Bobs Rock

Reef Dive | Boat access

Bobs Rock, Lady Julia Percy Island
© Western Abalone Divers Association

Depth: 15 m (49 ft) to 23 m (75 ft)

Level: Advanced Open Water and beyond.

Bob's Rock is located 4.2 kilometres from the south-east point of Lady Julia Percy Island offshore from Victoria's Discovery Coast.

The Bob's Rock dive site is named after the late Bob Ussher, who was a well know Portland abalone diver and pioneer of the industry. Legend has it that Bob tried diving for abalone here once. He was excited by what he saw when he hit the bottom in 20 metres, but was promptly spooked off by a white pointer. He never returned.

It is quite an unnerving place to be. Divers have been out for a look since Bob, but only to come away without getting wet. "It just didn't feel right..."

Access is by boat from the Port Fairy, Griffiths Street Boat Ramp. Best dived in good conditions with a low swell with light north or northerly winds. See WillyWeather (Lady Julia Percy Island) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Abalone Dive Site
© Mark Norman, Museum Victoria

Divers have the opportunity to catch Abalone at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, legal abalone tool, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, and abalone measure. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch abalone.

See article-catching-abalone for practical abalone hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-abalone-dives for a list of other Abalone dive sites near Melbourne.

Crayfish Dive Site | © Ian Scholey

Divers have the opportunity to catch Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish) at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, rock lobster measure, and cray tags. Once you get back to the dive boat, or shore, make sure you clip the tail and tag your Crayfish as per Fisheries requirements. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch crays. See article-catching-crayfish for practical cray hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-cray-dives for a list of other crayfish dive sites near Melbourne. For tips on cooking your Crays, please see article-cooking-crayfish.

Gunditjmara country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Gunditjmara people of far south-western Victoria which continues over the state border into a small part of south-east South Australia and is bordered by the Glenelg River to the west and the Wannon River in the north. This truly ancient Country extends 100 metres out to sea from low tide and also includes Deen Maar (aka Lady Julia Percy Island) where the Gunditjmara believe the spirits of their dead travel to wait to be reborn. We wish to acknowledge the Gunditjmara as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging.

 

Bobs Rock Location Map

Latitude: 38° 27.277′ S   (38.454617° S / 38° 27′ 16.62″ S)
Longitude: 141° 58.059′ E   (141.96765° E / 141° 58′ 3.54″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2021-07-12 14:09:22 GMT, Last updated: 2021-07-25 14:20:24 GMT
Source: Peter Ronald GPS
Nearest Neighbour: Blowhole, Lady Julia Percy Island, 4,175 m, bearing 40°, NE
Lady Julia Percy Island, Discovery Coast.
Depth: 15 to 23 m.

DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.