Melbourne in January

[jampott]

I'm very much a 'vacation' diver, so always dive with a local dive master / dive school.

I'm from the UK, but I will be spending just over 2 weeks in Melbourne (based in Hawthorn) during January, and although it is a work trip (I'll be at work during the day) I'll have evenings to kill, plus a whole weekend in the middle.

I was wondering if the general consensus was that it was worth packing my dive gear and trying to get out with a local dive school (and if there were any recommendations?) or should I forget that plan, and explore on land instead?

I can take my gear with no luggage cost, so that isn't a factor - it is just whether there are things to see and do underwater!

 

[DBF]

Loads of great diving, dive Victoria is the main boat operator, transport can be a pain to get to there pick up points with out a car about a 90 min drive from melbourne

As for clubs that do guided dives there are a few in the area. Academy of scuba has the most frequent dives none have much organised of a night. Recommend contacting them as they may be able to hook you up with some locals to dive with.

 

[MA]

Yes!!! You can spend the weekend down on the mornington peninsula and get some gret dives in. Pier dives (awe some macro - blue ringed octopus, stargazers, bobtail squid, other octopus, nudis galore and smooth Rays!
or boat dives with colour like you wouldn't believe, awesome wall dives and heaps of wrecks too! To get an idea of sites look at the dive victoria web page.

water temps will be about 18-21 then.

note: a blowout in weather could mean you lose opportunities, but it's only a rare day that you can't dive something and January is usually pretty good.

Academy of scuba have a shop in glen iris (right near hawthorn) and a shop down in rye close to where the action is.

diveline in frankston organise regular night dives (best blue ring opportunity) so check
them out too.

As DBF said work days Prob won't work as its too far from town where you dive and no one has organised night dives during the week.

But do get in on that weekend if can!

 

[Plwhite]

My two cents worth. Definitely bring your gear. Diving in the bay is great, especially as MA noted, under piers at places like Rye. Visability is limited and averages around 7 metres (sometimes more, sometimes less). Night diving, if you are qualified, is a must. Other nice venues include Cottage by the Sea at Queenscliff and the wreck of the Ozone at Indented Head. I am qualified to research diver level with SSI and I did all of my training through Scuba Culture right there in Hawthorn. They offer dives most weekends and use Dive Victoia for their boat dives. Scuba Culture are in Glenferrie Road (The main street in Hawthorn). Their website is here Scuba Culture ? Learn to Dive in Melbourne, Victoria ? The best scuba diving training, dive travel and trips.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you want a chat.