The best beaches on the Mornington Peninsula
The peninsula has two coastlines with two moods. The bay side is calm, with bathing boxes and gentle water for families. The ocean side is wild and beautiful, and best left to surfers and strong swimmers.
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Editorial & Property Management Team
- The calm bay and the open ocean
- Two coasts
- Beachsafe hazard ratings, bay to surf
- 1 to 8
- Where to swim on a patrolled beach
- The flags
- On the national park's ocean beaches
- No dogs
Most of our homes are a short walk or drive from the water, and the question guests ask us most is simply: which beach? It depends on the day you want. The peninsula wraps around Port Phillip on one side and opens onto Bass Strait and Western Port on the other, and the two coasts could hardly be more different.
The bay beaches face Port Phillip. The water is usually calm, the sand is soft, and there's always a bathing box, a pier or a café nearby. The ocean beaches face Bass Strait. They're dramatic and well worth seeing, with surf, rock pools and limestone cliffs, but they come with rips and big waves. Beachsafe, Surf Life Saving's beach guide, rates the difference plainly: Rye's front beach is a 1 out of 10 for hazards, Gunnamatta an 8.
The bay beaches
For a swim, a paddle or a long afternoon on the sand, start here.
Mount Martha
Mount Martha Beach
Two kilometres of sand split by the mouth of Balcombe Creek, with some of the most photographed bathing boxes on the peninsula. Mount Martha Life Saving Club patrols in front of its clubhouse, at the north end of the south beach, on weekends and public holidays from November to April. The beach drops into deeper water close to shore, so keep little ones near.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)Safety Beach
Safety Beach
A calm, protected cove that suits the whole family, with toilets, picnic tables and playgrounds along the foreshore. The Bay Trail follows it for about 3.5 km, from the Dromana foreshore to the cliffs above Martha Cove marina. It isn't patrolled.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)Mornington
Fishermans Beach
550 metres of sand below the bluffs, about a kilometre south of Schnapper Point at the end of Main Street, with boat sheds on the sand and a lookout at Linley Point. Beachsafe rates it 3 out of 10. It isn't patrolled.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)Rye
Rye front beach
Around four kilometres of calm water along the foreshore, with shops and cafés across the road, barbecues and a playground on the reserve, and the 300-metre Rye Pier. Beachsafe gives it a 1 out of 10, the gentlest on this list. No jumping or diving off the pier: the water underneath is shallow.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)Mount Eliza
Canadian Bay
A small beach below the bluffs, with a walking track along the clifftops above. Good for confident swimmers, but watch for rips when the waves are up and the rocks at low tide. The Shire has been rebuilding the car park, so check its project page before you go.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)Mount Eliza
Ranelagh Beach
Hidden from the road and loved by locals: 450 metres of sand dotted with colourful beach boxes, with a lookout above for photos. It's reached by steep stairs off Earimil Drive, so leave the pram in the car, and it's rocky in places, so better for a paddle than a swim.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)
The ocean beaches
The back beaches sit in Mornington Peninsula National Park, along the Bass Strait coast between Portsea and Cape Schanck. Parks Victoria is blunt about them: dangerous for swimming, with unpredictable rips, large waves and unstable cliffs. Come for the views, the rock pools and the walks, and swim only between the flags while the lifesavers are on.
Dogs aren't allowed anywhere in the national park, including its beaches and car parks.
Sorrento
Sorrento Back Beach
An amphitheatre of sand and rock at the end of Ocean Beach Road, with rock pools to explore at low tide, some big enough to swim in. Sorrento's surf club patrols every day over summer and the Easter holidays, and on weekends in between. Beachsafe rates it 6 out of 10.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)Fingal
Gunnamatta
The most popular surf beach in the national park: three kilometres of exposed, powerful surf off Truemans Road. Beachsafe rates it 8 out of 10, highly hazardous, so swim only between the flags during patrols, on weekends and public holidays from December to Easter. Or walk the sand towards Cape Schanck instead.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)Point Leo
Point Leo
On Western Port rather than Bass Strait, this 500-metre beach is one of the peninsula's famous surf beaches, with waves for beginners and old hands. Rips run here even on calm days. The surf club, formed in 1955, patrols on summer weekends and public holidays, with lifeguards on weekdays in the peak of summer.
