Nepean Bay

Reef Dive | Boat access

Nepean Bay | © Phil Watson

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 12 m (39 ft)

Level: Snorkelling, Open Water and beyond.

Sheltered just to the North of Point Nepean inside Port Phillip is Nepean Bay. This is a lovely dive site with scattered reef, lots of fish and scattered wreck debris. The rocks at Point Nepean have brought many ships to grief over the years and the scattered wreckage lies in this bay. Sometimes covered in sand and other times exposed for exploration.

The area is also a marine park and as such the fish life is slowly rebuilding to the size it was before commercial and recreational fishing decimated it. Its lovely shallow clear water sheltered from all winds except northerlies make this a fantastic dive site for the end of the day.

Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park

This site lies in the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park. The park is made up of six separate marine areas around the southern end of Port Phillip: Swan Bay, Mud Islands, Point Lonsdale, Point Nepean, Popes Eye, and Portsea Hole.

Thirty-one of the 120 shipwrecks known to have occurred within a 10 nautical mile radius of Port Phillip Heads are thought to be within the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park in Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean.

Aboriginal tradition indicates that the Bellarine Peninsula side of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park is part of Country of the Wathaurung people, and the Mornington Peninsula side, including Mud Islands, is part of Country of the Boon Wurrung people.

Port Phillip Heads Bathymetry
Source: Parks Victoria

Point Lonsdale Bathymetry
Source: Parks Victoria

Point Nepean Bathymetry
Source: Parks Victoria

Popes Eye Bathymetry
Source: Parks Victoria

Portsea Hole Bathymetry
Source: Parks Victoria

Mud Islands Bathymetry
Source: Parks Victoria

You are not permitted to carry a spear gun while snorkelling or scuba diving in Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park.

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.

Nepean Bay Location Map

Latitude: 38° 18.287′ S (38.30479° S / 38° 18′ 17.24″ S)
Longitude: 144° 39.680′ E (144.661325° E / 144° 39′ 40.77″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-03-22 15:51:21 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Nepean Bay Inner East - Radar, 215 m, bearing 286°, WNW
Portsea, Mornington Peninsula, Port Phillip.
Depth: 1 to 12 m.

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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.