarctica.

Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary

This dive site lies in the Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary which is a challenging place to dive, please take care.

Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary encompasses a series of pinnacles of granite rock rising 30 metres off the sea floor, with only a small section at its northern extremity rising some two metres above sea level. This underwater mountain range runs for just over one kilometre to the south-east from the drying part of the reef, and the marine sanctuary that protects this unique reef covers an area of 220 hectares. The reef lies five kilometres to the south-east of Cape Conran and about three kilometres offshore from the beach at Yeerung River.

Dive Sites

Dive sites at Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary include:

Beware Reef
Seal Gully
The Southern Pinnacle
S.S. Auckland shipwreck — wrecked in 1871
Ridge Park shipwreck — wrecked in 1881
Albert San (aka SS Brolga) steam trawler shipwreck — wrecked in 1926

There are many other great sites for the inquisitive diver to explore here.

Boat Launch

There is a boat ramp at West Cape, Cape Conran which is suitable for most vessels up to six metres and a 4WD is normally required for launch and retrieval. The ramp can be inundated with sand and kelp for short periods of time. Due to the shallow angle of the ramp, low tides can be difficult to launch and retrieve vessels.

The boat launch site is exposed to westerly/ south-westerly winds and ocean swells. Calm sea conditions with light northerly winds and higher tides is ideal.

From the boat ramp at West Cape, avoid 'prop rock' which is about 50 metres directly out from the ramp and very shallow at low tide, and head south until you round the cape. Once clear of the cape head in an easterly direction for about 4 kilometres. The exposed section of Beware Reef is visible on a clear day once you clear the tip of Cape Conran. Often whitewater can be seen breaking on the exposed reef before the bare rock itself is sighted.

Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary Boundaries

NW corner of sanctuary
Latitude: 37° 48.883′ S (37.81472222° S / 37° 48′ 53″ S)
Longitude: 148° 46.700′ E (148.77833333° E / 148° 46′ 42″ E)

NE corner of sanctuary
Latitude: 37° 48.867′ S (37.81444444° S / 37° 48′ 52″ S)
Longitude: 148° 47.717′ E (148.79527778° E / 148° 47′ 43″ E)

SW corner of sanctuary
Latitude: 37° 49.683′ S (37.82805556° S / 37° 49′ 41″ S)
Longitude: 148° 46.717′ E (148.77861111° E / 148° 46′ 43″ E)

SE corner of sanctuary
Latitude: 37° 49.667′ S (37.82777778° S / 37° 49′ 40″ S)
Longitude: 148° 47.733′ E (148.79555556° E / 148° 47′ 44″ E)

You are not permitted to carry a spear gun while snorkelling or scuba diving in Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary.

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.

Traditional Owners — This dive site does not lie in the acknowledged traditional Country of any first peoples of Australia.

The Southern Pinnacle Location Map

Latitude: 37° 49.458′ S (37.8243° S / 37° 49′ 27.48″ S)
Longitude: 148° 47.450′ E (148.790833° E / 148° 47′ 27″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2020-07-17 05:49:49 GMT, Last updated: 2021-07-17 00:30:56 GMT
Source: Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary Divers Guide
Nearest Neighbour: Beware Reef, 492 m, bearing 316°, NW
Depth: 6 to 18 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.