need advice for melbourne diving...asap!! thanks

[cwan]

hi! i'm visiting from the states and am staying south of melbourne (in mckinnon) next week, feb 4-12, and am hoping to fit some dives in. am having a hard time locating dive shops in the area.. they all seem to be around portsea, which is a good 2 hours away. any suggestions... know of any dive shops that run dive trips, or any portsea ones that do pick-ups? any info would be greatly appreciated. thank you thank you-
cordia

 

[HBO MD]

You're right. Most dive stores are down in Portsea because that's where the dives are, or alternately that's where many of the clubs leave from. However, there are still many stores in the local areas.
You might want to contact:
Aquatic Adventures
Aquatic Adventures - (03) 9763 9196
Dive Experience
SCUBA Diving with Melbourne's Best - Dive Experience - (03) 9397 5066
Aquatic Adventures

Good luck.

 

[lyricnz]

Sorry - can't help you, I live about halfway between you and the diving.

However, if you're up for diving down that way, and don't mind taking the suburban train - you can always get on the Frankston line at McKinnon Railway Station, and take it all the way to the end (about 40 minutes). Then any number of people could pick you up from Frankston on the way through.

Of course, you wouldn't want to do this with too much gear (are you renting?). Don't attempt the bus from Frankston to Portsea, it takes FOREVER (about 1.5 hours)

Hopefully you find a better option than this!

 

[Ghanguss]

Try asking here - diveoz.com.au/discussion_forums/default.asp
Im from Sydney and dont know that area at all but theres plenty in diveoz that do!

 

[tangler]

Sorry this is a bit late but I guess it might be useful for someone.

There are plenty of retail dive shops in metro Melbourne but a car is essential to get to the good diving, as it's all a 1½ hr drive from the city. However the good thing is the logistics and water conditions of diving around Melbourne tends to weed out the casual "holiday" divers that plague warm water areas, leaving mostly the hardcore dive addicts. These folk are almost always up for a dive even when the water temp is 10°C in the middle of winter, so I reckon any visitor could easily meet up with some willing locals via DiveOz and so forth. Failing that then the best bet is to tee up a rental car and get some accomodation on the Mornington Peninsula somewhere. Bring as much gear as possible as rental costs are a major rip-off here. Best place for fills is Scuba Doctor, Rye.

Cheers,
Dave.