At the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, Portsea and Sorrento offer something rare — bay and ocean beaches within minutes of each other, where conditions can differ completely on the same day. The ocean-facing beaches at Portsea Back Beach, Sorrento Ocean Beach and Blairgowrie Ocean Beach take Bass Strait swell and surf; the bay side at Portsea Bay Beach and Sorrento Bay Beach stays calm and sheltered. The live rating makes choosing between them straightforward.
The best beach in this cluster depends on which coast you're on. Portsea Bay Beach and Sorrento Bay Beach, facing into Port Phillip Bay, are sheltered and calm, while Portsea Ocean Beach and Sorrento Ocean Beach face full Bass Strait exposure. Check the live shelter rating to see which side is calmest right now.
Portsea Ocean Beach faces south into open Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean with no headland shelter, while Portsea Bay Beach, just over a kilometre away, faces north-west into the fully enclosed Port Phillip Bay. It's one of the sharpest shelter contrasts on the peninsula.
Yes — Sorrento Bay Beach faces north into Port Phillip Bay, giving it calm, sheltered water well suited to families, in contrast to Sorrento Ocean Beach on the opposite side of the peninsula which sees consistent Bass Strait exposure.
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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