Surf Coast Walk

For the first 13 kms or so, the walk is along a heap of different beaches, where for most of it, you’ll be right beside the townships of Torquay and Jan Juc. Although the Surf Coast Walk official begins on the eastern end of the Point Impossible beach, you can chose to start anywhere at any pace and just head west.

Point Impossible Beach eventually merges into Fishermans Beach, where you’ll find a cafe and lots of vessels entering the water via the boat ramp or leaving their dock from out the front of the sailing club. Once you’re off this beach, you’re then just next to the centre of Torquay, where you can stop in for some food, drinks or shopping, otherwise take a break on the large grass section at the Torquay Foreshore. The Foreshore sits on the Torquay Front Beach, which is a calm, safe beach due to way that the beach is shaped, being protected by Point Danger from the big swell that the Southern Ocean pushes across from the south-west.

Point Danger separates the calm waters of the Front Beach with the larger swell at the Torquay Surf Beach, then the waves just keep getting bigger all the way to Bells and Southside Beach.

Torquay Surf Beach sits between Point Danger and Rocky Point, with the decent waves usually rolling in on the south-west side and just out past the headland. If you’re not short on time, you can rent a surf board from the Torquay Surf Academy, on the other side of caravan park that’s behind the beach, otherwise walk to the far end of the surf beach across the creek mouth (if the creek/river is impassable, there’s a board walk about 100 metres from the mouth where you can make a dry crossing) then head up to Rocky Point Lookout.

Rocky Point Lookout gives a view over the Torquay Surf Beach to the east and looks over the Jan Juc Surf Beach to the west. After taking in the sights, you can then continue along the trail, following the stairs down onto the beach.

After the Jan Juc Surf Beach, the coastline is mainly made up steep cliffs all the way to Bells Beach.

Follow the trail, it goes along between the top of the cliffs and the road. You’ll go past Bird Rock Lookout, right beside the small town centre of Jan Juc, then it’s a further 2.5 – 3kms to the incredible Bells Beach.

Budget some extra time for at Bells Beach and the nearby Southside Beach where you’ll often be able to watch world-class surfers making the most of regular huge waves. This is where the Rip Curl World Surfing Championships is held around Easter time each year.

The Surf Coast Walk then goes slightly inland as it cuts across from Bells Beach to Point Addis.

You can choose to take the most direct route or Iron Basin Trail that adds a few hundred extra metres.

Which ever way you go, you’ll walk through a dry Eucalyptus forest packed with loads of other Australia native plants, teaming with Bracken Ferns, Grass Plants and Grass Trees. Keep an eye out for Wallabies and Koalas and be treated with the occasional stunning view of the ocean before you make it back to the coast line and then arrive on top of the cliffs above Point Addis Beach.

Right out on the headland at Point Addis, there’s a large timber board walk where you can sit, have a rest and look out to the ocean with the hope of spotting some marine life.

On the western side of the board walk, head down onto the beach and continue along the trail for another 7 kms until you reach Anglesea.

Guvvos Beach is just on the other side of Point Addis and it stretches for kilometres, all the way to the popular surf spot down the other end of the beach, Urquhart Bluff.

You can surf and swim along most of the beach, although there are plenty of rips and it can be unsafe inexperienced surfers and swimmers.

Between Urquhart Bluff beach until you’re right into the township of Aireys Inlet, the trail goes over the headlands and calls into multiple beaches with that have three sides surrounded by large cliffs.

The next beach after Urquhart is Sunnymeade Beach, where there’s an incredible stone formation on the eastern end of the beach.

You then head over to Sandy Gully beach, then have the option of going down to several other sandy beaches, such as Step Beach below Split Point Lighthouse where you can get to the bottom of Castle Rock, if the conditions allow it.

The Split Point Lighthouse isn’t just a great sight and home to one a ghost of a teenage girl (read the ghost story here), but it also means that once you’ve passed it, you’ve almost made it to the end of the Surf Coast Walk.

At the lighthouse, you can get a great view of Castle Rock, then if you look to the west, you’ll be able to see Fairhaven Beach.

Walk down the hill and past the town (if you don’t need to stop in for some more food and drinks), then go around the Painkalac Creek, unless the tide is out and you can walk across the creek mouth and along the beach.

Once you’ve reached the Fairhaven Beach (where you should be able to see plenty of surfers if there are any signs of swell), you’ve completed the Surf Coast Walk!