Melbourne offer's some of the best locations to get into freediving in Australia. Port Philip Bay has so much to offer us.
Some of the highlights about freediving in Melbourne:
- Year round diving
- Weedy seadragons
- Spidercrab migration
- amazing sandstone structures along our back beaches
- Calamari breeding season
- Southern Bluefin Tuna aggregations (outside the Port Philip Bay heads)
- Scallop freediving
Once you get to know Melbourne and the weather cycles you will almost always find a spot that you can freedive in Port Philip Bay.
Generally the northern part of the bay will be more impacted by rain run off if it's raining but if the northerly winds blow and we have some clean water coming from outside the heads it won't take too long before the visibility improves. The Southern part of the bay generally has better visibility as the cleaner water from the ocean is getting cycled through at a much faster rate. Be mindful that from Sorrento and further south you will notice strong tidal currents and it's best to keep an eye on how fast and far you are drifting.
The one thing that you have to be mindful of when freediving Melbourne is the boat and jetski traffic in Port Philip Bay during our summer months. It's best to use the largest float you can get and always make sure you are aware of how far out you are as some of the boats and jetski's come very close to the shore.
In general our better visibility is in the winter months and in the summer months the northern parts of the bay will get so warm that there is an algae bloom making visibility less than ideal. But during the summer months the clearer water from outside the heads will come into the southern area of the bay and generally provide really fun conditions.
Another option that a lot of people haven't tried is diving the back beaches along the Peninsula. There are some amazing rock structures and you will be amazed at how magical it can be diving along the back beaches. You will want to have 1m or less swell otherwise the waves will be very large and powerful.
If you have any questions about freediving in Melbourne reach out and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