Visit their site(opens in a new tab)
Which beach for which day
- With little ones: Safety Beach or Rye's front beach, for calm water with a playground and toilets close by.
- For a swim with lifesavers on: Mount Martha, in front of the life saving club, on weekends and public holidays from November to April.
- For bathing boxes and photos: Mount Martha, or Ranelagh Beach from the lookout above.
- To learn to surf: Point Leo, between the flags.
- For rock pools: Sorrento Back Beach at low tide.
- For a long beach walk: Gunnamatta, east towards Fingal and Cape Schanck or west towards Boag Rocks.
Before you go
Beach access changes with the seasons and the weather. Parks Victoria posts closures for the national park beaches, and the Shire posts works and swimming zones for the bay. Dog rules vary from beach to beach and season to season on the bay side: some beaches have set hours, and Safety Beach has a small enclosed dog beach at Tassells Cove. Check the signs at the entrance before you unclip the lead.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Mornington Peninsula beach for kids?
The bay beaches are the calmest. Beachsafe rates Rye's front beach 1 out of 10 for hazards, and Safety Beach sits in a protected cove with playgrounds and toilets along the foreshore. Neither is patrolled, so stay close and within your depth.
Are the beaches on the Mornington Peninsula patrolled?
Some are, in the warmer months. Mount Martha Life Saving Club patrols on weekends and public holidays from November to April, and the surf clubs at Sorrento Back Beach, Gunnamatta and Point Leo patrol through summer. Many bay beaches aren't patrolled at all. Swim between the red and yellow flags, and only while they're up.
What's the difference between a bay beach and a back beach?
Bay (or front) beaches face Port Phillip: calm, sheltered and good for swimming and paddling. Back beaches face Bass Strait along the national park: surf, rock pools and cliffs, with strong rips and big waves. Swim at the front, and at the back only between the flags.
Can I take my dog to the beach?
Not on the ocean beaches: dogs aren't allowed anywhere in Mornington Peninsula National Park, including Sorrento Back Beach and Gunnamatta. On the bay side the rules vary by beach and season, with set hours on some beaches and dog beaches on others, such as Tassells Cove near Safety Beach. Check the signs at the entrance.
Where are the bathing boxes?
All along the bay. Some of the best known are at Mount Martha, either side of Balcombe Creek, and at Ranelagh Beach in Mount Eliza, where the lookout above is the spot for a photo.
Where we checked the facts
Checked 31 October 2026against each place’s own site or an official source. Things change, so check before you go.
- Visit Mornington Peninsula: Mount Martha Beach
- Mount Martha Life Saving Club: patrols
- Beachsafe: Mount Martha South
- Visit Mornington Peninsula: Safety Beach
- Mornington Peninsula Shire: Safety Beach Bay Trail
- Beachsafe: Fishermans Beach
- Visit Mornington Peninsula: Rye Front Beach
- Beachsafe: Rye
- Parks Victoria: Rye Pier
- Visit Mornington Peninsula: Canadian Bay
- Mornington Peninsula Shire: Canadian Bay car park works
- Visit Mornington Peninsula: Ranelagh Beach
- Beachsafe: Ranelagh
- Parks Victoria: ocean beaches of Mornington Peninsula National Park
- Parks Victoria: Sorrento Back Beach
- Beachsafe: Sorrento Ocean (Back)
- Parks Victoria: Gunnamatta Beach
- Beachsafe: Gunnamatta
- Mornington Peninsula Shire: Gunnamatta Surf Life Saving Club
- Visit Mornington Peninsula: Point Leo Beach
- Point Leo Surf Life Saving Club: patrols
- Mornington Peninsula Shire: boating and swimming zones
