Scuba Dive - Kelp Beds Reef 7-23m (Queenscliff)

The dive site

Approximately midway between Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff is an area, which is marked on Admiralty charts as the Kelp Beds. Once upon a day, large strands of kelp extended up from a bottom of 15 meters to the surface where the fronds spread out to seemingly blanket areas of 50 square meters or more. Today, due to undetermined reasons, (water temperature, urchins, and boat traffic) this area has lost the forest kelp but retains a top covering of a thicker kelp species on top of the rock formations and bommies.

The area is now most noted for being in the Sponge Gardens, with all the relevant draw cards for photographers, fish spotters, and Crayfish hunters. The currents can run fast and strong, providing fresh nutrients for the marine life and because of this, the area should be dived at slack water or as a drift dive.