The Port Hughes jetty is a highly rated South Australian jetty dive extremely popular with the Macro photography community. It is often busy with jetty fisherman so you need to watch for squid jags and hooks flying past.
From the car park its a 200m walk down to the mid point of the jetty to the steps on the northern side. The steps are generally in good condition and make entrance and exit reasonably straight forward unless it is a very low tide, leaving the bottom step barely at water level.
The far end of the jetty (approx 100m) widens out quite a lot and this is an area where there is a lot to see for the scuba diver. Amongst the fallen jetty piles and debris of many years of storms live a huge range of critters. There are many types of nudibranchs, lots of small octopus including the deadly blue ring as well as some rarer species of tasselled anglers, frog fish, cuttlefish and a great variety of of crab and shrimp species.
Keep an eye out into the blue for large rays, wobbegongs, Port Jacksons and the occasional dolphin will fly by for a look.
The maximum depth at the end of the jetty is between 6 and 7 metres (depending on the tide) and the best weather conditions are Southeast, Easterly, Northeast. That said it can be dived in almost any winds providing not too strong. The current here generally does not cause too much concern as it’s a wide expanse of water.
The best dive plan for this site is to go out along one side and return back along the other. Some years ago the club placed a memorial scuba tank and plaque in the centre area of the far end, its chained to the jetty piles but worth a look to see if you can find it hidden beneath the growth.
Port Hughes is the most popular jetty on the northern end of the Yorke Peninsula and on weekends in summer you’ll almost always bump into other divers in the area. If you do, say high as they are likely to be members of the Wallaroo Dive Club.
Port Hughes is a little over a 2-hour drive from Adelaide.
Port Hughes critters
Port Hughes Jetty
