I too headed west for a few days. Got three dives in. First up was the east side of Cape Otway a few km east of the lighthouse. Only took out my mask and snorkel, so didn't really commit to the dive, only in for 10 mins, swell was mild but churning around the beach and inlet area. Water was pretty cold, and I didn't take a wetsuit out which is another reason for the short dive. Several salmon flashed past me, and plenty of other small bait fish around and one snapper. Pretty good fish life for such a short dive. Vis was 1-5m and sandy. I didn't make it over any reef structure so no crays, nor any reef species seen.
Dived the 12 Apostles Marine national park, so no taking, only looking. Swell was a consistent rolling tumble, maybe 3ft. Sand plumes for days around any of the noticeable rock or reef structures, and the water looked mildly hazy into the blue. But found a sheltered area, water looked much calmer and we had 6-7m vis. Took the fins this time, but still no wetsuit, so it was a very short 20min dive. First rock ledge I looked under, nothing. Second, two crays. Dived more ledges and saw plenty more crays, including a 5m wide crack system that held a dozen guys from well undersized to 1.5kg, all crowded on top of each other like Tasmania and WA. Usual reef species for the fish. Pretty good for a 20 min dive covering only a small area.
Final dive eastern inside protected cove on Cape Bridgewater, 10km west of Portland. We had a look see on the west side of this cape, the swell was a meaty 4-5ft, and yet it looked calm at this level!! I would imagine, as i have seen on swell net, that it get very wild around this area.
The eastern side was calm and very dive-able. 2 hours diving this time. Rock structure was very much like Tasmania with granite boulders and similar terrain. There were a few ledges around and a few holes in the rocks. We stayed shallow, saw a number of undersized crays, nothing on size, but wasn't overly committed to cray searching, plenty of the usual reef species, a few small schools of 10cm silver fish and a hungry seal. Also saw a blue bottle jelly fish. Lots of marine life here, but I reckon the crays would get worked by the boats pretty hard, judging by the cray pots out there. I bet it's good diving further around the cape. Limited access for shore dives though.
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