Port Victoria was once one of the last great windjammer grain ports in the world: well into the 1940s, square-riggers of the Erikson fleet anchored in the lee of Wardang Island to load wheat for Europe, and the town's jetty and Maritime Museum preserve that history. The jetty itself is now a pleasant, easy shore dive that The Dive Shack rates novice to 8 m and the SDFSA describes as a very pretty dive, if a short one. The piles stand over a sandy bottom in 4-8 m and carry a colourful growth of sponges, ascidians and algae.

The Marine Life Society notes plenty of small marine life and numerous blue-ringed octopus on the sand, along with nudibranchs, crabs, gobies and cowfish. Schools of tommy ruff, garfish and yellowtail hang under the deck, southern calamari are attracted to the lights at night, and seahorses and pipefish reward careful searching. Local knowledge says it has great visibility when a strong easterly is blowing – the wind is offshore on this coast – and it is chosen when weather blows out the southern Yorke sites.

It is popular for training dives and night dives, and it is where most divers do a warm-up before running out to the Wardang Island wrecks. The jetty suits beginners, night divers and anyone basing themselves in Port Victoria for the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail. With air fills available in town, it is one of the most convenient dive bases on the peninsula.

Before or after diving, the Maritime Museum in the old goods shed at the jetty head is worth an hour: it holds artefacts and photographs from the windjammer era and from several of the Wardang wrecks, and it is the best place to understand the trail before heading out to the island.

From Adelaide take Port Wakefield Road and the Yorke Highway to Maitland, then west to Port Victoria (about 190 km, 2 hours 15 minutes). The jetty is at the end of the main street on the Esplanade, next to the Maritime Museum and boat ramp. Park on the foreshore at the jetty head.

There are several entry points: the jetty steps and ladders, or a walk in from the beach alongside. Air fills are available at the Port Victoria Kiosk on the Esplanade.

The west coast of Yorke Peninsula faces Spencer Gulf, so westerly, south-westerly and north-westerly winds blow onshore, raise chop and stir the sediment, while easterly winds blow offshore and give the flattest, clearest water – local advice at Port Victoria is that visibility is best when a strong easterly is blowing. The upper parts of the coast get little ocean swell, but the southern end (Corny Point, Point Turton's outer coast) and the western side of Wardang Island feel south-westerly swell that wraps into the gulf. Tides are modest but noticeable in the channels.

Summer sea breezes swing south-westerly in the afternoon, so mornings are best. Port Victoria is often chosen when weather blows out the southern Yorke sites, since it is protected from southerly swell.

Enter from the steps, swim out along one side of the jetty to the end at 6-8 m, search the sandy bottom and piles for blue-ringed octopus and small life, and return on the other side.

No resident dive operator; used for training and night dives by Adelaide shops and clubs on Wardang Island trips, and by independent divers.