Diving in Phillip Island and The Western Port

Description

In the crisp, clear waters of Western Port surrounding Phillip Island there are a number of outstanding scuba diving sites. Divers flock to the Island to descend the pristine, deep waters that are home to exciting sea life and reefs. Some sites are well known, such as the Pinnacles, which consists of two vertical spires of rock rising from the depths to within eight metres of the surface. Covered with sponges, zoanthids, gorgonian fans and a variety of soft corals, the Pinnacles are surrounded by schools of fish, and often visited by large pelagics. It is definitely one of Victoria’s premier dive sites. If you're looking for a superb wreck dive, the George Kermode is completely intact, upside down on its superstructure vessel located approximately one nautical mile south of Cunningham Bay. Still in excellent condition and 100 metres long, the vessel is easy to penetrate. The George Kermode was a bucket dredge of 1,380 tonnes, known as the Sir William Matthew when she was built in 1914 for the Ceylon Government, Colombo. After being acquired by the Australian Government in 1917 and then the Melbourne Harbour Trust in 1941, she was scuttled on April Fool’s Day in 1976, off the southern coast of Phillip Island by the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife to form an artificial reef for fish. She lies upside-down in about 20 metres of water, coming up off the bottom to nearly 12 metres in some places. Being so shallow, compared with most of the wrecks accessible out of Port Phillip Bay, gives you plenty of time to explore. It is located at 38,31'12'S 145,14'38"E roughly 1.4k SSE from the centre of Cunningham Bay (Siberia Corner of Phillip Island Circuit) in about 20 metres of water. Although technically not a Phillip Island shipwreck, it provides both excellent fishing and diving opportunities.