2 Best Sights in Phillip Island, Victoria

This gloriously wide, long sandy beach is patrolled during the summer months—swim between the red-and-yellow patrol flags—and its gentle waves make it popular for families and beginner surfers. Low tide reveals rock pools ideal for slow, contemplative walks and exploration. The nearby Smiths Beach Bar & Beach Food is open at 7 am for coffee, pastries, wraps and sandwiches, ideal for beach picnics, and you can hire surfboards, wet suits, bodyboards, fins, and masks from the surf shop next door. The beach is accessed by stairs or wheelchair-friendly ramps. Amenities: lifeguards; parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking.

Phillip Island's only surf lifesaving club is based on this long, exposed stretch of prime surfing beach, recognised as a National Surfing Reserve. The hazardous 4.2-km (2.6-mile) beach has strong undertows, so it's for experienced surfers and swimmers only, and only between the safety flags when lifeguards are on patrol, from December to mid-April: check the surf lifesaving club's website for patrol times. Walkers can take in the views here on a ramble to The Pinnacles. The Woolamai Beach Road runs off Phillip Island Road and is 14 km (9 miles) from Cowes. The nearest accommodation is generally cottage-style; Black Dolphin has a luxury penthouse and a cottage on the Cape, on Corona Road. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking.