⚠ 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.

Queenscliff

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

Boat harbour via a dredged channel · Swan Island naval waters · Coles and West channels · public mooringsLast checked: 28 October 2026Report a correction

Queenscliff sits on Shortland Bluff, right inside the Heads, so it's the natural first or last stop for anyone using the Rip. Its boat harbour lies north of the town, reached by a dredged channel, with Swan Island and its naval waters just across. From here the West and Coles channels lead up the western side of the bay towards St Leonards and Geelong.

Map of Queenscliff with markers for the boat ramp, Queenscliff Yacht Club, the ferry terminal, Swan Island and Shortland Bluff. — Queenscliff. Green: ramp; navy: yacht club; red: Swan Island naval waters; purple: ferry terminal and Shortland Bluff. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. **Not a chart. Not for navigation.**
1Queenscliff boat ramp · OSM.
2Queenscliff Yacht Club · OSM.
3Queenscliff ferry terminal · OSM.
4Swan Island · OSM (Nominatim).
5Shortland Bluff · OSM (Nominatim).

At a glance


What it is	Boat harbour and town just inside Port Phillip Heads
Approach	Dredged channel to the harbour, about 0.5 mile NE of Drapers Reef (NGA)
Nearby	Swan Island naval waters; Swan Bay mostly mud flats
Moorings	Public moorings at Queenscliff (Parks Victoria)
Port manager	Parks Victoria (local port of Port Phillip)

Getting in

⚠ Call marine rescue before you cross. Conditions on bars and entrances change quickly and our notes can't keep up. Before crossing, call Queenscliff Coast Guard (flotilla VF9, at the Queenscliff boat ramp), 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
Inside the Heads, Lonsdale VTS and the Port Phillip Sea Pilots work 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.

From the Heads. Queenscliff is inside the Port Phillip Heads Designated Hazardous Area, so time your run through the Rip first (see the Rip guide). NGA says Drapers Reef, with a least depth of 0.6 m, runs about 0.4 mile NE of Shortland Bluff and is marked by a buoy. About 0.5 mile further NE, a dredged channel leads to the boat harbour north of Queenscliff.

The harbour. NGA describes the harbour as bounded on the west by the bridge from Queenscliff to Rabbit Island, then another bridge to Swan Island. Parks Victoria dredges here to keep access open. Maintenance dredging runs from 12 October to 2 November 2026, with a cutter suction dredge and a pipeline to Swan Island's eastern beach (Parks Victoria NtM 467(T)-2026). Go carefully near the works.

Swan Island. NGA says a charted area around Swan Island is designated naval waters. Less than 5 m extends up to 0.7 mile off its south-east side, and Swan Spit (under 1.8 m) runs about 0.7 mile south of Swan Point. Swan Bank's edge changes often.

Up the west side

Coles Channel. Between West Sand and the shore from Swan Point to The Bluff, with a least depth of 3.4 m on the range line (NGA). The range line passes close west of the south end of West Sand, which has only 0.3 m.
West Channel. Entered heading ENE, north of Popes Eye Bank, passing either side of Royal George Shoal (4 m) (NGA).
St Leonards. A jetty with a curved breakwater that shelters small craft (NGA). The Port Phillip guide lists St Leonards Pier in its berthing table.
Unexploded ordnance. NGA describes an unexploded ordnance area about 6 miles east of Indented Head, outside the entrance to West Channel. Don't anchor or fish there.
Current notice. A trial of an autonomous underwater vehicle ran east of West Channel off St Leonards from 20 to 23 October 2026 (Parks Victoria NtM 481-2026, now cancelled).

Moorings and berths

Public moorings. The Port Phillip guide says to contact Parks Victoria to stay on the public moorings at Queenscliff.
Berths. The guide lists Queenscliff South Pier in its berthing table. Time limits are on the signs; berths leased to commercial operators aren't for public use.
Ferry. The Queenscliff to Sorrento car ferry uses the terminal in the harbour (OpenStreetMap). Keep clear.

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 Queenscliff boat ramp / Queenscliff Yacht Club (boat ramp / dinghy landing, marina)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Restaurants and cafes
Trident Fish Bar	Takeaway	450 m	–
Scully's fish & chippery	Takeaway	680 m	–
Wharf St Pantry	Cafe	680 m	4 Wharf Street East, Queenscliff VIC
360Q	Restaurant	700 m	–
Willow Tree Cafe	Cafe	780 m	8 Hesse Street, Queenscliff VIC 3225
Panache Cafe and Creperie	Takeaway	830 m	–
Entertainment
Historical Museum	Museum	580 m	–
Queenscliffe Maritime Museum	Museum	700 m	2 Wharf Street, Queenscliff VIC 3225
Supermarkets and provisioning
IGA Local Grocer	Supermarket	730 m	75 Hesse Street, Queenscliff VIC 3225

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 Parks Victoria notices to mariners (including 467(T)-2026) and the Parks Victoria Port Phillip Recreational Boating Guide (7th edition, 2020), 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 approach, Swan Island and the channels.

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 in the harbour channel. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 28 October 2026.

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