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Surface Marker Buoys (SMBs)


Being able to let the surface know where you are during a dive is critical in some situations, and highly recommended in most others. The main ways divers use to achieve this are: a Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) which stays on the surface, with or without a dive flag; a Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB) which can be deployed by the diver from underwater; or a Safety Sausage which can only be deployed on the surface.

We consider the Safety Sausage to be unsafe and don't sell them. After all, how do you safely get to the surface in areas where there is boat traffic in order to deploy your safety sausage. They are usually much smaller than DSMBs, and thus don't do nearly as good a job as a signalling/location device.

Most people refer to a DSMB as just a SMB, which is why this category is called Surface Marker Buoys (SMBs), but technically they're very different.

SMB vs DSMB

A Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) is floated on the surface during a dive to mark the diver's position during drift dives, night dives, mist or disturbed sea conditions. A SMB is absolutely essential kit for diving anywhere you may have surface boat traffic. It allows your position to be known by people watching from shore and watercraft, whether they be the boat you are diving from, or other water users. Typically a SMB will have a dive flag on it as well. See Surface Markers for our range of SMBs.

A Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB), decompression buoy or deco buoy, is deployed whilst the diver is submerged and generally only towards the end of the dive. The DSMB marks the diver's position underwater so the boat safety cover can locate the diver even though the diver may have drifted some distance from the dive site while doing safety or decompression stops. A reel or finger spool and line connect the buoy on the surface to the diver beneath the surface.

Our recommendation is that all divers should carry a DSMB and reel on every dive. In many boat diving situations it's also good practice to also have a Surface Marker with dive flag up on the surface to tell your surface support where you are for the whole of the dive.

SMBs and DSMBs are not intended to be used to lift heavy weights. That's what a Lift Bag is for.

Where to Deploy Your DSMB

Delayed SMBs, such as the AP Diving Buddy DSMB, are designed to be deployed from depth near the end of, or at any critical point during, a dive. Some divers, like us, prefer to shoot their Delayed SMBs from the bottom and thus let the surface support know they're begining their ascent. Other divers shoot from mid-water when they start their safety stop, or decompression stops. We strongly recommend you have a Delayed SMB and reel/spool with you on every dive. On open water dives, waiting until you surface to deploy a surface only safety sausage is dangerous in high boat traffic areas.

Which Colour Delayed SMB Should you Use

There are essentially three choices for DSMB colouring — all Red, all Yellow, or Red and Yellow on contrasting sides.

Studies have shown that Red and Yellow are the two most visible colours at sea. But each colour works better than the other in different conditions. Thus if you look around a dive shop, you will see up to three SMB colours: all Red; all Yellow; and one side Red, one side Yellow.

Recreational Diving

An all Red SMB is far and away the most common SMB colour. This leads some new divers to buy an all Yellow SMB so theirs will stand out more when at a busy dive site. We don't recommend this.

Other divers buy the two-colour SMBs (Red on one side, Yellow on the other side) because these must surely be the ideal for high-visibility over the widest range of conditions. For recreational diving, especially when ocean diving, this is what we recommend. However, it is essential that you let your surface cover know that your combined Red and Yellow SMB is not being used as an emergency signal unless an emergency signal or message is attached to it.

Advanced/Technical Diving

In Australia, and many other parts of the world, there is a convention used by more advanced and technical divers that an all Yellow SMB is an emergency signal, to be responded to by sending down a cylinder of gas, or a rescue diver, or both.

Whilst for the most part recreational divers do not have or need such a signal, it is possible for both types of diver to be on the same dive site. If one group of divers is using Yellow as an emergency signal and the other group uses Yellow as standard, this could lead to confusion and even to a genuine emergency signal being ignored.

For this reason, unless you have a very strong reason for wanting an all Yellow SMB as standard, please don't buy one.

If you decide that you would like to use a Yellow SMB as an emergency signal yourself, two precautions to take are:

  • Make sure your surface cover knows this convention
  • Mark the SMB with "EMERGENCY", "HELP", "SOS" or some other such message in large, clear black letters to ensure there is no doubt that you are a diver in distress and not just a diver who thought a Yellow SMB looked nicer than a Red one.


