Gippsland Lakes: Metung & Paynesville
Once you're over the bar, the Gippsland Lakes are a different world: 420 square kilometres of sheltered water from Lakes Entrance west to Sale, with Lake King, Lake Victoria and Lake Wellington, the lower reaches of four rivers, and towns like Metung and Paynesville. Gippsland Ports calls the lakes safe and pleasant to navigate, with one big caution: there are shallow areas the beacons don't show.
- 1Metung boat ramp · OSM.
- 2Metung marina · OSM.
- 3Lake King Jetty · OSM.
- 4Paynesville boat ramp · OSM.
- 5Raymond Island ferry · OSM.
- 6Paynesville marina · OSM.
- 7Progress Jetty · OSM.
At a glance
| What it is | Large coastal lake system, the Port of Gippsland Lakes |
| Access by sea | Only over the Lakes Entrance bar |
| Winds | Prevailing south-westerlies in winter, south-easterlies in summer (Gippsland Ports) |
| Buoyage | IALA A |
| Rules | VOZR Schedule 104 (Local Port of Gippsland Lakes) |
Getting around
Navigation. Gippsland Ports advises carrying a compass, getting good local knowledge and avoiding night passages, because some shallow patches aren't marked. New users are encouraged to get a copy of the Gippsland Lakes Boating Guide, and the port's Waterways Online map shows the channels.
Channels near Lakes Entrance. North Arm is well marked with about 2 m in its lower reaches. Hopetoun and Rigby channels are navigable, but larger boats should watch for moving shoals. In Reeve Channel to The Narrows, a boat going with the tide has right of way over one stemming it. Dredges often work on the bar, The Narrows, Reeve Channel, Cunninghame Arm and the east end of Hopetoun Channel.
Lake King and Metung. Lake King has good depth and clear beacons, but picks up a sea in south-west and easterly winds. Gergon and Carstairs banks, south of Campbell Channel, need sea room. Bancroft Bay at Metung has good water, with safe anchorages in Chinaman's Creek and Boxes Creek. The Tambo, Nicholson and Mitchell river entrances are beaconed, and the rivers give safe anchorage.
Lake Victoria and Paynesville. Lake Victoria averages about 5 m, shoaling towards McLennan Strait. South of Raymond Island the Aurora, Steamer and Grange channels lead to Ocean Grange and Bunga Arm; Steamer Channel, east of Crescent Island, is the preferred one. Newlands Arm, Duck Arm and Picnic Arm give safe anchorage in the east.
McLennan Strait and Lake Wellington. McLennan Strait averages about 4 m, with about 1.8 m at its ends. Lake Wellington is for shallow-draft boats only, and its sea gets up very quickly. There's an air force bombing range in its south-west corner.
The ferry. A vehicle ferry runs on underwater cables across McMillan Strait at Paynesville. A flashing light at each end shows which way it's going.
Clearances
Gippsland Ports gives these at mean tide level; floods reduce them, and signs on the banks show the current figure.
| Bridge | Clearance |
|---|---|
| Paynesville Canal (south) | 1.2 m |
| Paynesville Canal (north) | 5.0 m |
| North Arm Bridge, Lakes Entrance | 6.5 m |
| Cunninghame Arm footbridge | 2.8 m |
| Bullock Island Bridge | 1.9 m |
| Tambo River Bridge, Swan Reach | 6.6 m |
| Mitchell River Bridge (Princes Highway) | 6.0 m |
| Overhead cables | Clearance |
|---|---|
| Bullock Island Bridge | 8.4 m |
| Lakes Entrance North Arm Bridge | 15.2 m |
| Boxes Creek | 22.1 m |
| McMillan Strait (northern end) | 22.9 m |
| Picnic Arm (at entrance) | 19.5 m |
| Nicholson River Bridge | 9.8 m |
Berths, moorings and pump-outs
- Public jetties. There are many public destination jetties for short stays, with time limits on all of them. In Metung they include the Town Wharf and Lake King jetty. In Paynesville they include Progress Jetty, the Boat Harbour, the Services Jetty (with fuel) and Raymond Island Steamer Landing.
- Public swing moorings. Gippsland Ports runs public swing moorings for up to 48 hours, with vessel size limits.
- Pump-outs. Pump-outs and hoppers are at the Lakes Entrance Boat Harbour East and Bullock Island North (with fuel), Paynesville Services Jetty and Duck Arm. There are hoppers only at Metung Marina and Chinaman's Creek.
Current notices
- Raymond Island. The Steamer Landing jetty light is now a blue flashing light, Fl.Bu.5s (Local Navigation Notice 5 of 2026, 15 July 2026).
- Thompson and Latrobe rivers. Two temporary isolated danger buoys have been withdrawn after hazard removal (Local Navigation Notice 6 of 2026, 13 August 2026).
