 Visit Melbourne City and the Bays and Peninsulas
Endless kilometres of sandy beaches entice you to Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay. Have fun and exciting adventures with playful dolphins and seals. Melbourne's’ Bays can be seen by a short sea voyage, car or 4WD or simply by jumping on a ferry.
You may wish to launch a boat, dive in the colourful reefs and wrecks or fish from one of the many piers.
For the experience sailor, sail a yacht from the world famous Sandringham Yacht Club in Port Phillip Bay. Sail past Queenscliff at the mouth of the bay, known as ‘The Rip’. Following the coastline up to Phillip Island and French Island and through to Western Port Bay.
The Mornington Peninsular lies between Melbourne's 2 bays. Mornington Peninsular National Park (only appx. 570 hectares) is Victoria’s most popular park. It has a stunning rugged coastline ready to be explored by all types of adventurers. Whether it is in the water or up in a helicopter the scenery is a unique experience.
Both the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas offer an assortment of water-based activities. Surfing, sailing, swimming and fishing are widely enjoyed, as is swimming with the resident populations of dolphins and seals.
Well trodden walking tracks can take you to rock wall sculptures, native and european gardens, and through to all areas of the park. The wildlife is abundant with Kookaburras, Kangaroos and even Koalas.
 Stylish Sorrento and Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula are home to with antique shops, galleries, cafes and numerous walking trails along the ocean-facing coastline. Heading inland, you’ll find a number of boutique wineries around Red Hill.
Diving in Port Phillip Bay is incredibly diversified and includes over 60 nineteenth century shipwrecks and four sunken submarines from World War One. You will encounter sea-dragons, seahorses and gardens of exquisite soft corals.
Diving in Port Phillip Bay is suitable for all divers, from beginners through to those who are very experienced but it is recommended that if you have not dived in Victoria, that you take an organised tour or dive with a guide.
Dolphin watching is a major drawcard of Port Phillip Bay. Experts believe there are now about 150 bottlenose dolphins living in the bay, with up to 60 of them frequenting the southern end of Port Phillip. Tours operate under strict guidelines to protect the dolphins and usually run in the warmer months from October to April.
Fishing either day and night, you can try your luck on the dozens of piers that dot the shores of Port Phillip, Hobsons, Corio and Westernport bays. Both Port Phillip and Westernport bays consistently provide an excellent supply of whiting, gummy and school shark, squid, salmon, flathead, elephant fish and snapper. Snapper can be caught year-round, but the fishing really ‘hots up’ over the warmer months with the snapper run beginning in October or November and continuing through until February or March. Snapper weighing up to 10 kilograms are occasionally caught by those fishing from boats, and occasionally from piers, jetties and rocky groynes.
 In the cooler months, large schools of salmon and tailor provide sensational lure for fly fishers and, in recent years, the yellowtail kingfish has returned to these waters. An incredibly powerful fish, yellowtail kingfish can give whiting and salmon anglers a shock by taking smaller fish as they’re being reeled in. There are a number of boat ramps, boat hire operators and fishing charters that operate around the bays.
Major towns:
 Melbourne
St. Kilda
Dandenong
Sorrento
Phillip Is.
French Is.
Portsea
Queenscliff
Frankston
Brighton
 Things to do:
4WDriving
Backpacking
Ballooning
Bike tours
Cycling
Diving
Fishing (+ deepsea tours)
Horse riding
Jet ski
Para sailing
Skydiving
Surfing
Swimming
Trekking
Yachting
For more information regarding your next visit to Victoria, go to Visit Victoria.
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