Victoria

Shire of Mornington Peninsula

Australia

Portsea Hole - great for first aow dive



Portsea

Portsea Hole

Classic dive site for anyone to practice skills. The bottom is mostly sandy and the pylons are covered in colorful sponges..

Portsea, at the end of Mornington Peninsula; Port Phillip Bay.

Portsea Pier

Portsea Reef is a 0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in Australia, VIC, Melbourne which is accessible from shore based on 0 ratings.

Portsea Reef

Franklin Point is a 0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in Australia, VIC, Melbourne which is accessible from shore based on 0 ratings.

Franklin Point

Qurantine Station wall is a 0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in Australia, VIC, Melbourne which is accessible from shore based on 0 ratings.

Qurantine Station wall

46m long iron barque built in 1874. The bow is great.

South of Queenscliff.

Eliza Ramsden

Nepean Bay is part of the Harold Holt Marine Reserve: it is a look and don't touch zone!

Nepean bay is closest to the end of Point Nepean tip.

IMPORTANT: Shore entry is prohibited due to Military installations. Point Nepean is a restricted area: don't land on the beach !

Nepean Bay

The Pope's Eye is the uncompleted foundation for an island fort intended to defend the entrance to Port Phillip Bay in the state of Victoria, Australia. It has been protected as a marine reserve since 1979 and is now part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park. It is located about 7 km inside Port Phillip Heads, 3 km east of Queenscliff and 5 km north of Portsea. It is named after a naval midshipman and has no religious connotations.

Construction of the Pope's Eye began in the 1880s, under the supervision of Sir William Jervoise, by dumping bluestone boulders on a submerged (12 m deep) sandbank until they formed a horse-shoe shaped artificial reef, open to the north-east, just above high-water level. Construction ceased before completion as a fort because improvements in naval gunnery enabled the entrance to Port Phillip (The Rip) and the associated shipping channel to be protected by guns at the nearby Swan Island fort, as well as at Fort Queenscliff and Point Nepean, making the Pope's Eye redundant for military purposes. The reef now now hosts a navigation beacon.

The inside of the 'eye' is only about 2 m deep and is accessible to small boats as a sheltered anchorage. It is protected from strong currents and the whole structure is popular with snorkellers and scuba-divers.

The reef provides a rich habitat based on the underwater forest of marine algae, such as Giant Kelp and Leathery Kelp, that sustains a rich fauna of fish and marine invertebrates, including sponges and soft corals. The Pope's Eye is an important breeding site for Australasian Gannets, which breed on platforms constructed for them as well as on the rocks of the reef. The site is often visited by Australian Fur Seals and Bottlenose Dolphins.

Source: Wikipedia

Southern end of Port Phillip Bay. Four kilometres from the Heads between Portsea and Queenscliff

Pope's Eye is also known as Popes Eye.

Pope's Eye

Queenscilff Bottle Drift is a 0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in Australia, VIC, Melbourne which is accessible from shore based on 0 ratings.

Queenscilff Bottle Drift

Point King Bottle Drift

Diamond Bay is a 0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in Australia, VIC, Melbourne which is accessible from shore based on 0 ratings.

Portsea Hole

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Portsea Hole