- Mitchell River. Port and starboard buoys now guard the shoaling at the silt jetties approach (Local Navigation Notice 1 of 2026).
Ashore
What's within about a 15-minute walk (1.2 km) of each marina, ramp or landing on this page, measured along streets and footpaths in OpenStreetMap. Addresses are from OpenStreetMap where it has one; where it doesn't, we show the name and distance only. Listings as fetched from OpenStreetMap on 28 October 2026; check opening hours before you walk.
From Paynesville marina (marina)
| Name | Type | Walk | Street address (OSM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bars, pubs and clubs | |||
| Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club | Yacht/boat club | 30 m | 60 Esplanade, Paynesville VIC 3880 |
| Paynesville Wine Bar | Bar | 420 m | – |
| Restaurants and cafes | |||
| Ginny's Place | Cafe | 150 m | 59 Esplanade, 3880 |
| Pier 70 | Restaurant | 330 m | – |
| Paynesville Arts Cafe | Cafe | 380 m | 31 Esplanade |
| Seaview Kitchen | Restaurant | 390 m | 23 Esplanade |
| Tham Dynasty | Restaurant | 410 m | 17A Esplanade, Paynesville VIC 3880 |
| JJ's Cafe & Waffles | Cafe | 420 m | 21 Esplanade, Paynesville VIC 3880 |
| Three double8zero | Restaurant | 420 m | 11-13 Esplanade, Paynesville VIC 3880 |
| Ferry Cafe | Cafe | 420 m | 85c Esplanade |
| Entertainment | |||
| Paynesville Maritime Museum | Museum | 330 m | – |
| Supermarkets and provisioning | |||
| Ritchies | Supermarket | 460 m | – |
| Paynesville Bakery Cafe | Bakery | 480 m | 7 Esplanade, Paynesville VIC 3880 |
From Metung marina (marina)
| Name | Type | Walk | Street address (OSM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bars, pubs and clubs | |||
| Metung Hotel | Pub | 810 m | – |
No marine stores or chandlers are mapped in OpenStreetMap within the walk.
Places, types, addresses and walking distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), fetched 28 October 2026.
About this page
These are free planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources. They are not for navigation. Use the official chart, the current notices to mariners from the Victorian port managers, official tide tables and local advice. Spotted something out of date? Please use Report a correction below.
Official links
Check these before you go. They beat anything on this page.
- Gippsland Ports: Port of Gippsland Lakes
- Gippsland Ports notices to mariners
- Victorian Recreational Boating Safety Handbook (Safe Transport Victoria, PDF)
- Bureau of Meteorology: coastal waters forecasts
- Bureau of Meteorology: warnings (incl. marine wind warnings)
- Bureau of Meteorology: tide predictions
- Marine Search and Rescue unit locations (vic.gov.au)
Sources & credits
Written in our own words from the Gippsland Ports Port of Gippsland Lakes page (cables, bridges, channels, facilities and pump-outs) and current Gippsland Ports notices, NGA Pub. 127 Sailing Directions (Enroute) South and East Coasts of Australia, 16th edition (2025, corrected to 30 July 2026), the Victorian Recreational Boating Safety Handbook (Safe Transport Victoria, 2024 edition), the vic.gov.au Marine Search and Rescue unit list and OpenStreetMap, all read on 28 October 2026.
Parks Victoria. Facts from the Parks Victoria notices to mariners, the Port Phillip and Western Port Recreational Boating Guides, the boating and swimming zones pages and the Gabo Island, Refuge Cove and Wilsons Promontory pages, restated and summarised in our own words. Parks Victoria web content is CC BY 4.0 unless marked otherwise; the boating guides and notices are linked, not reproduced. Not endorsed by Parks Victoria.
Gippsland Ports. Facts from Gippsland Ports notices to mariners, navigation warnings, local navigation notices and port pages, cited for fact only and linked, not reproduced. The current notices prevail.
Ports Victoria. Notices to mariners for the ports of Melbourne, Geelong and Hastings, cited for fact only.
Safe Transport Victoria. Facts from the Victorian Recreational Boating Safety Handbook (2024 edition), restated in our own words and linked, not reproduced. The handbook and the Marine Safety Act 2010 and its regulations prevail.
Bureau of Meteorology. Tide, tidal stream and forecast pages are linked, not reproduced; the Port Phillip Heads slack-water guidance is summarised.
NGA. Background from NGA Pub. 127, Sailing Directions (Enroute) South and East Coasts of Australia, U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Parts of it are old; where a page leans on it, we say so. Not endorsed by NGA.
OpenStreetMap. Map tiles, facility positions and the Ashore lists © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Victorian Government. Marine search and rescue units from the vic.gov.au unit list, checked on the date shown in the rescue box.
Last checked: 28 October 2026.
Need a boat moved into or out of the Gippsland Lakes?
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