Wreck Beach, Victoria: Getting there, walk & swimming safety

Hidden just off Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, Wreck Beach is spectacular – but you’ll need to tackle more than 350 steps to get there. Swimming at Wreck Beach is dangerous, however.

Wreck Beach, Victoria, is one of the great secrets of the Great Ocean Road. Almost all Great Ocean Road tours will miss this hidden beach out, as it is fairly close to Princetown and the 12 Apostles, which hog all the attention.

However, Wreck Beach is a model of tempestuous moodiness, with high cliffs and crashing waves along its 1.2 metre length.

There’s a sense of achievement in finding this overlooked Great Ocean Road beach, and it’s not difficult to see where the name comes from.

7 fantastic Great Ocean Road experiences
1. Crowd-beating reverse direction tour. 2. Surfing lessons in Anglesea. 3. Split Point Lighthouse climb. 4. Shockwave Zip-Coaster. 5. Guided wildlife walk. 6. Budj Bim National Park tour. 7. Great Ocean Road by motorbike.

How to get to Wreck Beach, Victoria

Wreck Beach is also fairly hard work to get to. There is a car park at Moonlight Head in Great Otway National Park. To reach this car park, you need down a gravel track off the Great Ocean Road from Wattle Hill or Lower Gelibrand.

Pick the right Great Ocean Road tour from Melbourne

For wildlife and nature focus: One day tour with koalas and guided forest walk.
To beat the crowds: Reverse direction Great Ocean Road day tour.
For adventure: Two day camping and surfing trip.
For backpackers: One day highlights tour aimed at younger travellers.
For exclusivity and flexibility: Private tour where you can pick the sights you want to see.
For an extended trip: Three day Melbourne to Adelaide tour.

Wreck Beach walk

The walk from the Moonlight Head car park to Wreck Beach is about 2km. That’s not particularly long, but boy are your legs going to get a workout. There’s some disagreement over the exact number of steps down to the beach – some sources state 366, others hedge bets with “over 350”. But either way, it is too many to be confident of counting while your calves shriek from overwork.

Surfing and swimming at Wreck Beach, Great Ocean Road

Those steps tend to put off most surfers – carrying a board back up to the Moonlight Head car park is no fun at all. That said, experienced surfers might want to try their hand on the reef breaks.

Conditions are generally hazardous, however, with strong rips.

These rips make swimming at Wreck Beach dangerous, although you may wish to try your luck in the rock pools at low tide.

Anchors at Wreck Beach, Victoria

What Wreck Beach is best known for, however, are the remnants of shipwrecks. The anchors of the Marie-Gabrielle and the Fiji can both be seen on Wreck Beach, although reaching them requires a bit of extra scampering over the rocks.

Wreck Beach on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria. Photo courtesy of Visit Victoria.

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