Cattle Jetty Drift follows the shoreline of Ticonderoga Bay past the remains of the cattle jetty that once served the Point Nepean Quarantine Station. The Scuba Doctor listing describes 'an interesting drift dive positioned near the historical remains of the Cattle Jetty', originally built to land livestock destined for the quarantine facilities at Point Nepean – newly arrived stock was held there until it was confirmed free of disease – and gives a depth range of 8–18 m and an Open Water rating.

The jetty itself is long gone above the water, but its stumps and the debris around them remain, and together with the low reef and rubble along this stretch of shore they make a linear habitat that the drift covers well: pile stumps colonised by sponges, ascidians and hydroids, with leatherjackets, wrasse, old wives and bullseyes around them, octopus and cuttlefish in the rubble, and rays, spider crabs and the seahorses and pipefish of the Ticonderoga Bay sand on the flats between. Like the rest of the bay the bottom yields the occasional bottle or fragment from the quarantine era, which must be left where it lies. The deeper outer edge at 15–18 m runs toward the Quarantine Station Reef ridge 380 m to the south-east.

It is a modest, sheltered dive rather than a destination, dived as a drift on a gentle tide or as a reef dive at slack, mostly by the Portsea operators as a second dive or a drift-training site and by private boats on days when the Heads are out. Its appeal is the combination of easy conditions, shelter from southerlies and westerlies, and the sense of the quarantine station's history – the hospital buildings, jetties and cemetery stand on the shore directly above the dive.

Boat access, five to six minutes west of Portsea Pier by charter or 15 minutes from Sorrento ramp. Run as a group drift under a flagged float along the shore past the old jetty remains, with the boat following; the shoreline is Point Nepean National Park and landing from the water is not permitted. Dive flag essential – the ferry route and South Channel are close to the north.

A drift site, dived on a gently running flood or ebb (0.5–1 knot) or at slack as a reef dive; no published slack-water restriction. Slack water at Port Phillip Heads does not coincide with high or low water: it falls roughly three hours after high or low water at Point Lonsdale, and the usable window is typically 20–40 minutes. Use the Ports Victoria / Port of Melbourne slack-water predictions for The Heads (also republished by charter operators and WillyWeather 'Rip Bank') rather than a standard tide table.

Sheltered by the Nepean peninsula from southerlies and westerlies, exposed only to northerlies; visibility 5–15 m, best in autumn and after settled weather.

Enter up-tide of the jetty remains, descend the float line to 8–12 m and drift along the old pile stumps and the reef and rubble beside them, dropping to 15–18 m on the outer edge; stay with the float and let the boat retrieve the group after 40–45 minutes.

Dive Victoria Group and Bayplay (Portsea) – occasional drift and second dive; private boats from Sorrento; used with Quarantine Station Reef as a drift-training pair.