Narrows Beach

Reef Dive | Shore access

Narrows Beach

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 11 m (36 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Narrows Beach (aka Dog Beach) is an interesting shore diving and snorkelling location east of The Spings, Lonsdale Bay and west of Perpendicular Reef dive sites in Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Peninsula. Narrows Beach faces south into Lonsdale Bay, Port Phillip.

Between Shortland Bluff and Point Lonsdale is a curving, south-east facing, 3 kilometre long series of beaches. The entire section is backed by foreshore reserves and the Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale Roads. There are camping and picnic areas in the reserve, just west of Shortland Bluff and further west at Golightly and Royal Parks. The central section of Lonsdale Bay Beach is backed by natural, vegetated dunes, with a walking track linking the camping areas.

Narrows Beach, like Cottage By The Sea Reef, is another access point to a section of this reef. Everyone raves about the reef they see at Cottage, but the reef out from Narrows Beach is more pristine. However, Narrows Beach is less dived, mostly because it's much more current prone due to it being closer to The Rip.

Heading south from the shore, there are interesting seagrass beds in the shallows and undulating rocky ground with sparse cover in about 5 to 6 metres. Further out at about 8 to 10 metres deep there is an area of great ledges, deep overhangs, gutters and swim throughs. The reefs are composed of eroded compacted sandstone, covered with ecklonia kelp.

Narrows Beach Dive | © Phil Watson

What To Expect:
The critters here include Australian Fur Seals, Smooth Stingrays, Southern Fiddler Ray (aka Banjo Shark), Giant Australian Cuttlefish, damselfish, morwong, wrasse, Bluespotted Goatfish, Southern Blue Devil, Old Wives, Sea Hare, leatherjackets, Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish), and Weedy Seadragons. Lots of pretty starfish as well. Spring is a good time of the year as the squid are laying eggs.

Location: Point Lonsdale, Victoria 3225
MELWAY Ref: Page 500 G1
Beach Marker: 6B

Parking: While traveling west from Queenscliff towards Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Highway (B110), after you pass Murray Road on the right, turn left onto the beach track. You'll find a parking area for the dog beach, beach marker 6B, and a track up over the dune and down onto the beach. Before gearing up check out the water. If you see lots of white water, head on home.

Warning: Narrows Beach is subject to a lot of boat and PWC traffic. Always take a dive float with a dive flag. Always go with a buddy and be extremely careful of the tidal flow.

Entry/Exit: Shore entry from Narrows Beach in Lonsdale Bay at beach marker 6B.

Ideal Conditions: Conditions are usually best with no wind or after a few days of northerlies as surface conditions remain calm. Best dived on the ebb flow when it is low tide at The Heads as the current can be quite strong otherwise.

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

The Rip & Tides Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive within "The Rip" (aka "The Heads"). This is a dangerous stretch of water, where Bass Straight meets Port Phillip, which has claimed many ships and lives. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-the-rip before diving or snorkelling this site.

Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes the coastline of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-east, the Bellarine Peninsula, and down to Cape Otway in the south-west. We wish to acknowledge the Wathaurong 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.

 

Narrows Beach Location Map

Latitude: 38° 16.389′ S   (38.273151° S / 38° 16′ 23.34″ S)
Longitude: 144° 37.881′ E   (144.631354° E / 144° 37′ 52.87″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2022-04-07 00:41:14 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-07 17:09:09 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: The Springs, Lonsdale Bay, 1,027 m, bearing 251°, WSW
Point Lonsdale, Bellarine Peninsula
Depth: 1 to 10 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.