Melbourne area diving -- recommendations?

[Isistius]

Hi all,
I will be in Melbourne, VIC, May 26-June 8, 2008. Can anyone recommend any good shore dives in the area? Also, are there any must-dive sites (boat or shore) within a 2-3 hour drive? I'm hoping particularly to set my eyes on leafy sea dragons, draughtboard sharks, octos, and cuttlefish. Thanks.

cheers
Ben

 

[Sas]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/australia/226744-melbourne-diving-sites.html

There is a thread that might help you decide. Lonsdale Wall has been my favourite boat dive (but I am a new diver so other people may suggest better). Most dive sites are about 1.5-2 hours away from Melbourne as boats leave from Queenscliff or Portsea.

Leafy seadragons are plentiful under Portsea Pier - I have seen at least 2-3 each time I have dived there. Cuttlefish are pretty common too, I usually see one or two when I do a boat dive. Also there are lots of blue ringed octopuses under Portsea and Rye piers but are hard to find.

 

[Isistius]

Thanks for the info and link, that's useful.I think I'll try for a couple shore dives at Portsea pier as well as a boat trip. Any tips on finding blue-ringed octopuses? (i.e. specific habitats)

 

[Sas]

Well they are pretty tiny so I am sure there are better octopuses that live around to see. They are the only ones I have seen though (at Portsea Pier) so wasn't sure what else to suggest sorry! But yea, they hide in shells and things like that, and come out at night to feed afaik - don't touch them though if you see one as their venom is one of the most deadly in the world!

 

[Isistius]

Tiny is fine--I love macro life. Plus I'm just so darn sick of giant Pacific octopus (!). I am well aware of the blue-ringed's poisonous nature, that's part of their appeal! It makes sense you mentioned shells (thanks for the tip), because of a story a friend of mine tells about one visit to Australia when he was snorkelling and collecting empty shells. He had collected several shells, had no hands left to carry them, so decided to stick a couple in his speedo (don't ask). He returned to shore, pulled out the shells from his speedo to look at them, and out fell a blue-ringed octopus from one of the shells! I don't think he's ever used his bathing suit for shell collections again!

 

[stiebs]

If you want a shore dive, Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron and Mornington Pier are leagues ahead of Portsea Pier, IMO. Blue rings also love living inside old tires and tin cans under piers. In my years of diving around Melbourne, I've seen plenty of Port Jacksons, banjo's (fiddler ray), a couple of wobbegongs,some gummy sharks and a couple of cat sharks, but not a draughtboard shark.

If you're going to be doing any boat dives, Cottages by the Sea is a shallow reef (5-10m) but is also known for leafy sea dragons.

 

[Isistius]

Thanks for the tips, Froop. Any elasmobranchs will do!

 

[stiebs]

Thanks for the tips, Froop. Any elasmobranchs will do!

Well in that case, you're pretty much guaranteed to come across some sleepy port jacksons on Castle Rock.

(Okay, that was Jervis Bay near Sydney, not in Melbourne. But the same shark )

 

[thedutch]

Hi everybody,

I'm going to australia in a week and I'll be diving in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. I have arranged the Sydney dives adn the Perth dives but I'm having trouble finding a good boat operator in Melbourne. I'm looking at diving in Melbourne on Sunday May 25th 2008 and Saturday May 31st 2008. I wanna do boat dives if possible do you recommend a specific operator? or would you suggest going for shore dives. I'm open water certified but don't have many dives yet, I do have my own equipment but will be in Melbourne without a buddy. I would really appreciate your help.

Thanks in advance everybody,

The Dutch

 

[Sas]

Hey thedutch, I recommend Dive Victoria --> Welcome to Dive Victoria | Dive Victoria. They operate out of Portsea and Queenscliff, which are both about 1.5 hours out of the CBD.

That website has an itinerary you can look at in advance too.

I have a regular dive buddy now who I will be diving with a lot but I'm sure you'd be welcome to join us if you wanted someone to dive with or if he is not around, I'll be up for a dive. We will usually be doing a boat dive followed by a pier dive. We're both pretty new too (about 25 dives each) so won't be doing anything too hardcore PM me if you are interested.