Portsea Pier West Reef

Reef Dive | Shore access

Portsea Pier West Reef
© Phil Watson

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 4 m (13 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Portsea Pier West Reef (aka Portsea Reef) lies between Police Point (to the west) and Portsea Pier (to the east) in Weeroona Bay, Port Phillip on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. It's a nice shallow reef system that stretches out under the boat moorings. weedy-seadragons-melbourne can often be seen here.

Diving and Snorkelling Portsea Reef

The reef starts as a small rock ledge in waist deep waters. The ledge deepens and shelves as you head out under the boat moorings. The continuous rock ledge at the far extent of Portsea Reef is rick with marine life.

Both snorkellers and divers love the easy nature of this dive. Beginner snorkellers can see plenty of marine life without leaving the surface. Scuba divers have the opportunity for long run times due to the relatively shallow depth.

See also, Portsea Pier... and Portsea Reef in "Shore Dives of Victoria" by Ian Lewis, 3rd edition pages 104–105.

Location: Point Nepean Road, Portsea, Victoria 3944
MELWAY Ref: Page 156 F2

Parking: Free parking after 6 pm at Portsea Pier around 50 metres from the pier with good street lights over your car. During the day and summer, the car parks are hard to get with most being 1 to 2 hour limited.

Safety First: Always go with a buddy and be extremely careful. Be mindful of the boat traffic in this area as it can often be quite hectic, particularly in summer. Always tow a buoy with dive flag.

Entry/Exit: Good from the shore on the west (left) side where there is a path down onto the beach. You can do a giant stride from the lower landing about halfway out, or just about most other places deeper out on the pier.

There are several exits, including the shore, up the ladder on the lower landing, or if you're up for it, a climb up any of the ladders along the pier, though they aren't short!

Lower Landing, Portsea Pier
© The Scuba Doctor Australia

Be extremely careful around the lower landing as there are boats coming and going frequently, including local dive charter boat operators.

Ideal Conditions: Light offshore southerly winds and high tide. Be mindful that since the channel dredging there can be a fair bit of surge if the site is dived during a running tide. See WillyWeather (Portsea Pier) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Portsea Pier is just a 15-minute drive from The Scuba Doctor Dive Shop. Please drop in and catch up with us before and/or after your dive.

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

Boon Wurrung / Bunurong country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Boon Wurrung / Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes parts of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-west, down to Wilson's Promontory in the south-east, including the Mornington Peninsula, French Island and Phillip Island, plus Western Port. We wish to acknowledge the Boon Wurrung as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Bunjil the Creator Spirit of this beautiful land, who travels as an eagle, and Waarn, who protects the waterways and travels as a crow, and thank them for continuing to watch over this Country today and beyond.

 

Portsea Pier West Reef Location Map

Latitude: 38° 19.083′ S   (38.318044° S / 38° 19′ 4.96″ S)
Longitude: 144° 42.674′ E   (144.711236° E / 144° 42′ 40.45″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-15 14:11:52 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Portsea Pier, 193 m, bearing 103°, ESE
Portsea, Mornington Peninsula, Port Phillip.
Depth: 1 to 4 m.
Dive only on: SWF, SWE.

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.