Rippleside Pier is a short recreational pier at the northern end of Rippleside Beach in the Geelong suburb of Drumcondra, pointing east into the sheltered inner reaches of Corio Bay. It is a quiet, local site; The Scuba Doctor's advice is simply to stay under the pier during the dive, and the depth range is 1-5 m. The bottom is fine Corio Bay mud with shell and weed, and as at every pier in the bay the interest is on the piles, which carry mussels, sea squirts, sponges and algae and shelter blennies, southern cardinalfish, gobies, small leatherjackets, toadfish, decorator crabs and sea stars, with the introduced Northern Pacific seastar common on the bottom.

Seahorses and pipefish turn up on the weedy piles, octopus under debris and stingarees and fiddler rays on the mud edges, and at night the pier, like most in the bay, is busier than by day. Rippleside Park behind the beach is a well-kept family park with a playground, toilets and BBQs, parking is free and the beach entry is sandy and gentle, so it is an easy site for Geelong divers to run a check-out dive, a night dive or a snorkel with children. The inner harbour setting protects it from the south-westerlies that blow out the Bellarine and Surf Coast, which is its main strategic value.

Visibility is the constraint, as everywhere in Corio Bay: fine silt and poor light mean careful buoyancy, and the site should be left alone after rain. Rippleside Jetty, a smaller fishing jetty 230 m south in the same park, is a companion dive.

From central Geelong follow Western Beach Road and The Esplanade north to Rippleside Park, Drumcondra (5 minutes). Park in the Rippleside Park car park off Bell Parade or on The Esplanade (free); the pier is at the northern end of the beach, a walk of 100-150 m across the park and sand. Enter from the beach beside the pier root and stay under the pier throughout the dive.

Exit at the same beach. Rippleside Jetty, a separate smaller fishing jetty, is 230 m south.

Facing east into the inner harbour, the pier is sheltered from westerlies and south-westerlies and is uncomfortable only in fresh easterlies and north-easterlies, which are uncommon. Dive at high tide for depth and clarity; visibility is 2-5 m at best over fine mud and poor after rain. No swell.

Stay under the pier because of boat traffic from the nearby yacht clubs and boat harbour.

Enter from the beach, descend beside the first piles and follow one row out to the head at about 5 m, cross under and return along the other row, keeping a metre above the mud. Turn at half gas and surface beside the root.

No regular commercial operator – dived independently and by Geelong clubs; Bay City Scuba in East Geelong is the local shop and dive club and uses the Corio Bay and Bellarine shore sites for training and club nights.