Kerferd Road Pier is the pier most Melbourne divers pass on the way to somewhere else, yet it is a genuinely useful shallow site 20 minutes from the CBD. The pier dates from 1889 and was rebuilt in 2019 with most of its timber decking, many piles and the handrails replaced, so the structure is sound and well lit at night. It extends about 250 m from the Albert Park foreshore, with the Albert Park Yachting and Angling Club at its landward end.

The dive itself is simple: a sandy, gently sloping bottom that reaches about 5 m at the outer piles, with a thin covering of weed beside the structure and clean sand beyond. The interest is on and around the pylons, where mussels, sea squirts and tubeworms host blennies, cardinalfish, small leatherjackets and toadfish, and where a patient search of the weed and debris turns up short-head seahorses, pipefish, decorator crabs and, at night, octopus, dumpling squid and small stingarees. Numbers are modest compared with the peninsula piers; the appeal is proximity and convenience rather than spectacle.

Because the bottom is fine silt, visibility is fragile, and the site is better treated as a critter hunt or a snorkel than as a scenic dive. It is a good place for a first night dive, for testing new or serviced gear, for refreshers, and for snorkelling families, and the yacht club precinct means toilets, cafes and parking are all within a short walk. Lagoon Pier is about 1 km to the north-west and St Kilda Pier about 2 km south-east, so it is easy to combine two of the three in a morning without moving the car far.

From the CBD drive south down Kerferd Road through Albert Park (about 20 minutes) until it meets Beaconsfield Parade at the beach. Park along Beaconsfield Parade (metered, busy on warm days) or in the side streets, then walk across the road to the pier entrance beside the Albert Park Yachting and Angling Club; the carry is under 100 m. Gear up at the car and walk down onto the sand on either side of the pier.

Enter from the beach and surface-swim out along the pylons until it is deep enough to descend, usually 60-80 m out. Exit the same way. There is no ladder entry needed and the water is too shallow to jump from the deck.

The pier faces south-west and is exposed to southerly and south-westerly wind chop; strong southerlies make it unpleasant and silty. Best in north, north-east, north-west or west winds, or light south, south-west or east breezes. Visibility is usually 2-5 m and is best in winter and on the top of the tide; avoid it for a few days after heavy rain when the Yarra plume and stormwater reduce it to a metre.

No swell. A well-lit pier and easy access make it a regular night-dive choice.

Enter beside the pier, surface swim out to where it is 2 m deep, descend and follow one line of pylons to the end (5 m), spend time in the piles at the head where growth is thickest, then return on the other side. Stay a metre above the silt. Turn at half gas and ascend in the shallows next to the beach.

No regular commercial operator – dived independently and by Melbourne dive clubs and shop social-dive programs (Scuba Culture, Aquability, Melbourne Diving Services run occasional shore-dive nights at bayside piers); Ricketts Point-based snorkel tours run separately.