Ramsden Reef

Reef Dive | Boat access

Depth: 20 m (66 ft) to 30 m (98 ft)

Level: Advanced Open Water and beyond.

The wreck of the Eliza Ramsden has been a favourite of divers for a number of decades. However because of its location, and the navigational skill required to find it, many divers have been disappointed and failed to find it. This has resulted in considerable diving being done around the wreck, which is fortunately the location of some magnificent reef areas — hence the name Ramsden Reef.

The most popular reef is located approx 75 m (246 ft) north-east from the wreck, directly towards Popes Eye. Large Leatherjackets, Sweep, Bastard Trumpeter, and Trevally frequent the area with Southern Blue Devil complimenting the gorgonia under the ledges where Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish) may also be found.

The Reef slopes at about a 60 degree angle down to a sandy bottom. The slope is more severe in several places and it is here that the undercut caves are usually found. The reef is only about 60 metres long and consequently, can be difficult to find.

At each end it breaks into rubble and sand, leveling at 20 metres in the east and 30 metres at the western end.

The area must be dived at slack water as the currents race through much too quickly to hang on to the reef. Ramsden Reef is in the shipping lanes and diving may only be conducted when no shipping is expected.

Crayfish Dive Site | © Ian Scholey

Divers have the opportunity to catch Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish) at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, rock lobster measure, and cray tags. Once you get back to the dive boat, or shore, make sure you clip the tail and tag your Crayfish as per Fisheries requirements. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch crays. See article-catching-crayfish for practical cray hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-cray-dives for a list of other crayfish dive sites near Melbourne. For tips on cooking your Crays, please see article-cooking-crayfish.

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.

 

Ramsden Reef Location Map

Latitude: 38° 17.603′ S   (38.293386° S / 38° 17′ 36.19″ S)
Longitude: 144° 40.474′ E   (144.67456° E / 144° 40′ 28.42″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2018-01-25 05:24:16 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-08 20:26:49 GMT
Source: GPS
Nearest Neighbour: Eliza Ramsden, 75 m, bearing 228°, SW
Depth: 20 to 30 m.
Portsea, Port Phillip.
Dive only on: SWF, SWE.

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.