Urquhart Bluff

Urquhart Bluff is behind the south-west part of a huge stretch of sand called Guvvos Beach that goes for about 4-5kms to east, right over to Point Roadknight in Anglesea. Urquhart Bluff South is at the very southern point of the main beach, there are bunch of smaller beaches separated by rocky cliffs going to the south-west.

There’s a gold crunchy sandy beach with beautiful breaking waves just off shore and the red sandstone bluff as the back drop.

This is the territory of many decent local surfers with steep medium size waves. It’s a popular spot for experienced surfers, but can get a bit rough for a family swim with young kids on your Great Ocean Road day trip.

Right out the front of the parking area, down at the southern part of the beach, waves around 1-1.5 metres break. This is where you’ll find the majority of people surfing. As the beach is uninterrupted for kilometres to the north-east, there’s plenty of room although the size and shape of the waves are the best at the southern point of Urquhart Bluff Beach.

Once you make around the south of the point, there are then another dozen or so beaches all the way to Fairhaven Beach. A lot of these spots can be accessed by various car parks at the top of the cliffs in Aireys Inlet, from paddling there or there is a pretty long walk down a trail that goes over and around the back of Urquhart Bluff.

There are loads of reefs and rocks all the way from Urquhart Bluff South to Fairhaven, this makes for decent waves on mid-tide, but they’re also pretty dangerous, hard to access and unpatrolled parts of the coastline.

The average surfer that you’ll find on the beach out the front of the Urquhart Bluff carpark will be pretty experienced and although some surf schools operate along here, it’s often not a good beginners beach as the waves can be a bit too big and powerful.

Beginners can head back along the Great Ocean Road to either Anglesea or Torquay where you can rent surfboards or take lessons. Both of these places have beaches that are suitable for beginners.

Surfers looking for even bigger waves than at Urquhart Bluff can gives Bells Beach or Southside a try, which is one of the most famous surfing spots in the country and only a short drive to the east.

There’s a large variety of fish that you’ll find off the shore at Urquhart Bluff beach and then in the rocks, wells and among the reefs that sit past the point at the southern end of the beach.

When casting in straight from the beach, you can expect to catch plenty of Salmon and then some Gummy Sharks, Whiting and Flatheads. If you have a boat or fish from the rocks near the point, you can also come across more varieties of fish that are hiding in the rocks and reefs. Fishing from the rocks can be dangerous in hide tide or rough weather.

There’s a boat ramp about five kilometres to the east at Point Roadknight, although you’ll need a 4X4 and the right conditions to safely use it. You can also fish from Point Roadknight where the swell is much calmer.