Scuba Dive | The Zoo 12-22m (Sorrento)

A dive site made popular by Geoff Rodda when he used to work as a dive charter boat captain. It's a slack water dive on an interesting reef structure offshore midway between Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff in Victory Bight, Lonsdale Bay, Port Phillip. It's located near Boarfish Reef and The Grotto.

The top of the reef is at about 6 metres, and in places, it can get to around 23 metres deep. But the interesting stuff stops at about 16 metres deep. We recommend you head south-east from the shot line to explore the Zoo Reef.

The area is marked on Admiralty charts as the Kelp Beds. Once upon a day, large strands of kelp extended up from a bottom of 15 metres to the surface where the fronds spread out to seemingly blanket areas of 50 square metres 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.