Port Phillip Heads is the remarkable opening to Port Phillip where ships and incredible volumes of water pass in and out of the bay.
Peak of tidal flows over 7 knots create huge eddies and waves as the currents swirl through the narrow underwater canyon that makes the Rip so treacherous – and special.
The Rip Canyon was made by the Yarra River system at the last ice age, carving a curved gorge over 100m deep that works it’s way back into the bay to the Portsea Hole.
The light houses at Queenscliff help ships navigate through a very narrow channel to safely pass through the Rip, they then do a sharp right turn to head down the South Channel.
Commercial ships’ pilots board ships entering the bay outside the heads from small orange pilot boats. They stay on the ship to safely navigate it to Melbourne, then do the reverse for a ship leaving the bay. The orange pilot boat picking them up and returning to their Queenscliff base.
The Rip Canyon is also one of the most incredible dive locations on the planet – although you don’t have much time to dive in the slack between flooding and ebbing tides.
The steep drop-off goes down in massive steps to more than 100m, more than double the safe depths for normal scuba divers. Huge caves and ledges are home to a rich diversity and colour of marine life equal to anything on the Great Barrier Reef.
You can read about the history and environment around the Heads and the Rip in its dedicated section of our free Discover Port Phillip: Water & Wildlife Stories (History & Landmarks) ebook.
Read and download these free ebook with the button below!
Discover Port Phillip: Water & Wildlife Stories is a five-part ebook series created by the Dolphin Research Institute with support from the Port Phillip Bay Fund. These free, story-driven ebooks highlight the incredible marine life and environments of Port Phillip, aiming to connect the community with what lives in our own backyard.
We will be updating these individual blog posts once the 5 part ebook series has been completed.
