Portsea has long been known as the holiday playground of Victoria with fantastic beaches and magnificent homes to the rich and famous, Portsea’s millionaire mansions. Portsea is considered by many to be the centre of Melbourne’s recreational scuba diving activities. There’s plenty of dive charter boats that travel from Portsea Pier to dive sites both inside Port Phillip Bay and outside Port Phillip Heads, known as “The Rip”. One of the biggest attractions is right next to the Portsea Pier, home to the magical weedy sea dragon. Portsea Back Beach is also a big attraction having great surfing conditions and a gorgeous, long sandy beach. Corsair Rock, just at the entrance to Port Philip, is a well-known surf spot to locals and professional surfers. However, it is not advised to surf there unless you are an experienced surfer and, for safety, are accompanied by somebody in a boat nearby. It is considered a very dangerous location. And, as with other peninsula hot spots, Portsea has an abundance of cafes, restaurants and a wide variety of shops.