Urquhart Bluff

Reef Dive | Shore access

Urquhart Bluff

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 10 m (33 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Urquhart Bluff is a great snorkelling and shore dive site which lies between Aireys Inlet to the west and Angelsea to the east, off the Great Ocean Road (B100) on Victoria's Surf Coast. It's at Urquhart Bluff that Angelsea's sandy beaches end. The coastline rises to form cliffs and continues around to Aireys Inlet.

Urquhart Bluff Beach is a great family beach with outer reefs to protect it from the full onslaught of any large swells. At it's worst Urquhart Bluff is treacherous with dangerous rips. So be warned.

As you head out from the shore there are interesting boulders to see in the first 50–100 metres. If conditions are good you might consider heading further out to the offshore reefs.

Another option is to head west from the beach and explore the interesting reefs around the base of Urquhart Bluff.

Urquhart Bluff was named by Surveyor George Smythe after a fellow surveyor William Urquhart who surveyed much of the early colony of Victoria (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Location: Aireys Inlet, Victoria 3231

Parking: There is a large car parking area at the end of a turnoff from the Great Ocean Road (B100). There are public toilets and picnic tables.

Entry/Exit: From Urquhart Bluff Beach.

Ideal Conditions: Urquhart Bluff Beach faces south-east, so is best dived with light offshore north-westerly wind with calm seas and no swell. See WillyWeather (Urquhart Bluff ) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

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.

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.

 

Urquhart Bluff Location Map

Latitude: 38° 26.156′ S   (38.435936° S / 38° 26′ 9.37″ S)
Longitude: 144° 7.938′ E   (144.132304° E / 144° 7′ 56.29″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2022-04-01 00:05:57 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-06 14:44:11 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Eagle Nest Reef, 1,909 m, bearing 215°, SW
Aireys Inlet, Surf Coast.
Depth: 1 to 10 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.