Walkerville Reef sits in Waratah Bay in South Gippsland, with reef diving out to around 16 m. The bay offers more shelter than the open Bass Strait coast either side — Wilsons Promontory to the east and Cape Liptrap to the west — so Walkerville fishes more often than the surrounding sites. The reef holds crayfish, abalone, weedy seadragons, blue devils, sponge gardens and kelp canopy with sand patches between. Shore access is workable at the Walkerville south boat ramp, with boat access via the same ramp for getting further offshore. Best in light north-east winds, swell under a metre and tide near slack. Use the live 7-day wind and swell forecast on this page to plan. Intermediate divers — friendlier than the open cape sites either side, but still exposed if a big south or south-west swell pushes around into the bay.
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.