GUIDED DIVING Certified Divers

Dive into the Peninsula’s pristine waters with a local expert on a Guided Dive or Dive Experience. Perfect for those who are unfamiliar with the area or want to see or photograph specific marine life, a guided dive is the best way to enjoy your dive and find those bucket list aquatic sensations Victoria is famous for. From Weedy Seadragon’s to Seahorse, Octopus to Nudibranchs our staff are well versed in finding these sensational creatures and will give you the best chance of seeing them.

We can cater from private dives up to a group of 4 people plus, and do up to three guided dives for the day. Contact us via training@scubadoctor.com.au to book today.

Guided Dives

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Not familiar with our local area, or don't have a buddy available and really want to get in the water for a dive? Then let The Scuba Doctor organise to have your own Dive Professional in the water with you guiding you around a local shore dive site and making sure you are safe in the waters of an unfamiliar area.

A professional guide will acquaint you with one of our local shore dives (e.g. Blairgowrie Pier or Rye Pier) so that you feel more comfortable in the local underwater environment after your dive.

A guided dive is for divers of all levels, designed to assist you with applying what you already know about Scuba Diving and apply this to the local environment via a fun, relaxed dive.

Our Discover Local Diving Experience includes a Dive Professional supervised dive in an area (normally a local pier) on the Mornington Peninsula.

Popular Local Guided Shore Dives

You can meet some of the rarest local marine life on our great local shore dives. You can see Weedy Seadragons, Seahorses, Stingrays, Giant Spider Crabs and much more. Popular favourite shore dive sites include:

•     the Nudibranchs at Blairgowrie Pier;
•     the Seahorses and Octopus Garden at Rye Pier;
•     the Weedy Seadragon colony at Flinders Pier;
•     the Weedy Seadragon colony at Portsea Pier;
•     the Blue-Ringed Octopus at Blairgowrie Pier;
•     the Giant Spider Crabs at Blairgowrie Pier and Rye Pier; and
•     the Fish Gallery at Mornington Pier.

Let The Scuba Doctor take you diving in Melbourne...

Melbourne Guided Dive Prices and Booking

For our Melbourne guided dive prices and booking details, please see Discover Local Diving Experience.

We will run with only one diver booking for just one guided dive, but we will accept up to four (4) people for a guided dive, and do up to three guided dives for the day. The third dive must be on the same day and at the same dive site as the second dive booking.

Melbourne Diving Conditions Through The Year

• November–March: (Summer) Has the warmest waters, but visibility may be compromised with plankton growth.
• April–July: Has the best visibility due to low plankton growth, but the water temperature also drops considerably.
• August–October: You may have challenging weather conditions above water, but good and relatively clear diving conditions below. Rains wash out dirt and materials into Port Phillip dive sites which affects visibility. It usually take about 2 days to return to previous visibility levels.

Melbourne is a world class temperate water scuba diving destination. Water temperatures typically peak in the range 16°C to 20°C (61°F to 68°F) on around the middle of February. They are at their coldest on about the middle of August, in the range 10°C to 14°C (50°F to 57°F). Most local divers use a 7 mm full-length wetsuit in summer, adding a hood and gloves plus extra layers of warmth underneath their wetsuit in winter. Some local divers switch to using a drysuit in winter. While the water is colder in winter, the visibility is typically better, which is why so many people dive in Victoria all year round.

Guided Shore Dives Transport

Guided shore dives start and finish at our dive shop in Rye, Victoria — see Visit Our Rye Store. You will need your own transport: for getting to the dive shop; from the dive shop to the dive site; back from the dive site to the dive shop; and home from the dive shop. You won't be able to use public transport for this, and we can't pick you up or transport you.

If you're travelling from interstate or overseas and don't have your own means of transportation, we recommend you hire an appropriately sized car for the day. Allow at least two hours for getting from the Melbourne CBD to the dive shop in Rye.

Dive Gear Hire

The price for Guided Dives DOES NOT include scuba hire gear. That's extra.

If you don't have all of the scuba equipment you need for a guided or unguided boat or shore dive, then please take a look at our range of Hire Equipment. We have available for rental:

• BCDs
• Regulator sets with SPGs and dive computers
• 12.2 litre and 10.5 litre steel cylinders/tanks
• 7mm wetsuits
• Pocket weight belts

Please note: We can provide hire masks, snorkels & full foot fins. Unfortunately, for health & hygiene reasons, we typically do not hire dive boots, gloves, or hoods. We would however love to provide you with our expert services in fitting you out with any of these items to ensure you get best fit possible..

Diver Safety on The Scuba Doctor Guided Dives

The Scuba Doctor is committed to diver safety and safe diving practices, at all times. When visiting our local dive sites and diving in temperate waters, diver safety is critical. As well as our professional dive crew providing detailed dive briefings, a Divemaster or Instructor will be in the water with with you on every dive, and insisting you stay close to them at all times.

