Elliston is a small fishing town on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula, set around Waterloo Bay, a near-circular bay with a narrow entrance through the reefs. The Marine Life Society describes the town jetty as originally built to service the coastal steamers and as a good bad-weather dive day or night, with tommy ruff, garfish, whiting, snook and squid; it is lit at night and popular with anglers. The jetty piles carry algae, sponges and ascidians, and the sand and seagrass beneath support small crabs, nudibranchs and flathead.

Squid gather under the lights after dark, making it an easy night dive. The Society also notes that the Elliston area has good sites but lacks facilities, with great fish life and regular marine mammal encounters on the offshore reefs – including Blackfellows Reef, famous among surfers, and 'The Bar', noted for lots of gorgonia – reached by boat from the concrete ramp at the main swimming beach. Topgallant Island and the Investigator Group lie offshore (see separate entries).

The jetty suits divers based in Elliston on days when the open coast is unworkable. Filling cylinders takes special effort, so self-sufficiency is important. The town's clifftop sculpture trail and coastal scenery make it a rewarding stop even when the sea is too rough to dive.

The Flinders Highway between Port Lincoln and Elliston passes a string of sheltered bays and surf beaches, and on the rare calm days the offshore reefs reachable from the Elliston ramp offer some of the least-dived temperate reef in the state.

Elliston is on the Flinders Highway about 170 km (2 hours) north-west of Port Lincoln and roughly 800 km from Adelaide. The jetty is on the Waterloo Bay foreshore in the town; park at the jetty head. Enter via the jetty steps or from the beach.

The Marine Life Society notes that filling tanks in Elliston takes special effort – bring full cylinders or a compressor. A concrete ramp at the main swimming beach gives boat access to offshore reefs.

The west coast of Eyre Peninsula faces the Great Australian Bight and receives almost constant south-westerly Southern Ocean swell; open-coast sites need swell under about 1.5 m and are only diveable a handful of days a month, usually after several days of northerly or easterly winds, which blow offshore. The large sheltered bays (Coffin Bay, Waterloo Bay, Venus Bay, Baird Bay, Streaky Bay, Denial Bay) are protected from swell and can be dived in most conditions except strong onshore winds. Summer brings strong afternoon south-easterly sea breezes; winter brings cold fronts with big swell but also calm, clear spells.

Water is cool: about 14-15°C in winter and 17-21°C in summer. Waterloo Bay's narrow entrance shelters the jetty from most swell, making it the fallback dive at Elliston.

Swim out along the jetty piles to the end, search the growth and sand for small life, and return along the other side; at night use the jetty lights to find squid.

No operator; visiting divers and locals.