Surf Coast Walk by Public Transport

Melbourne - Bells Beach - Torquay - Melbourne
1 day

Prepare to dive into a great Aussie adventure on the Surf Coast Walk, where sun, sand, and surf collide in Torquay and Bells Beach. This epic coastal trail spans 44 kilometers of breathtaking beauty along the iconic Great Ocean Road. On this day out you will walk 14km exploring rugged cliffs, pristine beaches, and legendary surf breaks all accessed with a $10 train/bus ticket. So grab your sunscreen, hit the trail, and let's have a ripper of a time!

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  • Style

    Day Hike

  • Transport

    Train & Bus

  • Distance

    14km
    Shorter options available

  • Time

    1 Day

  • Difficulty

    Medium
    Easy walking conditions
    but a long day out

SURF COAST WALK

The Surf Coast Walk is a breathtaking coastal trail nestled in the charming coast of Victoria. Stretching over 44 kilometers from Torquay to Aireys Inlet, this scenic pathway offers nature enthusiasts the perfect opportunity to immerse themselves in the stunning landscapes, pristine beaches, and vibrant wildlife of the Surf Coast region.

On this day walk we complete 14km of the trail along some of it’s most spectacular scenery.

TRAIL CONDITIONS

The trail is well marked, easy to follow, in great condition, and easy to follow. You do not need to be an experienced hiker to complete this walk, however, make sure you are able to cover the distance that you choose to do.

You do not need anything more than sports shoes for walking. Hiking boots are not required.

WEATHER

Take note of the weather before you travel. This region ranges from very cold and wet through to 40 degree, sweltering heat. Do not attempt the walk in harsh conditions.

LUNCH & WATER

The only place to access food along the route is at Jan Juc which is 9.5km into the walk so we recommend taking a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of the many scenic stops along the way.

The first section of the walk has few facilities but once you are at Jan Juc there are toilets with water taps regularly. So carry plenty of water to cover at least 3 hours of walking.

WALK OPTIONS

There are 3 options for this day:

  1. The complete walk as described, a total of 14km.

  2. Finish walking at Jan Juc for a 9.5km walk.

  3. Start at Jan Juc and finish at Torquay, a total of 4.5km. You need to catch a bus 50 or 51 from Geelong to the corner of Princess St and Sunset Strip, in Jan Juc. map Doing this walk would miss Bells Beach.

WEBSITE

Read more about the trail on the official Surf Coast Walk website.

TRANSPORT

  • Vline services run everyday and are a cheap and easy way to access this walk as it is a one way walk with transport at each end. Each step of the transport is explained in the sections below.

  • The trains and buses are very comfortable and only cost $10 for a full day of travel ($7.20 on weekends) making it the easiest and most economical way to travel. Concession fares are half the price.

  • You will need to buy a paper ticket as the myki card system cannot be used on part of this trip. You can buy tickets in advance at staffed Metro and V/Line stations or online. If you buy online you will need to visit a staffed Metro station or V/Line outlet to have your ticket printed. There is time to do this in at Southern Cross Station or your location station if there are staff.

  • Double check the timetable on the PTV website. Services run daily but the timetable for the bus service is different on weekends, with a more restricted service on Sunday and public holidays.

  • If you do decide to drive you will need to do an out and back walk. You could start at Torquay, Bells Beach or Anglesea.

RECOMMENDED SCHEDULE:

  • 9:10am Train from Southern Cross, Melbourne to Geelong Station

  • 10:27am Bus from Geelong Station to Apollo Bay, getting off at Jarosite Rd at 11:15am

  • Walk to Torquay

  • Bus from Price St/The Esplanade to Geelong Station

    • Mon-Fri 3pm or 4:16pm

    • Sat-Sun 3:18pm, 4:02pm

  • Train Geelong Station to Southern Cross, Melbourne

    • Mon-Fri regular trains

    • Sat-Sun 4:12pm or 5:32pm

Geelong

PART 1

MELBOURNE to JAROSITE RD / BELLS BEACH TURNOFF

The transport information here is correct at the time of writing. You should double check the timetables on the PTV website:

TRAIN SOUTHERN CROSS STATION TO GEELONG:

  • There are regular trains from Southern Cross Station in Melbourne from very early in the morning which take around one hour.

  • The last possible train you can use is the departure at 9:10am which arrives in Geelong at 10:15am giving you 12 minutes to get yourself onto the connecting bus to Apollo Bay.

