Surfies Point on Phillip Island's south coast is a reef that runs out to around 14 m, named for the surf break that fires off the same headland. As a dive site it sits on the exposed Bass Strait side of the island so it copes with regular south and south-west swell, and only dives well on settled days. The reef holds the standard south-coast lineup — crayfish, abalone, weedy seadragons, blue devils, kelp and sponge cover, schools of sweep over the gutters. Boat access from Newhaven or Cowes is the usual entry. Best window is light north-east winds with swell under a metre and tide near slack. Use the live 7-day wind and swell forecast on this page to time it. Advanced divers — surf zone overhead if the swell is up, current on tide change, fully exposed coast, plan a back-up.
How far you can see underwater — measured in metres. 10m+ is great, 5–10m is workable, under 3m is murk. Driven by wind, swell, and recent rain.
Long-period waves rolling in from the open ocean. Direction matters more than height — a S swell hits Portsea hard, but an E swell rolls past. Period over 12 s = real ocean punch.
Offshore (N or NE) flattens the surface and clears the water. Onshore (SE through SW) chops it up and stirs sand. Calm or light offshore is the magic combo.
This site faces the open ocean. The exposure caption above shows which directions slam in. Anything from the opposite side gets blocked — that's the safest window.
Slack water — the 30 minutes either side of high or low — is calmest and clearest. Mid-tide brings the most flow. Plan to be down at slack, up before the run picks up.
Bass Strait sits 14–16 °C autumn–winter, 17–19 °C summer. Below 16° a 7 mm hooded keeps you warm for 60 min+. Drysuit if you're going long.