⚠ 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.

Cowes & Rhyll, Phillip Island

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

Western Entrance · Cowes Jetty · East Arm anchorage · strong set along the north shoreLast checked: 28 October 2026Report a correction

Phillip Island guards the mouth of Western Port, and its north shore is the sheltered side. Cowes is the main town, with a long jetty and an anchorage off it; Rhyll is a smaller village further east with a boat ramp and jetty. Coming from Port Phillip or Bass Strait, you come in through the Western Entrance, which NGA calls easy of access.

Map of the north shore of Phillip Island with markers for Cowes Jetty, the Cowes Yacht Club slipway, Cowes boat ramp and Rhyll boat ramp. — Cowes (left) and Rhyll (right). Navy: jetty; green: ramps. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. **Not a chart. Not for navigation.**
1Cowes Jetty · OSM.
2Cowes Yacht Club slipway · OSM.
3Cowes boat ramp · OSM.
4Rhyll boat ramp · OSM (Nominatim).

At a glance


What it is	Island towns on the north shore of Phillip Island, inside Western Port
Entrance	Western Entrance, between West Head and Point Grant, about 4.5 miles wide (NGA)
Streams	About 3.7 kn in the western entrance; about 2 kn in North and East Arms (NGA)
Tides	Range up to 3 m; much of the bay is mud at low water (Parks Victoria)
Port manager	Parks Victoria (local port); Ports Victoria for the shipping channels

Getting in

Western Entrance. NGA says the main entrance lies between West Head and Point Grant. Point Grant, the island's western tip, has a reef running about 0.5 mile WSW with The Nobbies on it; Black Rock, about 0.7 mile SW of Round Islet, sits on a reef where the sea breaks heavily in a southerly swell. Don't mistake the 26 m observation tower on Seal Rocks for the Point Grant light in poor visibility. NGA's route for ships passes about 1.5 miles NW of Seal Rocks, steering for McHaffie Point light on 057°, then follows the buoyed channel.

Along the north shore. NGA warns that the tidal streams set strongly along the north side of Phillip Island. Ships bound for East Arm keep about 0.5 mile off to avoid the spit from Eastern Flat.

Ships. The western channel is dredged for ships bound for Hastings and the North Arm terminals. Keep clear of ships, and never anchor in a shipping channel (Parks Victoria).

Anchoring and berths

Off Cowes. NGA gives anchorage in 15 m in East Arm, 0.5 to 1 mile east of Cowes Jetty and about 0.5 mile offshore, and in 14.6 m (sand and shells) about 0.5 mile off Observation Point.
Cowes Jetty. NGA describes an L-shaped jetty with a 105 m head and 6.4 m alongside its outer face. The Western Port guide lists Cowes Jetty in its berthing table; check the signs for time limits and loading zones.
Rhyll. The guide lists Rhyll Jetty in its berthing table too. OpenStreetMap shows the Rhyll boat ramp.
Speed. 5 kn within 50 m of swimmers, other boats and structures, within 100 m of a dive flag, in 5-knot zones and in mooring grounds (Parks Victoria).

Tides and mud

Western Port's tide range can reach 3 m, and at low tide much of the bay turns to mud flats that you can't navigate. Boats that leave the channels can be stranded for eight hours or more. Check the Bureau of Meteorology tide predictions before you move.

Facilities

Pets. Phillip Island Nature Park is a protected area; dogs and other pets aren't allowed, even on board (Parks Victoria).
Ramps. Parks Victoria says Cowes, Rhyll and Newhaven have all-tide, all-weather launching. OpenStreetMap shows the Cowes boat ramp and the Cowes Yacht Club slipway.
Fuel and pump-out. The nearest marina fuel is at Western Port Marina, Hastings, and Yaringa Marina, which also has a pump-out (Parks Victoria).

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 Cowes Jetty (marina)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Bars, pubs and clubs
Anerie	Bar	340 m	–
Ocean Reach	Pub	520 m	47 Thompson Avenue
Restaurants and cafes
The Jetty	Cafe	160 m	–
Sherwoods	Restaurant	300 m	–
Isola Gelateria	Ice cream	310 m	–
Isola Di Capri	Restaurant	320 m	2 Thompson Avenue
M & O	Cafe	320 m	–
Ember & Oak	Cafe	330 m	–
Wing Lock	Restaurant	340 m	8 Thompson Avenue
Bani's	Restaurant	340 m	10 Thompson Avenue
plus 44 more within the walk
Supermarkets and provisioning
Aldi	Supermarket	650 m	68-80 Thompson Avenue
EG Australia	Convenience store	880 m	–
Woolworths	Supermarket	890 m	117-133 Thompson Avenue, Cowes VIC 3922
Liquorland	Bottle shop	910 m	114-122 Thompson Avenue, Cowes VIC 3922
Coles	Supermarket	960 m	89 Church Street, Cowes VIC 3922
Cowes Shopping Centre	Shopping centre	960 m	119-135 Thompson Avenue
plus 4 more within the walk

From Rhyll boat ramp (boat ramp / dinghy landing)

Name	Type	Walk	Street address (OSM)
Bars, pubs and clubs
Rhyll Yacht Club	Yacht/boat club	490 m	–
Restaurants and cafes
Tides of Rhyll	Takeaway	210 m	11A Beach Road, Rhyll VIC 3923
The Foreshore	Restaurant	220 m	11 Beach Road
My Seaside Cafe	Cafe	300 m	1/
Supermarkets and provisioning
Rhyll General Store	Convenience store	780 m	41 Lock Road
Marine stores, chandlers and boat services
Phillip Island Marine	Boat dealer/marine store	310 m	14 Beach Road

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 Western Port Recreational Boating Guide (6th edition, January 2025) 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 2 (2.3) for the entrance, anchorages and tidal streams.

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 at the jetty or anchorage. Report a correction and tell us what you saw and when.
Last checked: 28 October 2026.

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