Melbourne Dive Sites

No where else can you find such diving diversity as in Melbourne

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia has some of the most breath-taking marine life you'll want to encounter! Historic shipwrecks, stunning wall dives, temperate water reefs, fast drift dives, thriving kelp gardens, crayfish, abalone, scallops, dolphins and seals. It's all here in Melbourne.

"Melbourne Down Under", edited by Richard Fitzpatrick and Sheree Marris. Footage courtesy of Pang Quong, Richard Fitzpatrick, Dave Bryant and Sheree Marris.

You can see cuttlefish, nudibranchs, octopuses, seahorses, seadragons and stingrays on our world class local pier dives — easily accessible to everyone! In the Great Southern Reef we have a more colourful and abundant reef ecosystem than that of the world famous Great Barrier Reef. 80% of what you'll see here in Victoria is unique to the region. No wonder scuba diving in Australia began right here in Melbourne!

Here are some pages with more details about the diving sites Melbourne has to offer scuba divers. With so many different types of dives, we'll group them for you to make it easier.:

Pier and Shore Dives

• Melbourne Pier Dives — 10 things you may not know about diving Melbourne's piers, our Best 5 Melbourne Pier Dive Sites, plus details of other pier dives in Port Phiilip.
• Melbourne Shore Dives — information about the shore diving sites near Melbourne, Victoria.

Wreck Dives

• Melbourne Wreck Dives — there are warships, submarines, sailing clippers and more to dive on.
• ex HMAS Canberra Wreck Dive — explore the centrepiece of Victorian wreck diving.
• Victorian Ships' Graveyard Wreck Dives — explore an underwater cemetry in Bass Strait.
• J Class Submarine Wreck Dives — explore our piece of WWI maritime history.
• Port Phillip Heads Shipwreck Dives — wrecks to dive at the entrance to Victoria's Port Phillip.
• Port Phillip Wreck Dives — explore the shipwrecks of Port Phillip.
• Phillip Island Shipwrecks — explore some of the best wreck dives in Victoria.
• Underwater Shipwreck Discovery Trail — explore 21 historial shipwrecks in Victoria, Australia.
• West Coast Shipwreck Trail — guide to the Historic Shipwreck Trail on Victoria's West Coast.
• Victoria Wreck Dives — wreck dives other than those near Melbourne.

Boat, Bommie, Drift, Reef and Wall Dives

• Melbourne Boat Dives
• Melbourne Bommie Dives — details about magnificent bommie dive sites.
• Melbourne Drift Dives — go with the flow on these drift dives.
• Melbourne Reef Dives — have you dived on Australia's Great Southern Reef?
• Melbourne Wall Dives — details of dive sites on the walls of the underwater canyon in The Rip at the entrace to Port Phillip.
• Melbourne Other Dives

Diving For Crays, Abalone and Scallops

• Melbourne Cray Dives — dive sites where you can catch Crays near Melbourne
• Melbourne Abalone Dives — dive sites where you can catch Abalone near Melbourne
• Melbourne Scallop Dives — dive sites where you can catch Scallops near Melbourne

Dive Site Maps and GPS Marks

• Melbourne Dive Sites Map — an Interactive map of Melbourne and Victorian dive sites.
• Melbourne Dive Site GPS Marks — all of the Wreck, Reef, Wall, Drift, Bommie, Shore and Pier GPS marks we have for Melbourne and Victorian dive sites.
• Dive Sites — Full list of the dive site web pages.

If you need to hire dive gear so that you can go out and explore Melbourne's dive sites, please check out what we have to offer and make a booking. When you come to the dive shop to get the scuba rental equipment, we can let you know more about the dive sites you're looking to dive.

Melbourne Down Under Water Scenarios | © Pang Quong

Stay Safe Diving in Melbourne

Diving in Melbourne can be challenging, but if you can handle the conditions here, you can probably handle anything around the world. The Scuba Doctor has put together the following guides about certain aspects of Melbourne diving:

• Diving in Melbourne Currents — our guide to diving safely in Melbourne's strong currents
• Diving the Back Beaches — our guide to safely diving the Back Beaches of Mornington Peninsula
• Victorian Shipwreck Protected Zones — permits are needed to dive on these protected Victorian shipwrecks
• Dive Site Selection
• Weather, Tides, Conditions etc.
• Boat Diving Safety
• Using a Dive Float and Flag

We also suggest you familiarise yourself with the SDFV Codes of Practice 2005 (Adobe PDF | 62.35 KB) — Scuba Divers Federation of Victoria general operating guidelines for recreational scuba diving and related activities.

The best reference book on diving in Australia, inclusive of Melbourne and Victoria, is:
Dive Australia - A Scuba Divers Handbook (5th Ed)
RRP: $58.90, Our Price: $56, You Save $2.90 (5%).
Amongst many other things in this remarkable hardcover book of over a thousand pages you will find:
* 553 mono photographs
* 58 colour photographs over 16 pages
* 60 maps, and over half a million words
* state by state descriptions of over 2000 dive sites including shipwrecks, marine life and general terrain, including the type of diving available, be it from shore, boat or off (and under) a jetty, and any concerns that the diver need be aware of.