Sorrento Pier was built in 1870 to land the paddle-steamer excursionists who made Sorrento Victoria's first seaside resort, and the limestone-and-timber structure below Policemans Point still serves that role as the terminal for the Queenscliff–Sorrento car ferry. As a dive it is the most atmospheric of the Peninsula piers and, in the opinion of The Scuba Doctor, one of the best night dives in Melbourne. The pylons – particularly the massive terminal pylons at the outer end – carry a large colony of sponges and ascidians in vivid colours, and the bottom beneath is a mix of sand, seagrass and 150 years of discarded objects, including marbles and antique bottles that divers still find in the silt.

Weedy seadragons are resident in the seagrass around the pier, the site is rich in macro life – nudibranchs, shrimps, crabs and blennies in the pylon growth – and stingrays, old wives, flathead, squid and eels move through. At night the terminal becomes a wall of feeding invertebrates, squid hang in the torch beams and octopus prowl the rubble. The mooring field 260 m to the north-west is listed as a separate site with depths from 2 to 15 m; its chains and blocks form an artificial reef of their own in deeper water and are worth a dedicated dive at slack water.

What distinguishes Sorrento from Rye or Blairgowrie is the current: the South Channel runs close and the tide sweeps through the pylons, so the dive is a slack-water exercise for divers who understand tidal planning, and the daytime ferry traffic confines diving to after the last sailing or to the inshore section. A permit is needed to dive from the pier itself. Sorrento suits Advanced or experienced Open Water divers, night-dive enthusiasts and photographers who want colour on the pylons and the chance of seadragons within walking distance of the town's cafés and pubs.

Sorrento Pier is at the bottom of the Esplanade below Sorrento's main street, 95 km from Melbourne. Park along the Esplanade as you approach the ferry entrance or in the large car park to the left of the ferry terminal; the walk to the beach is under 100 m. Enter from the beach beside the pier root and swim out along the pylons; the ferry berths on the outer face, so keep to the inshore and eastern sections while the ferry runs (last sailing about 8:30 pm), after which the terminal pylons can be dived.

A Parks Victoria permit is required to dive from the pier structure itself; shore entry avoids that. The boat moorings lie 260 m north-west in 2–15 m and can be reached from the same beach.

Sorrento Pier lies close to the South Channel and is very prone to strong tidal currents – far more than the piers to the east – so dives must be planned around slack water (roughly 30–45 minutes after slack at the Heads) and the diver must be ready to hold the pylons when the tide picks up. Wind-wise it faces north-east and is sheltered from southerlies and south-westerlies; strong northerlies and north-easterlies make it choppy and murky. The ferry runs every hour until about 8:30 pm and its wash and props make the outer end unusable in daylight, which is one reason it is regarded as a night dive.

Boat traffic to the moorings is heavy in summer.

Enter from the beach at slack water, descend beside the inner pylons in 2 m and follow them out along the eastern side to the ferry terminal at 5–7 m, spending time on the sponge-covered terminal pylons if the ferry has stopped. Return along the western pylons, watching for the start of the tide, and finish in the shallows; carry a torch even by day.

Bayplay (Portsea) and The Scuba Doctor (Rye) run guided night dives here; Dive Victoria and Melbourne clubs visit regularly. Independent divers dive it after the last ferry.