Torpedo Reef

Reef Dive | Boat access

Depth: 5 m (16 ft) to 18 m (59 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Nestled in under Shortland's Bluff near Queenscliff, Torpedo Reef is a group of low-lying reefs that are home to a lovely variety of fish life and the odd Crayfish. Also, a great site to see the giant black Stingrays that we have here in Port Phillip. You'll be diving on the prettiest sponge garden in the area.

Torpedo Reef gets its name from the illusive torpedo bottle. Over the years many torpedo bottles have been found in the area, lying between the reef of rock and soft sponges. However, if you find one, chances are it's more than 75-years old and thus protected under the Heritage Act. So leave it where you find it.

The relative shallowness of the water here allows a lot of light and nice long bottom times. A great dive to spend just admiring the colours of our temperate water reefs.

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.

Mystery Torpedo Reef GPS Mark

We have another GPS Mark for Torpedo Reef, outside The Heads south-west of Lonsdale Rock.

Source: Dive Victoria:
Latitude: 38° 18.071′ S   (38.30118333° S / 38° 18′ 4.26″ S)
Longitude: 144° 37.312′ E   (144.6218667° E / 144° 37′ 18.72″ E)
4,568 m, bearing 234°, SW

It would be interesting for someone to check it out and report back to us what, if anything, is there.

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.

 

Torpedo Reef Location Map

Latitude: 38° 16.627′ S   (38.277117° S / 38° 16′ 37.62″ S)
Longitude: 144° 39.857′ E   (144.664283° E / 144° 39′ 51.42″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-08 03:19:03 GMT
Source: GPS
Nearest Neighbour: Sponge Garden Drift, 286 m, bearing 35°, NE
Depth: 5 to 18 m.
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.