The Steamship Pier at Clifton Springs, also called the Long Pier, was built in 1890 to bring bay steamers full of holidaymakers to the Clifton Springs mineral springs and hotel. A trolley on iron rails carried passengers along the pier to the shore, where carriages took them up the bluff to the resort. The hotel burnt down in the 1920s, the steamer trade died and the pier decayed, but its remains are significant enough to be listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (H2088), and they make a shallow, atmospheric shore dive.

The stumps of the piles run out from the beach in a long line across a sand and seagrass bottom that only reaches about 4 m, with rails, fittings, broken timber and rubble scattered around them. As at the neighbouring ruins, the old structure is a magnet for small life: seahorses and pipefish cling to the weed on the stumps, nudibranchs graze the hydroids, stingarees and fiddler rays lie on the sand, blennies and gobies live in the cracks and octopus and dumpling squid come out at night. Bottle hunting is a local tradition but digging destroys the visibility and is discouraged; the site is also heritage-protected, so nothing should be removed.

It is sheltered from southerlies, quiet, and best at high tide, and it is described by The Scuba Doctor as a delightful shore dive, a nice night dive and suitable for snorkellers. Combine it with the Short Pier and baths pier ruins 600 m west and the Curlewis beach further west for a low-key day of Corio Bay shore diving that is more about history and macro than fish.

From Drysdale take Jetty Road north to Clifton Springs, then Beacon Point Road east along the clifftop; park on Beacon Point Road or at the small reserve above the old pier (free). A path and steps lead down the bluff to the beach, a carry of 100-150 m. Enter from the sand in line with the old pier and swim out along the stumps; the water is shallow for a long way, so surface swim first.

Exit on the same beach. Alternatively park at the boat harbour and walk 600 m east along the beach.

Protected from southerly winds by the Bellarine hills behind it; northerlies and north-westerlies put chop onto this north-facing shore and lift the fine sediment, so give it a miss in a fresh northerly. Best done at high tide because it is shallow and the stumps are awash at low water. Visibility 3-6 m in good conditions, better in winter and after a spell of dry weather, poor for a day or two after rain.

No swell reaches Corio Bay. Boat traffic from the Clifton Springs ramp passes offshore in summer, so tow a flag and stay close to the pier line.

Enter in line with the pier remains at high tide, fin out to the first stumps, descend at 2 m and follow the line of piles seaward to their end at about 4 m, circle the outer rubble, then return along the other side of the line to the beach. Turn at half gas.

No regular commercial operator – dived independently and by Geelong clubs; Bay City Scuba in East Geelong is the local shop and dive club and uses the Corio Bay and Bellarine shore sites for training and club nights.