Live shelter ratings for every beach in this region, updated every 15min. View the beach ratings below to see how sheltered it is right now.
Apollo Bay Beaches, Great Ocean Road, Victoria
Apollo Bay is a natural harbour town on Victoria's Great Ocean Road where east-north-east-facing beaches catch offshore winds on the region's dominant westerly days — often making it one of the calmest spots on the entire coast. Five beaches stretch across the cluster from the patrolled arc of Apollo Bay Beach near the harbour wall, south to the wilder shores of Marengo and Blanket Bay toward Cape Otway.
The best beach in Apollo Bay depends on current wind direction. The main town beach sits inside Marengo Bay and is partially sheltered by the surrounding headland, while Marengo Beach just south of town faces the open Roaring Forties directly. Check the live shelter rating to see which is calmest right now.
Marengo Beach sits just outside the headland that shelters Apollo Bay's main town beach, putting it in direct line with south-west Roaring Forties wind. The two beaches are only a few minutes apart but can rate very differently on the same day.
Yes — Barham River Beach sits inside the Barham River inlet just east of Apollo Bay, fully sheltered from the south-westerly wind that affects the open coast. It's one of the calmest spots in the Apollo Bay cluster.
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.
Help us document the best beaches in Australia. If you have a better photo than the one used or have a beach that you’d like listed on the site, send us an image with location details or a Google map link to beachesofaustralia@gmail.com.
All accepted photos get an onsite reference with a link to your folio or business.
Email usMany thanks to our contributing photographers. If you wish to add or remove any photographs from the site send us a email: beachesofaustralia@gmail.com
Email usEvery beach is different. Facing direction, surrounding headlands, reef platforms and coastal geography all determine how wind and swell behave at any given spot. Beaches of Australia uses a custom algorithm — combining real-time wind speed, wind direction and each beach's unique topography — to calculate a live shelter rating out of 10, updated every 15 minutes.
Whether you're searching for the most sheltered beach near you, a calm family swim, or tracking conditions up and down the Australian coast, your answer is always current. Not yesterday's guide. Not a static list. A live rating, built on local knowledge.
Find the best beach near you. Right now.
Effective Date: September 2025
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