Abalone Diving

Every Summer when the weather gets a warmer in Victoria we go diving for abalone. And spear fishing too. Our favorite spot is Back Beach 16 in Rye. Its near the entrance in the Port Philip Bay area - plenty of rock pools, mini bays, and kelp forests - and the water is pretty clean here. This part of the coast faces the Bass Strait. Swim out and if you don't bump into Tasmania you'll end up in the South Pole not long after. The water temp is still pretty chilly 13C - 18C because of this.

 

We found this beach - Dimmicks Beach - off Pearse Road, not far from our usual hangout. Its got sandstone reef flats that extend 50m out to the open sea like a big submerged tabletop. As the tide is receding you can see the sandstone reef flats being exposed by the riptide. The conjunction of tidal surf in the dropoff causes whirlpools and massive swells.

But Rye Beach 16 is still a very nice beach.

The Park Rangers and Marine Park Inspectors are very enthusiastic about their job. Each time that we go, morning, noon and night, we've been checked out by the inspectors each time we come back to the carpark. I suspect that a neighborhood coastal watchdog service monitors all the Asian men divers who go to the area. The fine for illegal catches is $10,000 and confiscation of your means of transportation.