London Bridge

Shore Dive | Shore access

London Bridge | © Phil Watson

Depth: 5 m (16 ft) to 7 m (23 ft)

Level: Advanced Open Water and beyond

The London Bridge area is the most northern beach in the Mornington Peninsula National Park and borders Point Nepean National Park. This famous arch landform is composed of sandstone and has been formed through weathering action of thousands of years of wind, rain and waves.

A lookout only a short walk from the car park provides stunning views of London Bridge, the beach and the rock platforms below. Beach access is via a steep ramp. A large rock platform provides for great diving and snorkelling. There are rock pools to explore at low tide.

On either side of London Bridge are two high tide platform beaches, backed by 30 to 40 metre high calcarenite bluffs and fronted by continuous intertidal rock flats, with reefs further offshore. Waves average 1.7 metres on the outer reefs, with their height at the beach depending on the tide. The narrow sand beaches are awash at high tide, but fronted by exposed rock flats at low tide.

When conditions are flat and there is no swell, at low tide the rock platforms are exposed. There is a good entry point to the east of London Bridge.

The shallow bay to the west of London Bridge has interesting gullies and plenty of marine life, but can only be dived on exceptionally calm days. The best entry point is at the far western end of the bay.

London Bridge Parking
© Google Street View

Location: Sorrento, Victoria 3943
MELWAY Ref: Page 156 A12

Parking: There is parking for cars at the end of London Bridge Road, Portsea. The area is popular for hang gliding and paragliding. Before gearing up check out the water. If you see lots of white water, head on home.

Warning: London Bridge is affected by rips, currents, swell and strong winds, thus can be very dangerous. Always go with a buddy and be extremely careful. Experienced divers and snorkellers only.

Ideal Conditions: To dive here it must be calm with flat seas and very little to no swell. The only acceptable winds are light northerly to north-easterly. Be aware that conditions here can change very quickly. Very little swell (less than 6 ft, with periods of 10s or more) which generally means 3-4 days of northerly to north-easterly winds prior to diving here.

See WillyWeather (Portsea Surf Beach) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Back Beach Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any dive on the Back Beaches of the Mornington Peninsula. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-the-back-beaches before diving or snorkelling this site.

The shipwrecks of the Norwester and Sierra Nevada lie offshore nearby to the west of London Bridge.

Sea also, Parks Victoria: London Bridge and
... and London Bridge in "Shore Dives of Victoria" by Ian Lewis, 3rd edition page 113.

Boon Wurrung / Bunurong country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Boon Wurrung / Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes parts of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-west, down to Wilson's Promontory in the south-east, including the Mornington Peninsula, French Island and Phillip Island, plus Western Port. We wish to acknowledge the Boon Wurrung as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Bunjil the Creator Spirit of this beautiful land, who travels as an eagle, and Waarn, who protects the waterways and travels as a crow, and thank them for continuing to watch over this Country today and beyond.

 

London Bridge Location Map

Latitude: 38° 19.783′ S   (38.329723° S / 38° 19′ 47″ S)
Longitude: 144° 41.515′ E   (144.691916° E / 144° 41′ 30.9″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-06 23:45:42 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Norwester, 151 m, bearing 232°, SW
Portsea, Back Beaches, Mornington Peninsula.
Depth: 5 to 7 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.