Portland Lee Breakwater

Shore Dive Shore Dive | Shore access Shore access

Crayfish Dive Site Ideal For Snorkelling Night Dive Site Open Water Rated

Portland Lee Breakwater
Portland Lee Breakwater

Depth: 2 m (6.56 ft) to 14 m (46 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Portland Lee Breakwater is a shore diving and snorkelling site located in Portland, on Portland Bay (aka Henty Bay) on Victoria's Discovery Coast. The Lee Breakwater forms the northern boundary of the Portland harbour and runs in an east-west direction. It's 1,179 metres long and the far end is in 12 metres of water. The breakwater is a good night diving site and is a great dive for beginners as it's almost impossible to become disoriented.

Diving and Snorkelling the Portland Lee Breakwater

Portland Lee Breakwater Shore Entry
Portland Lee Breakwater Shore Entry
© Sally Watson

The rocky wall of Lee Breakwater is covered with a nice variety of seaweeds with plenty of temperate fish and small marine life. The weed is often sprinkled with sediment from port operations and an easterly swell stirs it up. The visibility is often from 2–5 metres depending on the day.

Fish species found here include Nudibranchs, Senator Wrasse, Bluethroat Wrasse, Scalyfin, Bluespotted Goatfish, smallSouthern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish), Moonlighters, conger eels, the occasional Australian Fur Seals and stingrays. There are also seagrass beds nearby that offer slightly different species, including the prospect of seeing Weedy Seadragons. Other odd sightings include rainbowfish.

At night Little Penguins can often be seen on the breakwater. A fantastic night dive!

Diving is permitted on the outer (northern) side of the wall down to the pump house/wave marker around half way. Conditional diving is permitted beyond there to the end of the wall, but not when the S. L. Patterson Berth is in use.

Line fishing from the breakwater is very popular so be wary of monofilament, either broken-off or still active. Always take a dive knife and/or line cutter. Great place to find snagged swivels, lures, sinkers, etc.

Portland Lee Breakwater Dive Sie Map
Portland Lee Breakwater Dive Sie Map | © The Scuba Doctor

Location: Lee Breakwater Road, Portland, Victoria 3305

Parking: The best parking is on Lee Breakwater Road, just north of the breakwater. Vehicles can also be parked along the breakwater.

Facilities: Toilets, showers and changerooms are available at the shore end of the breakwater.

Safety First: Beware of fishing line as the breakwater is a popular fishing spot. Always carry a good dive knife and/or line cutter. This area is frequented by boats, so please make sure you display your dive flag in this area.

Entry/exit: It's best to enter and exit the water from Nuns Beach on the northern side of the breakwater. Some intrepid souls are known to scramble down the northern side of the breakwater rock wall. Be careful as the rock wall is steep and slippery. Recreational diving within the boundaries of the breakwaters of Port of Portland is prohibited. Recreational diving from the outer breakwaters is prohibited without a prior permit from Port of Portland.

Ideal Conditions: Portland Lee Breakwater is sheltered from westerly to southerly swells by the main breakwater to the south. It is also well protected by winds from most directions, however, easterlies are not favourable to this location. See WillyWeather (Portland) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

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Crayfish Dive Site
Crayfish Dive Site | © Ian Scholey

Divers have the opportunity to catch Southern Rock Lobster (aka Crayfish) at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, current Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, rock lobster measure, and cray tags. Once you get back to the dive boat, or shore, make sure you clip the tail and tag your Crayfish as per Fisheries requirements. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch crays. See article-catching-crayfish for practical cray hunting advice from The Scuba Doctor, plus melbourne-cray-dives for a list of other crayfish dive sites near Melbourne. For tips on cooking your Crays, please see article-cooking-crayfish.

Spearfishing is illegal within 30 metres of any pier or jetty and in Marine National Parks. See Spearfishing Laws.

Gunditjmara country
Gunditjmara country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Gunditjmara people of far south-western Victoria which continues over the state border into a small part of south-east South Australia and is bordered by the Glenelg River to the west and the Wannon River in the north. This truly ancient Country extends 100 metres out to sea from low tide and also includes Deen Maar (aka Lady Julia Percy Island) where the Gunditjmara believe the spirits of their dead travel to wait to be reborn. We wish to acknowledge the Gunditjmara as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging.

 

Portland Lee Breakwater Location Map

Latitude: 38° 20.595′ S   (38.343251° S / 38° 20′ 35.7″ S)
Longitude: 141° 36.485′ E   (141.608081° E / 141° 36′ 29.09″ E)

Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2021-07-21 03:50:13 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-24 12:48:39 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Nuns Beach, 54 m, bearing 6°, N
Portland, Discovery Coast.
Depth: 1 to 14 m.



DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.

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