Rapid Bay Jetty

Rapid Bay Jetty is a shore dive on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, about an hour and a half's drive from Adelaide. It is made up of two jetties side by side, an old one closed to the public and a newer one open for diving and fishing. Divers cross from the new jetty to the old one, because the leafy sea dragons live under it and there is more to see.

Entry is from a platform and easy stairs near the end of the new jetty, and at high tide you can giant stride from the jetty. Depth tops out at about 7 m (22 ft). The bay is protected from most winds except northerlies and is best in light southerlies, but visibility is often poor. There are no facilities at the jetty.

The old pylons are covered in soft corals, sponges and ascidians in yellow and orange, with nudibranchs, schools of fish near the T-section and sometimes a big ray, a sea lion or a dolphin. Leafy sea dragons are the draw. Watch for sharp metal on the structure, cast nets stuck on pylons, metal straps on the bottom and stonefish, and stay out of the exclusion zone around the old jetty.