⚠ 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.

Sorrento, Portsea & Blairgowrie

Official Victorian sources for this areaParks Victoria notices to mariners (Port Phillip & Western Port)Parks Victoria Port Phillip Recreational Boating Guide, 7th ed. (PDF)Parks Victoria: boating and swimming zones Bureau of Meteorology: about the Port Phillip Heads tidal streamsFree official pages and PDFs from the Victorian port managers. Read the current notices before you go. Not for navigation.

Sorrento Channel leads 169.8° · 5-knot zone to 500 m · public moorings · Capel Sound anchorageLast checked: 28 October 2026Report a correction

Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie line the inside of the Mornington Peninsula just east of Point Nepean, the first sheltered water after the Rip. It's a popular summer spot, with public moorings, piers, a marina at Blairgowrie and the car ferry to Queenscliff. The bay here is shallow near shore and edged by South Sand, so watch the beacons.

Map of Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie with markers for the Sorrento ferry terminal, Portsea Pier, Blairgowrie Marina and Pier, and the Capel Sound anchorage. — Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie. Navy: marina and piers; blue: anchorage; purple: ferry terminal. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. **Not a chart. Not for navigation.**
1Sorrento ferry terminal · OSM.
2Portsea Pier · OSM (Nominatim).
3Blairgowrie Marina · OSM.
4Blairgowrie Pier · OSM.
5Capel Sound · OSM (Nominatim).

At a glance


What it is	Bayside villages and moorings on the southern Mornington Peninsula
Approach to Sorrento	Sorrento Channel, between the south shore and South Sand, range lights 169.8° (NGA)
Speed	5 kn within 500 m of shore from Martha Cove to Sullivan Bay (Parks Victoria)
Moorings	Public moorings at Sorrento (contact Parks Victoria)
Port manager	Parks Victoria (local port of Port Phillip)

Getting in

Sorrento Channel. NGA says the Sorrento Channel leads to the Sorrento jetty between the south shore and South Sand, the big bank east of Point King. It's marked by range lights in line on 169.8° and unlit beacons. Point King has a 5 m white beacon.

The 2 m line. From Blairgowrie to just south of Dromana, many yellow unlit beacons follow the 2 m depth contour (NGA). Stay outside them unless you draw very little.

Capel Sound. NGA describes safe anchorage in Capel Sound, south of the east end of South Channel, about 0.7 mile SSE of South Channel Pile Light and clear of the prohibited area, in 12 m, sand, covered by the light's green sector.

Heading out through the Heads

⚠ Call marine rescue before you cross. Conditions on bars and entrances change quickly and our notes can't keep up. Before crossing, call Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad (2900 Point Nepean Road, Blairgowrie), or the port manager, for current conditions and a radio check, and tell someone ashore when you're through.

Marine Radio Victoria monitors VHF 16 (67 is the alternative) 24 hours a day, out to 20 nm off the Victorian coast
Lonsdale VTS works on VHF 12 (NGA Pub. 127)
Emergency: VHF 16 or Triple Zero (000)

Unit checked against the Victorian Government list of marine search and rescue units on 28 October 2026: www.vic.gov.au/marine-search-and-rescue-unit-locations.

The Rip is just round the corner. Point Nepean is about 5 nm west of Sorrento, and the Heads are a Designated Hazardous Area with streams up to about 6 kn, near 9 kn in extremes (BoM). Read the Rip guide, time it for slack water, and listen on VHF 12 for ships. Parks Victoria says landing at Point Nepean, inside the marine national park, is prohibited.

Moorings, berths and rules

Public moorings. The Port Phillip guide says to contact Parks Victoria to stay on the public moorings at Sorrento. Don't anchor in mooring grounds or channels.
Piers. The guide lists Sorrento and Portsea piers, and Rye and Rosebud further east, in its berthing table; signs give the time limits. Some berths are leased to commercial operators and aren't for public use.
Speed. The 5-knot zone runs out to 500 m from shore along this coast, from Martha Cove at Dromana to Sullivan Bay at Sorrento. Elsewhere on Port Phillip it's 200 m (Parks Victoria).
Ferry. The Queenscliff to Sorrento car ferry runs from the Sorrento terminal (OpenStreetMap). Keep clear.

Recent notices

Sullivans Bay. A sunken boat in the Sullivans Bay mooring ground has been removed (Parks Victoria NtM 462-2026).
Sorrento East. A submerged hazard in the Sorrento East mooring ground has been fixed (NtM 471-2026).
Camerons Bight, Blairgowrie. Submerged hazards in the mooring ground have been removed (NtM 453-2026).
South Channel Fort. The fixed white jetty light is lit again (NtM 452-2026).

Victorian rules in brief

Heightened risk. On vessels up to 12 m underway, the Victorian Recreational Boating Safety Handbook counts these among the times of heightened risk: crossing an ocean bar, boating in a Designated Hazardous Area (Port Phillip Heads is one), boating from an hour after sunset to an hour before sunrise, in restricted visibility, or where a gale, storm force or severe weather warning is current. Lifejacket rules are tighter then; check the handbook's tables for your boat.
Warnings. The Bureau of Meteorology issues strong wind (26 to 33 kn), gale (34 to 47 kn) and storm force (48 kn and over) warnings. Safe Transport Victoria strongly advises small craft not to go out when one is current.
Radio. Marine Radio Victoria monitors VHF 16 (67 alternative) 24/7 out to 20 nm, gives forecasts twice daily, and broadcasts current warnings on VHF 67 at 48 minutes past every even hour (the first at 00:47), eastern standard time (handbook).

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 Sorrento ferry terminal (pier / landing)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Bars, pubs and clubs
Sorrento Hotel	Pub	360 m	–
The Continental Hotel	Pub	600 m	21 Ocean Beach Road
Sorrento Bowling Club	Bowls club	970 m	–
Ocean Beach Pavilion	Bar	980 m	–
Happy Fays Sorrento	Pub	1.0 km	–
Restaurants and cafes
Morgan's	Restaurant	320 m	–
Itali.co Sorrento	Restaurant	360 m	–
Rusty's Cafe Bar & Grill	Restaurant	380 m	–
The Baths	Restaurant	500 m	3278 Point Nepean Road
Stringers Cafe	Cafe	580 m	2 - 8 Ocean Beach Road
Fish Fetish	Takeaway	630 m	–
Bistro Elba	Restaurant	850 m	–
Chopsti Noodle Bar	Takeaway	910 m	–
plus 7 more within the walk
Entertainment
Atheneum Cinema	Cinema	710 m	–
Nepean Historical Society	Museum	1.1 km	–
Supermarkets and provisioning
Stringers Store	Convenience store	590 m	–
Sardo Delicatessen	Deli	630 m	20 Ocean Beach Road
Brumby's Bakeries	Bakery	710 m	–
Sorrento Meat Co	Butcher	720 m	–
Liquorland	Bottle shop	880 m	–
Ritchies	Supermarket	900 m	108 Ocean Beach Road

From Blairgowrie Marina (marina)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Restaurants and cafes
Pizza Doh	Takeaway	1.2 km	2845 Point Nepean Road, Blairgowrie VIC 3942
Supermarkets and provisioning
IGA X-press plus Liquor	Bottle shop	1.1 km	–

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.

Sources & credits

Written in our own words from the Parks Victoria Port Phillip Recreational Boating Guide (7th edition, 2020) and Parks Victoria notices to mariners, 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. NGA Pub. 127 Sector 1 (1.29) for the Sorrento Channel, the beacons and Capel Sound.

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.

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? Tell us what you found on the moorings or in the channel. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 28 October 2026.

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