Looking for the best beaches in Rye and Blairgowrie? Positioned along the narrow neck of the Mornington Peninsula, both towns feature tranquil, family-friendly bay beaches along Port Phillip to the north—ideal for swimming, paddleboarding, and jetty walks—and dramatic ocean back beaches to the south, home to Bass Strait surf breaks, rock pools, and scenic coastal trails.
The best beach in this cluster depends on which coast you check. Rye Bay Beach and Blairgowrie Bay Beach, facing Port Phillip Bay, are calm and family-friendly, while Rye Ocean Beach and Blairgowrie Ocean Beach face open Bass Strait. Check the live shelter rating to see which side is calmest right now.
Rye Ocean Beach faces south into open Bass Strait, picking up consistent southerly wind and wave energy that makes it a popular surf spot, in sharp contrast to the calm, north-facing Rye Bay Beach on the other side of town.
Yes — Blairgowrie Ocean Beach faces south-east and is known as a popular kitesurf destination thanks to consistent Bass Strait wind exposure, quite different from the sheltered, calm Blairgowrie Bay Beach nearby.
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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