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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.
Frankston Pier
Pier Dive | 
Shore access
Frankston Pier
© Mornington Peninsula
Regional Tourism
Depth: 3 m (9.84 ft) to 6 m (20 ft)
Level: Open Water and beyond.
Frankston Pier runs 220 metres in a north-westerly direction out into Port Phillip waters from the Mornington Peninsula. Originally built closer to the base of Oliver's Hill in 1857, the pier was constructed at its current site and extended into deeper waters in 1863. It makes for a pleasant scuba diving and snorkelling site.
There's quite a bit of marine growth, both weed and sponges. Some natural and not so natural reef is common under Frankston Pier like trolleys, tyres and random bits and pieces. None the less this creates homes for some globefish, crabs, rays, seahorses, eleven arm starfish and sea biscuits.
Frankston Pier
You'll find the most marine life if you stay under or very close to Frankston Pier. Not a huge amount of fish life but interesting and worth doing still. Nice one for on the way home from the Mornington Peninsula, or something a little closer to the city.
Don't forget to check out the artificial reefs about 40 metres seaward from the end of Frankston Pier. It's home to a wide variety of fish. As they are more than 30 metres away from the pier, you can go spearfishing on them.
Public boat berthing is available on Frankston Pier for up to 48 hours at a time (vessels should be attended). Other restrictions are detailed on Parks Victoria signs.
Location: Frankston
MELWAY Ref: Page 100A A8
Ideal Conditions:
Easterly winds and high tide.
See WillyWeather (Frankston) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.
Entry/Exit:
Entry points could be either lower landing, but if your taking the first lower landing option be prepared for some shallow depths initially (the possibility of crawling over sandbanks). You may also have to do a short snorkel before you get some depth.
Parking: Plenty of car parking off Nepean Highway, though a walk is involved to get to the entrance to the pier. There is a small cafe close by and plenty a small drive away! Toilet blocks are around.
Safety First: There can be a lot of boat traffic around particularly in summer so be sure to take a float and dive flag. A small knife to cut line is always a good idea too and there are usually fishermen around.
Frankston Pier is just a 45-minute drive from The Scuba Doctor Dive Shop. Please drop in and catch up with us before and/or after your dive.
Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) Shore Based Reefs in Port Phillip
The artificial Port Phillip Shore Reefs were installed with the aim of improving recreational fishing opportunities for shore based anglers. The reefs are in a water depth of between 3 to 4.5 metres.
The shore based artificial reefs are:
- Altona Pier — Artificial reef 40 to 65 metres seaward from the end of Altona Pier.
- Frankston Pier — Articial reef approximately 40 metres seaward from the end of Frankston Pier.
- Portarlington Pier — Artificial reef 40 to 70 metres seaward of Portarlington Pier's rock wall section.
What Do The Reefs Look Like?
Each reef consists of 99 hollow dome shaped reef modules of different sizes arranged in three reef complexes of 33 reef modules each. The reef modules range between 170 and 340 kg in weight and 50 to 60 cm height, and have numerous external openings to allow movement of currents and fish through the modules.
See also, VFA: Shore Based Reefs.
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.
Frankston Pier Location Map
Latitude: 38° 8.730′ S (38.145497° S / 38° 8′ 43.79″ S)
Longitude: 145° 6.778′ E (145.112969° E / 145° 6′ 46.69″ E)
Datum: WGS84 |
Google Map
| Get directions
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-03-22 15:14:22 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Frankston Reef, Olivers Hill, 1,330 m, bearing 211°, SSW
Frankston, Mornington Peninsula, Port Phillip.
Depth: 3 to 6 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.
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