GEELONG: Make sure you get off at “Geelong” station. There are also “North Geelong” and “South Geelong” stations - don’t get off at these.

Geelong Station Buses

GEELONG to JAROSITE RD / BELLS BEACH TURNOFF

  • The transport information here is correct at the time of writing. You should double check the timetables on the PTV website:

  • In order to make the most of your day you need to be on the Apollo Bay bus at 10:27am. This bus leaves from bay 2 at the train station.

  • Journey time is approximately 48 minutes.

  • Get off the bus at the “Jarosite Rd / Bells Beach Turnoff” stop. map

  • Walk approximately 15m down Jarosite Rd. On the right is a small unsigned, dirt track. Your walk to Torquay begins here!

Shoe cleaning at Jarosite Track

PART 2

JAROSITE RD to BELLS BEACH

WALK 5.8km

BUS STOP TO IRONBARK BASIN CAR PARK - 1.1KM:

  • 15m along Jarosite Rd there is a dirt track leading to the right. Walk 400m along the dirt track until you come to a road. This is Point Addis Rd.

  • Turn left and carefully walk 500m along the road until you reach the Ironbark Basin car park on the left.

  • Enter the car park and walk through to the start of the walking tracks. There are shoe washing facilities here (pictured). Please take your time to clean your shoes on the installed brushes to help stop the spread phytophthora root rot, a serious plant disease that is destroying many native plants.

  • The Surf Coast Walk to Bells Beach and Torquay is to the left. This section is called the Jarosite Track.

Ironbark Forest Jarosite Track

IRONBARK BASIN CAR PARK TO SOUTHSIDE BEACH - 4KM:

  • Walk through open ironbark forest with little tastes of the views to come of the coastline far off in the distance to the right.

  • After 1.4km you will reach a junction with two tracks leading to Southside. We recommend taking the slightly longer Jarosite Mine Track to the right to see the abandoned well and lovely little waterhole.

  • Stringybark and ironbark trees dominate the landscape here along with the aptly named grasstrees (pictured). Grasstrees are very slow growing, resistant to fire, and can live for up to 400 years.

  • It is 900m from the track junction to an abandoned well. In the 1920s a mine operated here extracting jarosite as a source of iron oxide pigment for paints. The are few remnants of the mine remaining. Read more about the jarosite mine.

  • 100m later you’ll come upon a waterhole. This was a dam constructed for the mine but now is a nice spot for a few minutes of quiet relaxation.

  • 400m further you will reach a track junction. To the right you can walk 200m to a para and hang gliding launch site which has the first good views over the coastline down onto Southside Beach.

  • Going straight ahead from the junction it is 1.2km to Southside Beach Car Park. Make sure to wash your shoes again at the shoe cleaning station.

Southside Beach

SOUTHSIDE BEACH:

  • You will reach a car park at Southside Beach. There are very steep stairs here that lead down to the beach but we suggest saving your beach time for later in the walk.

  • Southside is a nudist beach so if you choose to walk down the stairs to the beach don’t be surprised by what you see!

  • There are two easy viewpoints that you can walk to from the car park, adding 200m to the walk.

Surfer at Bells Beach

SOUTHSIDE BEACH to BELLS BEACH - 0.7km:

  • It is only 700m from Southside Beach Car Park to the famous Bells Beach.

  • Just before reaching Bells Beach you cross over a small wooden bridge where you get your first views of this famous surfing landmark.

  • The track delivers you onto the sand at the southern end of the beach. While the official Surf Coast Walk takes you up to the car park we recommend staying on the beach and walking to the north end of the beach where there are stairs to get back up to the car park and the continuation of the trail.

Bells Beach

PART 3

BELLS BEACH

WALK 300m

Bells Beach is renowned worldwide as an iconic surf destination. With its mesmerizing beauty, powerful waves, and rich surfing history, Bells Beach attracts visitors and wave enthusiasts from across the globe.

This stretch of Victoria's coastline boasts some of the most challenging and consistent breaks in the world. The dominant feature of Bells Beach is the infamous Bells Bowl, a powerful and hollow wave that provides a thrilling and adrenaline-pumping experience for experienced surfers.

Every year, Bells Beach takes center stage as the host of the iconic Rip Curl Pro surfing competition. Held since 1962, it is the world's longest continuously running pro surfing competition. The event, held during the Easter weekend, attracts a massive crowd of spectators.

