Port Vincent is a popular holiday and boating town set on a sheltered, crescent-shaped bay, and its jetty is a modest, shallow structure better known for crabbing and squid fishing than for diving. It is included here because it is one of the named east-coast Yorke Peninsula jetties, but it has little published dive documentation and is rarely dived. The water under the jetty is shallow – typically 2-5 m at the outer end at high tide – over sand, silt and seagrass.

The piles support sponges, ascidians and algae, which in turn shelter small crabs, nudibranchs, gobies and the occasional seahorse or pipefish. Blue swimmer crabs are the dominant large animal in summer, squid hang around the jetty at night, and schools of tommy ruff, garfish and juvenile whiting move through the shallows. The seagrass meadows of the bay are productive nursery habitat, and leafy seadragons occur in suitable weed along this coast, so a careful search of the weedier edges can be rewarding.

The main attraction is the sheltered setting: the bay is partly protected from the south-easterly winds that trouble other east-coast jetties, making it a candidate for an easy snorkel or a quiet night dive if you are staying in town. The downsides are very shallow water at low tide, fine silt that lifts easily, and competing use by anglers and crabbers. Divers after a quality jetty experience should drive the extra 45 minutes to Edithburgh or Wool Bay.

Port Vincent suits families snorkelling in summer, newly certified divers wanting a no-pressure shallow dive, and anyone curious to add another of the old Gulf St Vincent jetties to their log.

From Adelaide drive the Yorke Highway to Ardrossan, then continue south on the coast road via Pine Point and Black Point to Port Vincent (about 190 km, 2 hours 15 minutes). The jetty sits at the southern end of the town foreshore off Parade/Main Street, near the marina entrance. Park on the foreshore; the carry to the steps is short.

Enter via the jetty steps at mid to high tide or wade in from the beach beside the jetty and swim out along the piles.

This coast faces Gulf St Vincent, so onshore easterly, north-easterly and south-easterly winds ruin it: 15 knots from the east stirs the fine sediment and drops visibility to a metre or two, and a strong south-easterly adds chop and surge. Westerly and south-westerly winds blow offshore and give the flattest, clearest water, best after a day or two of settled weather. There is no ocean swell inside the gulf.

Tides are modest (1-2 m, with 'dodge' tides of little movement), but shallow jetties are easier around high water. Autumn is calmest; summer south-east sea breezes build in the afternoon, so dive mornings. Port Vincent sits in a sheltered bay and is one of the few east-coast jetties partly protected from south-easterlies, but it is very shallow and silty.

At high tide, snorkel or dive along the piles to the outer end in 4-5 m, look over the seagrass fringe for pipefish and seadragons, then return. Keep to the jetty to avoid marina traffic.

No operator; occasional independent dives and snorkels by visitors staying in Port Vincent.