Dive the Mornington Peninsula to see the undersea communities at Flinders, Rye, Blairgowrie, and Portsea piers. Come face-to-mask with weedy seadragon, seahorse, giant cuttlefish, octopus, rays, and perhaps curious seals and dolphins. Come in May-June for the annual Giant Spider Crab aggregation and moulting. Watch the local critters on nocturnal dive tours.
The Back Beaches place you on the Great Southern Reef to see kelp forests, and perhaps an abalone or rock lobster hidden in the underwater ledges and caves.
Go beyond the shore on boat dives to explore nineteenth-century shipwrecks and WW1 J Class submarines. Explore the HMAS Canberra warship artificial reef.
Descend onto the stunning wall dive sites around Port Phillip Heads, or take a wild ride on a fast drift dive.
November–March have the warmest waters for diving on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. They typically peak at 20°C (68°F) around the middle of February. Temperatures by the middle of August are around 10°C-14°C (50°F-57°F).
Most divers use a 7mm full-length wetsuit in summer, adding a hood and gloves plus extra layers of warmth underneath their wetsuit in the colder months. Some local divers switch to using a drysuit in winter.
There are benefits to diving in both seasons. Winter's cooler waters bring great visibility (April–July offer the best visibility due to low plankton growth) while the warmth of summer attracts more critters and make diving all the more pleasant. It's easy to see why so many people go diving on the Mornington Peninsula year-round.
This page wouldn't be possible without contributions from the following PADI members: The Scuba Doctor Australia. Disclaimer
Find. Book. Dive
Technical Diving
Freediving
Emergency First Response
FREE – Introduction to Scuba Diving Online
Marine Debris
Shark & Ray Protection
Adopt a Dive Site
