Guided Dives With Giant Spider Crabs
Guided Scuba Dives With Giant Spider Crabs, © Sam Glenn-Smith
Every year from late-May to mid-June one of the world's most awesome aggregations of marine life happens in the southern waters of Port Phillip. Giant Spider Crabs come together to moult in the shallow waters, often showing up at local piers. For those wishing to see this stunning event up close and peronal, this Scuba Doctor Guided Dive is for you.
A feeding Smooth Stingray looking for a meal of Giant Spider Crab, © Sam Glenn-Smith
Tours begin with your friendly and highly experienced guide preparing you for the guided dive with information on the marine life you can expect to encounter, plus getting you kitted up with any hire gear (BCD, regulator, wetsuit, cylinder and/or weightbelt) you may need.
Giant Spider Crabs aggregating on a pier pylon, © Sam Glenn-Smith
Then you'll travel to nearby Blairgowrie Pier or Rye Pier where the Giant Spider Crabs carpet the seabed as they gather to moult. You might see them moulting, or watch predators like rays, birds, seals and dolphins come to feed on them while they're still soft after moulting.
An amazing aggregation of Giant Spider Crabs in full swing, © Sam Glenn-Smith
The Scuba Doctor hosted the BBC Natural History Film Unit in June 2016 and 2017 while they shot footage of the Giant Spider Crab aggregation for the documentary Blue Planet II.
Get up close and personal with thousands of Giant Spider Crabs, © Sam Glenn-Smith
During the Spider Crab Season, The Scuba Doctor can offer morning, afternoon and night guided dives to see the Weedy Seadragons at Flinders Pier. For date and time availability please call on (03) 5985 1700. We recommend booking in advance to secure your preferred dates.
Book your Discover Local Diving Experience now! It includes a Dive Professional supervised dive in an area (normally a local pier) on the Mornington Peninsula.
We will run with only one diver booking for just one guided dive, but we will accept up to four (4) people for a guided dive, and do up to three guided dives for the day. The third dive must be on the same day and at the same dive site as the second dive booking.
For more information, please about the guided dive experience, please see Guided Dives and FAQs About Melbourne Diving.
