The Mornington Peninsula's bay-facing beaches stretch from Safety Beach and McCrae in the north down to Rye and Rosebud at the peninsula's mid-point — eight east-north-east-facing Port Phillip Bay shores that form Victoria's most popular summer holiday coast. Bay-side beaches here are calm and shallow, protected from ocean swell; St Andrews and Rye Ocean Beach on the ocean side see surf and more exposed conditions.
Dromana, Rosebud, McCrae and Safety Beach all face north or north-west into Port Phillip Bay, giving this cluster consistently calmer conditions than the peninsula's ocean back beaches. Check the live shelter rating to see which is calmest right now, since bay wind still varies by direction.
Yes — Rosebud Beach faces north-west into Port Phillip Bay with calm, shallow water, making it one of the most popular family holiday beaches on the peninsula.
Boneo Beach is the cluster's one ocean back beach, facing south into Bass Strait, in stark contrast to the calm, north-facing bay beaches like Rosebud and Dromana that dominate this part of the peninsula. It's remote and rarely visited compared to the main bay beaches.
Beaches of Australia calculates each rating from three live inputs — current wind speed, wind direction, and the beach's exact facing direction and surrounding topography. These combine into a live algorithm that produces a score out of 10, recalculated every 15 minutes, so the rating always reflects real conditions rather than a seasonal average.
A rating of 8–10 means a beach is currently well protected from wind, with calmer water suited to swimming and families. A rating of 1–3 means it's highly exposed, with rougher conditions likely. Because ratings update live, the same beach can move up or down within hours as wind shifts.
Wind speed, wind direction and shelter ratings are updated every 15 minutes using live weather data. That means the rating you see reflects current conditions, not last night's forecast — so it's worth checking again just before you leave.
Select your state or region and Beaches of Australia ranks every beach by its live shelter rating, so you can see at a glance which nearby beach is currently most sheltered from wind — updated every 15 minutes.
Yes — Beaches of Australia is free to use. Every shelter rating, updated every 15 minutes, is available at no cost across all regions.
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