Meet the site
Portsea Pier East Reef is the natural reef that lies under the boat moorings of Weeroona Bay, immediately east of Portsea Pier and running toward Point Franklin, to a depth of about 11 m. The Scuba Doctor lists it separately from the pier and from Portsea Cray Reef 190 m to the west, and describes it as a reef system that stretches beneath the moorings with young fish and small critters – a nursery reef in clean, tide-flushed water where juvenile leatherjackets, wrasse, sweep and old wives school among the kelp and seagrass, and the ledges hold decorator crabs, octopus, nudibranchs, sea hares and the blue-ringed octopus that Portsea is known for. Weedy seadragons move between the pier's kelp beds and the reef, fiddler rays and stingarees settle on the sand patches, and the mooring blocks and chains add small artificial reefs of their own, thick with sponge and ascidian growth. The reef is the connecting tissue of the Portsea shore-diving complex: from the pier a diver can cross it to the cray reef or to Point Franklin, and it is the middle section of the three-part dive the source describes from Point Franklin. On its own it is a comfortable Open Water dive with more depth than the pier, but its exposure to tide and to boat traffic overhead lifts it into intermediate territory – the source is emphatic about never swimming on the surface inside the pier, always towing a flag, and diving only on south-westerly conditions. Visibility is typically better than at the piers further east because Bass Strait water floods past on every tide. It suits divers who have done Portsea Pier several times and want natural reef and depth without a boat, photographers after juvenile fish and macro subjects in good light, and anyone planning the longer Point Franklin traverse.
What you might see
Juvenile leatherjackets, wrasse, sweep and old wives, weedy seadragon, southern blue-ringed octopus, Maori octopus, decorator crab, nudibranchs, sea hare, southern fiddler ray, stingarees, sponges and ascidians on mooring gear, kelp and seagrass
Location
Reef beneath the boat moorings in Weeroona Bay between Portsea Pier (west) and Point Franklin (east), about 50 m east of the pier and extending to 11 m; Portsea Cray Reef lies 190 m to the west.
Facilities nearby
Portsea Pier precinct: limited time-restricted parking, foreshore toilets, warm showers and barbecues, cafés and hotel, Bayplay dive shop with air fills within walking distance.
Before you make plans
Conditions, access and operator schedules can change. This is a location guide, not a dive plan. Ask a local operator about current conditions and suitability for your training and experience.
Sources & further reading
scubadoctor.com.auscubadoctor.com.auscubadoctor.com.auRecord updated 26 Sept 2026. Source claims are being reviewed.