Portland Lee Breakwater

Meet the site

The Lee Breakwater is the long rock wall that forms the northern arm of Portland Harbour, running east-west for 1,179 m from the foreshore below the town, and its outer face is Portland's shore dive. The Scuba Doctor describes a rocky wall with abundant seaweed cover that is a good night diving site and one where beginners cannot get disorientated, because the wall is always there to follow home. The dive runs from Nuns Beach along the northern side of the breakwater down to the pump house and wave marker about halfway along, in 2–14 m, over boulders, weed and patches of sand and seagrass. The list of residents is long for such an ordinary-looking structure: nudibranchs, senator and bluethroat wrasse, scalyfin, bluespotted goatfish, southern rock lobster, moonlighters, conger eels, stingrays and, in the seagrass beds alongside, weedy seadragons, with Australian fur seals from Lawrence Rocks occasionally coming into the harbour and, at night, little penguins on the breakwater rocks. Visit Portland adds fish, eels, sharks and crayfish to the roll call. Cuttlefish, octopus and seahorses turn up in the weed.

It is a beginner's dive by design – sand entry, a wall to follow, modest depth, facilities at the shore end – and Portland SCUBA uses it for training; it is also the port's night dive and the fallback when Lawrence Rocks and Cape Nelson are out. Two things need care. Visibility is poor, typically 2–5 m, because of port sediment and easterly swell, so it is a macro and critter dive rather than a scenic one. And the breakwater is Portland's most popular fishing spot, so monofilament, broken and active, is everywhere on the rocks; a good knife and line cutter are essential, a dive flag is required for the boat traffic, and the rock wall itself is steep and slippery for anyone tempted to scramble down it rather than use the beach. The nearby Lighthouse Reef and the New Zealander wreck at the northern end of Nuns Beach extend the same shore-diving ground.

What you might see

Weedy seadragons (seagrass beds), nudibranchs, senator and bluethroat wrasse, scalyfin, bluespotted goatfish, southern rock lobster, moonlighters, conger eels, stingrays, cuttlefish, octopus, seahorses, Australian fur seals (occasional), little penguins at night

Location

The 1,179 m rock breakwater forming the northern boundary of Portland Harbour, dived on its outer (northern) side from Nuns Beach as far as the pump house halfway along, in 2–14 m.

Facilities nearby

Parking on Lee Breakwater Road, toilets, showers and changerooms at the shore end of the breakwater, Portland SCUBA for air and gear, cafes and shops in Portland 500 m.