Steeles Rocks is a small rocky outcrop breaking the surface about 50 m off the Portarlington shore, a kilometre east of the pier, with a tiny boat ramp and car park beside it that allows you to park almost at the water. It is better known as a snorkelling spot than a scuba site; The Scuba Doctor lists it with a 1-5 m range, a note that the rocks are surrounded by drop-offs and boulders, a link to a snorkelling video, and little else, and this description is built from that and from the character of the neighbouring Portarlington shore. The outcrop rises from a sand and seagrass bottom in 3-5 m, and its seaward face is the interest: short drop-offs and a jumble of boulders with ledges and gaps that give shelter on an otherwise open, sandy shore.

Expect the Bellarine north-coast community of zebrafish, leatherjackets, wrasse, blennies and juvenile snapper around the rock, sea stars, urchins and nudibranchs on it, octopus in the boulder gaps, fiddler rays, stingarees and flathead on the sand and seahorses and pipefish in the seagrass fringe. It is shallow, sheltered from southerlies like the whole north coast of the peninsula, and trivially easy to navigate because the rocks are visible from the surface. That makes it an ideal site for snorkellers, children and new divers, for a first night dive, and for a quick second dive after Portarlington Pier.

The boat ramp is its only complication; stay to one side of it and fly a flag. Governor Reef and the Indented Head pipelines lie a few kilometres south-east for a longer day.

From Portarlington Pier follow the Esplanade east for about 1 km to the small car park and boat ramp at Steeles Rocks (free; you can usually park within a few metres of the water). Gear up at the car, walk down the ramp or across the sand and enter beside the ramp, keeping clear of launching boats. The rocks are visible 50 m offshore; swim out and dive around them.

Exit at the same beach.

Protected from south winds by the peninsula, so it is diveable in the southerlies that close the ocean coast; exposed to northerlies and north-westerlies, which put chop onto the rocks and make the shallow entry uncomfortable. Dive at high tide for depth over the outcrop and the best clarity. Visibility 3-6 m, better in winter and after dry weather, reduced for a day or two after rain.

No swell reaches this shore. Boat ramp traffic is steady in summer and boats pass close to the rocks, so tow a flag and enter to one side of the ramp.

Enter beside the ramp, fin out to the rocks, descend at 2 m and circle the outcrop, exploring the drop-offs and boulders on its seaward side at 3-5 m, then return on a reciprocal bearing to the ramp. Turn at half gas.

No regular commercial operator – dived independently and by Geelong and Melbourne dive clubs; Bay City Scuba (East Geelong) and Dive Victoria Group (Queenscliff) are the nearest shops and use the Bellarine piers for training and night dives.