Tech Tip:
Take Only What You Need, No More and No Less

New divers have a tendency to use equipment to replace skills, which is a reasonable approach to maximise enjoyment of the early dives. However, we have seen divers looking like they walked through a dive shop with a magnet and we wonder who recommended all that stuff.

Experienced divers know that every tool, gadget or feature they add to their configuration increases the complexity and also increases failure points. As the diver develops improved skills, they begin to shed gear and elaborate features in favor of streamlined high-quality equipment configurations. The huge knife strapped to the leg disappears along with the snorkel, instrument console and retractor, most of the lead, tank banger, eventually the jacket style BC and even the split fins.

When gearing up, the experienced diver will take only the tools really needed for the specific dive. They know that simple and quality equipment together with practiced skills are the most elegant and reliable configurations.

Lysterfield Lake

Shore Dive | Shore access

Lysterfield Lake

Lysterfield Lake dive site lies in Lysterfield Park, east of Melbourne, just a 10-minute drive off the Eastern Freeway. The main entrance for Lysterfield Park is from Horswood Road, off the Belgrave-Hallam Road, Narre Warren (Melway 108 D2). Pedestrians and cyclists can access the park 24 hours a day. The main car parking area at Lysterfield Park is open from sunrise to sunset seven days a week. Vehicles can exit the park after hours via one-way spikes.

Swimming is permitted within the two constructed swimming beaches at the south-eastern end of Lysterfield Lake which form curved bays around 150 metre long and the sand stretches back about 15 metre from the shore. Lysterfield Lake offers one of the cleanest, freshwater diving experiences in the metro region though it is prone to the odd breakout of blue-green algae. Note that the water can be quite murky so a good dive light is highly recommended.

Lysterfield Lake Dive
© Phil Watson

Constructed between 1927 and 1935, Lysterfield Lake supplied fresh water to the Mornington Peninsula from 1936 to 1975. A large area surrounding the lake was purchased from farmers and fenced off to protect the quality of the water. The State Rivers and Water Supply Commission established eucalypt plantations around the lake and also protected the remaining remnant native forest. After 1975 Cardinia Reservoir became operational and Lysterfield Lake was no longer required.

Care needs to be taken to avoid disturbing the bottom with your fins and to not get tangled in the weeds. You should always use a dive float with a dive flag.

Lysterfield Lake scuba by Chan Maneesilasan

See also, Lysterfield Park and Churchill National Park Visitor Guide — August 2018.

Lysterfield Lake is 67 m (220 ft) above sea level. The US Navy tables recommend that no alteration be made for dives at altitudes lower than 90 m (295 ft) and for dives between 90 and 300 m (984 ft) correction is required for dives deeper than 44 m (144 ft) of sea water. Most recently manufactured decompression computers can automatically compensate for altitude if properly set. For more, please see Altitude diving.

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.

Lysterfield Lake Location Map

Latitude: 37° 58.245′ S (37.970744° S / 37° 58′ 14.68″ S)
Longitude: 145° 18.007′ E (145.300116° E / 145° 18′ 0.42″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2021-06-14 17:41:11 GMT, Last updated: 2021-06-15 10:07:17 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Restless, 19,486 m, bearing 234°, SW
Narre Warren, Victoria

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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.