Diver Safety Requirements and Recommendations

• Open Water certification with minimum 5 dives in the last 12 months. We require you to present a valid Certification Card.
• Less experience may result in limited diving due to environmental conditions. We recommend a Scuba Diver Refresher course prior to your trip.
• We require you to be equipped with an alternate air source (included in our Scuba Equipment Rental package). We strongly recommend you also have a reel/spool and DSMB, or at the very least a safety sausage.
• Diver Health: If you have a medical condition or are currently taking prescription medication, you will need a medical clearance. For further details refer to our Diving Medical page.
• Our guided dives are subject to the risks and perils of scuba diving in changeable conditions in an open water environment. We reserve the right, for your safety and/or the safety of our crew or other scuba divers, to prevent your participation in scuba diving if you are deemed physically or medically unfit to do so or in our sole discretion.
• No compensation is offered if you should be unable to complete your guided dives
• We strongly recommend a wait of at least 24 hours before flying after diving.
• You must not participate in scuba diving or snorkelling whilst under the influence of alcohol or any drugs. We shall have no liability to you if you participate in diving or snorkelling whilst under the influence of alcohol or any drugs. You agree to accept that we may refuse entry to the water in the event we have reasonably grounds to expect you have consumed alcohol or drugs within a time-frame that could, in any way, affect your ability to scuba dive safely. Any decision made in this regard will be at the absolute discretion of the Dive Master or Instructor.
• If any equipment or property belonging to us is damaged or lost we reserve the right to charge you to make good the damage or loss.
• To participate in scuba diving you are required to agree to, and sign, our Discharge of Liability. A copy of the Discharge of Liability is included within the Diver Information Form and is available online on our website.
• English is the language spoken on our guided dives.

Travel & Dive Insurance Advice

• We strongly recommend that you purchase a Comprehensive Travel Insurance Policy that covers you for personal injury and other events, including but not limited to, your cancellation for any reason, and the cancellation or alteration to the scheduled itinerary for reasons involving weather or dive crew safety.
• We strongly recommend that you also purchase Evacuation and Medical cover for scuba diving. Scuba diving and In-water activities are not covered by all Travel Insurance Policies, and you must read the wording of your Policy carefully. It is important to note that in the event you require medical emergency services, the evacuation, medical, and vessel relocation expenses are your financial responsibility.
• Divers Alert Network (DAN) www.diversalertnetwork.org offers comprehensive insurance packages specifically for scuba divers. It is our experience that many travellers undertaking scuba diving activities hold both general travel insurance and a specific dive insurance policy.

Guided Dive Safety Kits

Our Divemasters and Instructors take a comprehensive First Aid Kit to all shore dive sites. They are also equipped with an Emergency Oxygen Kit.

• A S80 aluminium cylinder with with DIN valve, filled with medical grade O2 as the oxygen supply.
• An Oxygen Pin Index Post to Female DIN Adaptor.
• An Allied Healthcare (Life Support Products) Yoke Pin Indexed O2 regulator (L370-220-A-STL) which supports 0-25 lpm, with gauge, 2 check valves and a hose bard outlet manages the gas supply.
• An Allied Healthcare (Life Support Products) LSP EMT Resuscitator (L576) with oxygen hose to deliver 100% oxygen to a breathing or nonbreathing diver.
• Non-rebreather adult oxygen masks with reservior bags for use with the constant flow outlet.

These safety kits meet the requirements of commercial divers, researchers, film crews etc. who require them to be available while undertaking diving activities.

Unguided Melbourne Dives

In many parts of the diving world most dives are conducted with a local dive guide leading the way. In Melbourne the diving culture is more independently minded, and most dives are done without dive guides.

Thus, divers who are more comfortable diving with a guide who are new to Melbourne, or visiting from interstate or overseas, often struggle to be able to find a local dive guide. Via our Dive Resources web pages we endeavour to provide you with information about local dive sites, such that you and your dive buddy might feel okay about undertaking some of the local dives without a dive guide.

See our Facebook for Melbourne Divers web page, which provides a list of Facebook Resources for Melbourne Dive Sites. You can use these to obtain more information about local dive sites and up-to-date condition reports. You might also use them to hook up with local divers who, if you ask very nicely, just might let you join them on a local dive.

Please Note: We strongly recommend that unguided divers have recent experience of diving in temperate (aka cold) waters. If you've only dived in warm, benign tropical waters in nothing but shorts and a T-shirt, adapting to cold water diving in a 7 mm wetsuit is quite an adjustment.

Unguided Boat Dives

When booking onto a boat dive in most parts of the world, you might expect a dive guide to be provided. But that's not so here in Melbourne. Our local dive boat charter operators are usually catering for our more independently minded local divers. So if you want to have a dive guide, you're going to need to ask for one when you book your boat dive, and pay extra if one is available. We suggest booking as far in advance as possible, so the dive boat operator has ample opportunity to organise a dive guide for you.

Overseas and Interstate Visitors

For those visiting us from overseas and interstate, we've put together some help. Please see FAQs About Melbourne Diving.

What is this litres, metres and bar stuff?
In Australia we dive using the metric system of measurements (i.e. litres, metres and bar), not the imperial system (i.e. cu ft, feet and psi) which is what most Americans use. If you normally dive using the imperial system, you might like to check out our Litres, Metres and Bar web page for some more information about the differences. It could save your life!