Cruising guides: Gabo Island to Melbourne
Free planning notes for the run from Gabo Island, just over the New South Wales border, west along the Victorian coast to Melbourne, written by a working delivery skipper. There are 17 place guides in 6 regions: Gabo Island and East Gippsland, Corner Inlet and Wilsons Promontory, Western Port and Phillip Island, Port Phillip Heads with Queenscliff and Geelong, the Mornington Peninsula, and Melbourne's bayside. It's an exposed coast with few safe ports between Lakes Entrance and Western Port, Bass Strait weather, and the Rip at the end of it. Pick a region, or click a spot on the map.
- Gabo Island & East Gippsland
- Corner Inlet & Wilsons Promontory
- Western Port & Phillip Island
- Port Phillip Heads, Queenscliff & Geelong
- Mornington Peninsula
- Melbourne & Bayside
- 1Gabo Island & Mallacoota · Gabo Island & East Gippsland
- 2Lakes Entrance bar · Gabo Island & East Gippsland
- 3Gippsland Lakes: Metung & Paynesville · Gabo Island & East Gippsland
- 4Port Albert · Corner Inlet & Wilsons Promontory
- 5Corner Inlet & Port Welshpool · Corner Inlet & Wilsons Promontory
- 6Wilsons Promontory: Refuge Cove & the east coast · Corner Inlet & Wilsons Promontory
- 7San Remo & Newhaven · Western Port & Phillip Island
- 8Cowes & Rhyll, Phillip Island · Western Port & Phillip Island
- 9Hastings & Stony Point · Western Port & Phillip Island
- 10The Rip at Port Phillip Heads · Port Phillip Heads, Queenscliff & Geelong
- 11Queenscliff · Port Phillip Heads, Queenscliff & Geelong
- 12Geelong & Corio Bay · Port Phillip Heads, Queenscliff & Geelong
- 13Sorrento, Portsea & Blairgowrie · Mornington Peninsula
- 14Mornington · Mornington Peninsula
- 15Sandringham & Brighton · Melbourne & Bayside
- 16St Kilda, Docklands & the Yarra · Melbourne & Bayside
- 17Williamstown · Melbourne & Bayside
Regions, east to west
Gabo Island & East Gippsland
Gabo Island, Mallacoota, the Lakes Entrance bar and the Gippsland Lakes · 3 guides
Region overview →Corner Inlet & Wilsons Promontory
Port Albert, Corner Inlet and Port Welshpool, and the east side of Wilsons Promontory · 3 guides
Region overview →Western Port & Phillip Island
San Remo and Newhaven, Cowes and Rhyll, Hastings and Stony Point · 3 guides
Region overview →Port Phillip Heads, Queenscliff & Geelong
The Rip at Port Phillip Heads, Queenscliff and the west side of the bay to Geelong · 3 guides
Region overview →Mornington Peninsula
Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie in the south, and Mornington on the east side of the bay · 2 guides
Region overview →Melbourne & Bayside
Sandringham and Brighton, St Kilda, Docklands and the Yarra, and Williamstown · 3 guides
Region overview →Entrances and hazards on this stretch
Bass Strait gets strong westerlies with heavy seas from mid-May to the end of October, and southerly gales come in with thick weather and heavy rain (NGA Pub. 127). Lakes Entrance is a dredged ocean bar with its own closure signals; Mallacoota's entrance can close; Port Albert and Corner Inlet need local knowledge. The Western Port Narrows run up to 6 kn under the San Remo bridge, which has major works under way. Port Phillip Heads is a Designated Hazardous Area: the Rip runs up to about 6 kn normally and close to 9 kn in extremes (Bureau of Meteorology), and breaks dangerously for small craft in or after a south-westerly gale (NGA). Melbourne and Geelong are working ship ports; keep out of the channels and listen to the VTS.
Bass Strait weather
Check the Bureau of Meteorology coastal waters forecast and warnings before every leg. Marine Radio Victoria broadcasts current warnings on VHF 67 at 48 minutes past every even hour. Safe Transport Victoria strongly advises small craft not to go out when a strong wind, gale or storm force warning is current, and the handbook treats a current gale, storm force or severe weather warning as a time of heightened risk, with tighter lifejacket rules (Victorian Recreational Boating Safety Handbook, 2024).
Other sections
The coast is split into eight sections, from north to south and then west into Victoria:
- Whitsundays to Cooktown (planned)
- Bundaberg to the Whitsundays
- Mooloolaba to Bundaberg
- Tweed to Mooloolaba
- Tweed to Newcastle (planned)
- Newcastle to Wollongong
- Wollongong to Gabo Island (planned)
- Gabo Island to Melbourne (this section)
How to use these guides
Every guide is a planning aid: what to expect, who to call, and where to look for the official word. None of it replaces the current chart, the notices to mariners from Gippsland Ports, Parks Victoria and Ports Victoria, the tide tables or a chat with the locals.
Spotted something wrong or out of date? Report a correction.
Sources and credits
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.
Natural Earth. Locator and card maps drawn from Natural Earth (public domain).
Need a boat moved between Gabo Island and Melbourne?
Get a delivery quoteNeed a delivery skipper for this coast? Get a quote from Capt. Garry Hartshorne, AMSA Master <45.