Jan Juc

Jan Juc is Jan Juc

– according to the locals
Don’t make the mistake of asking them if it’s a suburb of Torquay, they’ll make it clear that the small town of Jan Juc is it’s own place and much more authentic or “real” than its neighbour.

Jan Juc is just at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road, sitting on the cliffs above the Bass Strait and Surf Coast.

The town centre of Jan Juc is quite small with just a few shops and cafe’s sitting to the west of the incredible Jan Juc Surf Beach and Rocky Point, just behind the Bird Rock Lookout. There isn’t much of a need for more commercial enterprises as Torquay is only kilometres away, although there is still quite a big population of people living here due to housing estates being built over the last several decades.

If you’re right in the centre of the Jan Juc town and walk out to Bird Rock, you’ll get a view of the Jan Juc Surf Beach. This is a super popular surfing spot for the locals and it is well suited for more experienced surfers due to the pretty big and powerful waves.

Experienced surfers also take a short drive to the west and head down to South Side and Bells Beach, which are both world-famous, world-class surf beaches. Continuing west from here, around every corner for the next 100 kilometres or so will be another break waiting to be surfed.

Heading east, 13th Beach at Barwon Heads is another spot with decent size waves and attracts a lot of incredible surfers.

For beginners, there are a few decent options. The next beach to the east from the Jan Juc Surf Beach is the Torquay Surf Beach and it gets consistently soft and small waves rolling in, ideal for those learning to surf. If Torquay is too busy, either keep heading east to Ocean Grove or west to Lorne.