Most surfing is done in the early morning so don’t be surprised if you don’t see anyone surfing when you walk through.

Even if the day is quite calm you will get a sense of the power of the waves here by taking off your shoes and walking in the water as it breaks and flows over the sand.

The beach itself it not overly long and it is only 300m to the far end where you will climb stairs to the top of the cliff.

Cliffs at Jan Juc

PART 4

BELLS BEACH TO JAN JUC

WALK 3.4KM

  • At the far end of Bells Beach climb the stair up to the car park.

  • On the way to the car park there is a side track to the right. A 400m return trip takes you down steps to another meeting with the ocean.

  • At the car park veer right, keeping the road on your left to follow the Surf Coast Walk.

  • This section of the trail traverse a heathland landscape with sections of small windswept trees. Lookout for wildlife through here, we saw an echidna on this section.

  • After a total of 2.1km since leaving Bells Beach there is a side track to the right that we highly recommend you take (our distances include this side trip). After 200m you will descend on wooden stairs to a track junction. Turn right and descend 100m further, all the way down on amazingly engineered steps to the base of a cliff face. Here you will feel you are in another world, just you, waves and cliffs.

  • Return back up the steps back to the track junction and this time continue straight to make you way back to the main Surf Coast Track.

  • 1km from the base of the cliff you will be in the town of Jan Juc. 100m off the track to the left you will find a number of shops including a general store, fish’n’chips shops, restaurant and pub.

OPTIONAL END POINT AT JAN JUC:

  • It is possible to end your walk in Jan Juc. There are buses to Geelong from a bus stop at the corner of Princess St and Sunset Strip, a few streets back from the coast. map

  • These are the same buses that travel through Torquay so the schedule is the same, just 5 mins earlier departing from Jan Juc.

PART 5

JAN JUC to TORQUAY

WALK 4.5KM

  • You are now into a more populated area with the towns of Jan Juc and Torquay sitting just back from the coast. There are a number of small side trips to view points all of which are worth doing.

  • The first side trip comes just 100m after the Jan Juc shop. This is Bird Rock Lookout and definitely worth seeing.

  • 300m after Bird Rock Lookout there are wooden stairs leading down to Jan Juc Beach. You can choose to walk along the beach using stairs just after the Jan Juc Surf Lifesaving Clubhouse or stay up high for the views.

  • If you don’t walk along the beach the Surf Coast Walk goes behind the Jan Juc Surf Lifesaving Clubhouse and returns to the coast just after.

  • 2.2km after leaving Jan Juc there is a 200m side trip to Rocky Point Viewpoint, another great spot for views along the coast.

  • Descend 400m to a lovely wooden walkway that crosses Spring Creek. The Torquay Surf Lifesaving Clubhouse is located here. You will walk around the back of the clubhouse and back to the coast at Torquay Beach. Again there is an opportunity to walk on the beach if you choose, or stay on the Surf Coast Walk.

  • At the far end of Torquay Beach is Point Danger, your last lookout of the walk. There is a war memorial here as well as signage about a shipwreck that occurred here in 1891.

  • It is just 500m from Point Danger down to the next beach which is known as Front Beach. The bus stop for your return to Geelong is at the corner of Price St and The Esplanade. You need to be at the stop on the town side of The Esplanade, not the beach side. map

  • The Torquay shops are just two streets further along if you need supplies.

Jason Surf Coast Walk Bells Beach

PART 6

TORQUAY TO MELBOURNE

You can check timetables on the PTV website:

BUS TORQUAY TO GEELONG STATION:

  • The bus stop for your return to Geelong is at the corner of Price St and The Esplanade. You need to be at the stop on the town side of The Esplanade, not the beach side. map

  • You can take either bus 50 or 51, whichever comes first.

  • The bus takes around one hour to Geelong Station.

TRAIN GEELONG STATION TO SOUTHERN CROSS

  • There are regular trains to Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station.

  • The journey takes about 1 hour.

EXTEND YOUR TRIP

If you have time on your hands, consider staying overnight in Torquay or Jan Juc to enjoy the beauty of the beaches and region. There are plenty of accommodation options within walking distance of the beaches and plenty to do including taking a surfing lesson!

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FAQs

    • Public Transport $10

    • BYO food $0

    • TOTAL: $10

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