Clifton Springs, Steamship Pier

Shore Dive | Shore access

Clifton Springs Long Pier | © Unknown

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

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Clifton Springs, Steamship Pier (also known as Clifton Springs Pier) is a delightful shore dive, also suitable for snorkellers. A nice night dive site. It's a shallow dive, best done at high tide. Best to use a dive float with a dive flag.

Clifton Springs Long Jetty | © Unknown

There are three pier ruins in this area near Clifton Springs on the Bellarine Peninsula in Port Phillip. To the west are the ruins of the old Short Pier near the boat harbour. In the middle are the ruins of the old Salt Water Bath Pier which had swimming baths at the end. To the east are the ruins of the old (Long) Steamship Pier.

Bottle hunting here is popular but requires skill not to stir up the sand and sediment. Seahorses, nudibranchs, stingrays and pipefish can be found at these piers.

Clifton Springs Night Dive from Allie Beckhurst on Vimeo.

Location: Clifton Springs
MELWAY Ref: Page 456 H4

Ideal Conditions:Best at high tide. Protected from southerly winds. See WillyWeather (Clifton Springs) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Clifton Springs, Steamship Pier Dive Sie Map | © The Scuba Doctor

Clifton Springs, Steamship Pier History

Clifton Springs, Steamship Pier
© State Library Victoria

The Steamship (Long) Pier was constructed in 1890 to provide direct access to the Clifton Springs Mineral Complex for visitors travelling by steamer across Port Phillip Bay from Melbourne. There was a small ornate building at the shore end of the jetty. A trolley conveyed passengers over iron rails to the shore where carriages transported them to the hotel along a winding track cut into the cliff, which is visible. The Steamship Jetty is included in the Victorian Heritage Register (H2088).

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

Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes the coastline of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-east, the Bellarine Peninsula, and down to Cape Otway in the south-west. We wish to acknowledge the Wathaurong 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.

Clifton Springs, Steamship Pier Location Map

Latitude: 38° 8.965′ S (38.149417° S / 38° 8′ 57.9″ S)
Longitude: 144° 34.036′ E (144.567267° E / 144° 34′ 2.16″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2021-01-31 09:58:43 GMT, Last updated: 2022-03-22 14:13:51 GMT
Source: Google earth
Nearest Neighbour: Clifton Springs Piers, 599 m, bearing 228°, SW
Bellarine Peninsula.
Depth: 1 to 4 m.

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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.