Rapid Bay · Australia · Reef · Artificial reef · Cave & cavern
Second Valley Jetty
Caves, overhangs and seagrass channels in 10 m of water.
Second Valley sits on the Fleurieu Peninsula right next to Rapid Bay, about an hour and a half from Adelaide, and dives shallow — roughly 10 metres at the deepest. Caves, overhangs and channels cut through the seagrass make it easy to navigate on natural features, and leafy seadragons and blue devils are the animals people come for.
Where it is and how deep
35.5147° S, 138.2192° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Enter from the beach or off the jetty — both are straightforward — and drop into water that never gets much past 10 metres. Navigation is by natural feature rather than compass: caves and overhangs in the rock, channels running through the seagrass, and a little drop-off away to the south. There is good life directly under the jetty, so the piles are worth working before you range out.
Seadragons are found around the jetty and the headland, and the site is known for blue devils as well. Eagle rays and big bull rays pass through, and largish schools of fish gather in the seagrass channels. On a calm day you can swim out to Lassiters Reef, roughly 300 metres offshore, though that is a commitment worth judging from the surface conditions before you kit up.
Marine life and season
- Leafy seadragons
- Eagle rays
- Stingrays
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows Rapid Bay: Seadragons are resident year-round; summer (Dec–Mar) brings the calmest seas and best visibility, while winter swell and cold make access harder.
Know before you go
- Anglers fish from the jetty in numbers, so keep an eye out for monofilament around the piles and dive with a knife.
- The rocky alternative entry near the second bay is sharp and slippery; the beach and jetty entries are the safer options on a first dive.
Photos from Second Valley Jetty
Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA 3.0
Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dive videos
Underwater at the Second Valley Jetty · Adelaide Freedive Tribe & Adelaide Snorkel Tribe on YouTube
Freediving the Second Valley Caverns · Endurance Swimmer Australia on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the dive at Second Valley?+
It is quite a shallow site, with a maximum depth of about 10 metres, which makes for an easy shore dive and plenty of time to search the seagrass channels and ledges.
What can you see diving Second Valley?+
It is known for leafy seadragons and blue devils, with seadragons found occasionally around the jetty and the headland area. Eagle rays and bull rays pass through and largish schools of fish gather in the seagrass channels, with good life underneath the jetty itself.
Which wind direction suits Second Valley?+
Southerly and easterly winds are offshore here and are the best conditions to dive the site. On calm days the swim out to Lassiters Reef, about 300 metres offshore, becomes an option.
Sources
- Second Valley (Shore Diving) — Diving Adelaide
- Second Valley, South Australia — Wikipedia
- OpenStreetMap: Second Valley, South Australia — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- Aerial view of Second Valley's timber jetty reaching into a turquoise bay below green headlands. by Luke Anderson from Adelaide, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A giant cuttlefish rests camouflaged among green bryozoan branches on the reef. by Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A reddish-brown sea cucumber lies across a sponge-covered rock ledge underwater. by Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Rapid Bay
Reef
A 50 m limestone patch on sand, honeycombed with holes and crevices
Artificial reef
Stairs at the jetty end put you straight onto shallow pylons.
A resident leafy seadragon population lives under the old jetty.
Folded, weed-covered rock sloping off the point to sand at 9 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Beach entry to a jetty and a sunken barge at 12 m
Small cave at 10 m on Flat Rock's northern side
Grey nurse sharks on the rock from July to October
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A false ceiling right around a 10 m shoal off Corralejo