Nepean Reef

Reef Dive | Boat access

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 5 m (16 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Nepean Reef is located just outside of Port Phillip, situated at the tip of Point Nepean. This reef dive site features the wrecks of the steamers Time and Campbell.

The Time lies midway along the northern side of Nepean Reef and is dominated by two huge boilers lying in the middle of the shipwreck remains.

The shipwreck remains of the Campbell are much smaller and lie at the extreme western end of Nepean Reef, under and just to the north of Campbell Rock.

The site is exposed to strong tidal influences and is best dived from a boat at slack water, which varies from a few minutes, over 30 minutes. It is best to dive this site on the last of the ebb, early flood. It is much easier to be retrieved inside Port Phillip for your exit strategy rather than out to sea.

Bass Strait Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive in Bass Strait on Victoria's coastline. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-in-bass-strait before diving or snorkelling this site.

The GPS Marks for this dive site are known to be wrong. If you have valid GPS marks, please pass them on to us.

Heritage Warning: Any shipwreck or shipwreck relic that is 75 years or older is protected by legislation. Other items of maritime heritage 75 years or older are also protected by legislation. Activities such as digging for bottles, coins or other artefacts that involve the disturbance of archaeological sites may be in breach of the legislation, and penalties may apply. The legislation requires the mandatory reporting to Heritage Victoria as soon as practicable of any archaeological site that is identified. See Maritime heritage. Anyone with information about looting or stolen artefacts should call Heritage Victoria on (03) 7022 6390, or send an email to heritage.victoria@delwp.vic.gov.au.

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 Reef Location Map

Latitude: 38° 17.993′ S (38.299883° S / 38° 17′ 59.58″ S)
Longitude: 144° 38.698′ E (144.644967° E / 144° 38′ 41.88″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2020-05-17 10:51:11 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-13 00:16:09 GMT
Source: Divers Guide - Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
Nearest Neighbour: Time, 0 m, bearing 0°, N
Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
Depth: 5 to 8 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.