Lorne Pier is the Otway coast's one pier dive, and while it is not on the scale of the Mornington Peninsula piers it has the same appeal: easy access, shallow depth and a surprising amount of life on the pylons and the sand. The current concrete pier at Point Grey replaced the old timber structure in 2007; it runs about 150 m out on the southern side of Loutit Bay next to the fishermen's co-op, in water that shallows from about 6 m at the end to 2 m near the ramp. The bottom is mostly clean sand with patches of low reef and weed close to the point, and the pylons carry a growth of kelp, sponges and ascidians that thickens toward the outer end.

What divers come for is the macro life. Big-belly seahorses are the regular find on the pylons and among the weed, along with decorator crabs, spider crabs and swimmer crabs on the sand, thornfish and blennies in the growth, and nudibranchs in season. Smooth rays and fiddler rays hunt over the sand, and there are usually herring, sweep and juvenile leatherjackets schooling under the deck; Shaw's cowfish, globefish and cuttlefish are regular, and weedy seadragons are occasionally seen in the weed toward the point. Water movement is the limiting factor: even on a calm day residual swell curls around Point Grey and sets the sand moving, so the dive is often described as surgy with visibility of 4–5 m in the clearer patches. It is nevertheless a comfortable Open Water dive of 40–50 minutes with no navigation to speak of and a ramp exit, and it is one of the few places on this coast where a night dive is practical. Fishing is heavy from the pier, so a line cutter is essential and it is polite to enter and exit well clear of the anglers.

From the centre of Lorne follow Mountjoy Parade south for 1.5 km to Point Grey; the pier, the Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club and the fishermen's co-op restaurant share a large car park at the end of the road. Park as close to the pier as you can (busy in summer and on weekends), gear up at the car and walk 50–100 m to the small boat ramp on the bay side of the pier. Enter from the ramp or the rocks beside it and fin out along the pylons.

Exit the same way; the ramp is the only easy exit. Commercial fishing boats and the crane operate here, so stay clear of the working end.

Loutit Bay opens to the east and south-east, so the pier is sheltered from the prevailing south-west swell by Point Grey but takes any easterly or south-easterly sea straight in. Best on a north to west wind with swell under 1 m; even then residual swell wraps around the point and produces surge and moving sand along the bottom, which quickly cuts visibility to a few metres. Avoid onshore easterlies and the days after heavy rain when the Erskine River discolours the bay.

Slack water is not an issue; there is no tidal current. High tide gives more water under the inner pylons. Diveable on most calm days, which makes it the most reliable dive between Torquay and Apollo Bay.

Enter at the ramp, descend beside the first pylons in 2 m and work slowly out along one side of the pier to the end in 5–6 m, checking every pylon for seahorses, crabs and nudibranchs and the sand between for rays, flathead and cowfish. Cross under the end and return along the other side. Stay under the structure to keep clear of fishing lines and the crane, and surface at the ramp.

A torch is useful under the pier even by day.

No regular operator. Popular with Geelong and Melbourne shore divers and underwater photographers as the only pier dive on the Otway coast; occasionally used by clubs for a weekend away.