Port Phillip · Australia · Reef
Cottage By The Sea
Ledges and swim-throughs in 6-9 m, straight off the car park
Area photo: Kgbo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cottage By The Sea is a shore dive with a car park almost on top of it. The ground runs from six to nine metres and is cut into ledges and swim-throughs, so the dive is a slow working of the rock rather than a swim across open bottom. Swell and current both reach the site, so the conditions on the day decide whether it goes ahead.
Where it is and how deep
38.2739° S, 144.6507° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Entry is as simple as it gets: park, walk down and get in. From the shallows the bottom drops gently to between six and nine metres and the rock starts to break up into ledges and swim-throughs, low cuts you can follow through rather than swim over. Depth never becomes the issue, so dives run long and the limits are gas and cold rather than a ceiling.
Work the ledge line rather than covering ground. Cuttlefish and weedy seadragons are the animals seen most often here, with the occasional crayfish under the rock and old bottles turning up in the sand, so one stretch of ledge will fill a dive if you look under it instead of past it. The site is open to swell and current, and at six to nine metres the surge is felt right on the bottom, so it is worth watching the water for a few minutes before kitting up.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Weedy seadragons
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Port Phillip: The spider crab aggregation runs May–Jul; winter also brings the clearest water, while summer is warmest but greener.
Know before you go
- Swell and current both reach the site, and at six to nine metres the surge is felt on the bottom, so check the water before kitting up and pick a settled day.
Sources
- Cottage By The Sea — Scubago/SSI
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