Phelan Bluff

Reef Dive | Boat access

Phelan Bluff | © Unknown

Depth: 2 m (6.56 ft) to 12 m (39 ft)

Phelan Bluff (aka Phelans Bluff) lies on the southern side of Phillip Island. It's named after Pat Phelan, an Irishman who settled locally and worked for the McHaffies (Phillip Island Historical Society).

At Phelan Bluff the area changes into basalt reef, with large blocks of stone spread along the eroded cliffs. The area is very exposed with better diving in deeper reef area offshore.

The channels and gullies close to shore are shallow and full of large rounded boulders with extensive kelp beds extending offshore. It's safer for divers in the extensive reef zone offshore where there is better water clarity and a wider range of marine life.

Location: Summerlands, Phillip Island, Victoria 3922
MELWAY Ref: Page 731 C7
Emergency Beach Location: south of A12

Boat Dive Only: Ian Lewis in "Shore Dives of Victoria" descibes this as a shore dive. However, while you can still get above the dive site via Manderville Road or The Boulevard, you're not permitted to park or walk off track. All areas off track on Summerland Peninsula is defined as a prohibited area. There are no access tracks down from The Boulevard to the south coast by foot or other means. Also, there is no suitable parking in these areas and parking your car off road is also an offence under the regulations of Phillip Island Nature Parks. This is all in the name of protecting habitat for penguins and other wildlife that nest right up to the roads. People walking through the penguin colony run the very real risk collapsing burrows and accidentally killing birds. So this dive site is only accessible by boat.

Entry/Exit: This is a high energy open sea zone prone to all of the vagaries of changing Bass Strait conditions. A high level of experience and caution is required.

Ideal Conditions: Best with calm seas and offshore northerly winds at high tide. See WillyWeather (Phelands Bluff) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

See also, ...and Phelan Bluf in "Shore Dives of Victoria" by Ian Lewis, 3rd edition page 153.

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.

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.

 

Phelan Bluff Location Map

Latitude: 38° 30.892′ S   (38.514871° S / 38° 30′ 53.54″ S)
Longitude: 145° 8.984′ E   (145.14974° E / 145° 8′ 59.06″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2022-03-14 21:37:05 GMT, Last updated: 2022-03-16 11:34:09 GMT
Source: Google earth
Nearest Neighbour: Mandeville Road, Summerlands, 1,076 m, bearing 263°, W
Phillip Island.
Depth: 2 to 12 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.