⚠ NOT FOR NAVIGATION. Use official charts and tide tables. This page is a planning aid only. Navigate with the current official chart, the Victorian port managers' notices to mariners, official tide tables and local advice.

Mornington Peninsula cruising guide

Official Victorian sources for this areaParks Victoria Port Phillip Recreational Boating Guide, 7th ed. (PDF)Parks Victoria notices to mariners (Port Phillip & Western Port)Parks Victoria: boating and swimming zonesFree official pages and PDFs from the Victorian port managers. Read the current notices before you go. Not for navigation.
Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie in the south, and Mornington on the east side of the bay · 2 guidesLast checked: 28 October 2026Report a correction

The southern and eastern shores of Port Phillip, along the Mornington Peninsula, are the first sheltered water inside the Heads. Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie have public moorings and piers close to the entrance, and Mornington has a pier and harbour off Schnapper Point further up the east shore.

Map of the Mornington Peninsula region (Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie in the south, and Mornington on the east side of the bay) with a numbered marker for each of its 2 cruising guide pages.
Numbers match the guide list below. Each name links to its page. Positions are approximate. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. Not a chart. Not for navigation.
  1. 1Sorrento, Portsea & Blairgowrie · Bayside anchorages near the Heads
  2. 2Mornington · Bay harbour + pier

Guides in this region, east to west

Sorrento, Portsea & Blairgowrie

Bayside anchorages near the Heads

Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie inside Port Phillip Heads: the Sorrento Channel, 5-knot zones, moorings and the Rip next door.

Last checked: 28 October 2026

Mornington

Bay harbour + pier

Mornington on Port Phillip's east shore: Schnapper Point, the pier and harbour, speed zones and shelter. Free notes. Not for navigation.

Last checked: 28 October 2026

Entrances and hazards to plan around

  • Sorrento, Portsea & Blairgowrie: Sorrento Channel range lights in line 169.8° (NGA); 5 kn within 500 m of shore from Martha Cove to Sullivan Bay (Parks Victoria).
  • Mornington: Wooley Reef, 1.4 m, off Davey Point (NGA).

Read the current Parks Victoria notices to mariners and the boating and swimming zones before you go.

Neighbouring regions

About these guides

These are planning notes written by a working delivery skipper from public sources: Parks Victoria, Gippsland Ports and Ports Victoria notices and guides, the Victorian Recreational Boating Safety Handbook, the Bureau of Meteorology, NGA Pub. 127 and OpenStreetMap. They are not for navigation. Use the official chart, current notices, official tide tables and local advice. Each page shows when its facts were last checked.

Sources & 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.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.

Need a boat moved through the Mornington Peninsula region?

Get a delivery quote

Need a delivery skipper for this coast? Get a quote from Capt. Garry Hartshorne, AMSA Master <45.