Apollo Bay
The Gateway to the Otways
On the lands of the Gadubanud people.
schedule 1 min read / Updated Apr 2026
A quiet fishing town on the Great Ocean Road, sheltered in the lee of the Otway Range. Apollo Bay is the natural overnight stop on the Melbourne to Twelve Apostles drive, with the rainforest waterfalls of the Otways on one side and a sheltered crescent beach on the other.
Apollo Bay sits on Gadubanud country at the point where the Great Ocean Road leaves the coast and climbs into the Otway Range. The town has been a working fishing port since the 1840s and still lands crayfish, abalone and scallops. The foreshore is lined with cafes and bakeries, and the weekly Saturday market is one of the best in regional Victoria.
Behind the town, the Great Otway National Park has rainforest waterfalls (Hopetoun, Triplet, Beauchamp), the Otway Fly treetop walk, and the Maits Rest boardwalk through a 300 year old myrtle beech forest. The Cape Otway Lightstation, the oldest working lighthouse on mainland Australia (1848), is 20 minutes down the coast and sits on a koala-dense stretch of bushland.
The Great Ocean Walk, a 104 kilometre multi-day hiking trail, starts in Apollo Bay and ends at the Twelve Apostles. Most walkers do it in seven or eight days with camping or supported walk options.
Where to stay
Holiday parks near Apollo Bay.
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Scenic views
Lookouts near Apollo Bay.
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Attribution
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Images (2)
- Apollo Bay, Australian Surf Coast.jpg · Grace Tarbuck · CC BY-SA 4.0
- PXL 20241002 023026542 Apollo Bay Australia's Great Ocean Ro... · Sourabh.biswas003 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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