Be Bushfire Smart

• Two large islands, French Island (approximately 170 sq km) and Phillip Island (approximately 100 sq km), dominate Western Port. The coastline, including that of the islands, is some 263 km.
• Fishing, pleasure boating and yachting are some of the popular pastimes on the bay.

Phillip Island

• Visit the Penguin Reserve at dusk and watch the penguins return to their burrows in the sand dunes.
• View seals at Seal Rocks through binoculars.
• See koalas in their natural habitat at the Koala Conservation Centre.
• Bird watching is best at Rhyll Swamp, Conservation Hill Reserve and Rhyll Inlet.
• Explore nearby Churchill Island on foot.

French Island

• Pre-booked bus for 'Drop and pick up later' service for those who wish to participate in sketching, photography, bushwalking or bird observing or visit orchid and fishing areas.
• Horse riding, bike rides, bushwalks, and deep water fishing.
• See koalas in their natural habitat.
• Camping is at Fairhaven, 5 km from the Tankerton jetty and at a private site, Bayview, 10 km from the jetty. Bus transport of packs to campsite.

• Deep channels lead from Bass Strait into the western section of the bay, giving access to the region's port facilities.
• Hastings is the main boat landing in Western Port bay.
• There are boat launching ramps at Stony Point, Tooradin, Newhaven, Cowes,Hastings, Warneet, Lang Lang, Grantville and Rhyll (Phillip Island).
• Accommodation is available on both Phillip Island and French Island.

In 1797, George Bass received permission from Governor Hunter in Sydney to sail a whaleboat along the unexplored section of coast south of Botany Bay. On such a rough stretch of water, Bass could not get more than halfway through the strait now known as Bass Strait. This voyage led to the discovery of Western Port, so named because of its situation relative to every other known harbour on the coast at that time.

In the early 19th century, the bay played a role in the struggle between Britain and France. Soldiers and convicts from Sydney were ordered to form a camp at Western Port to deter possible occupation by the French. It was only after the end of World War 2 that serious consideration was given to the development of the Bay as a port, and its flat shores north of Stony and Crib Points have become a centre for heavy industry.

Aboriginal Traditional Owners

Parks Victoria acknowledges the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Victoria - including its parks and reserves. Through their cultural traditions, Aboriginal people maintain their connection to their ancestral lands and waters.
Further information is available from Aboriginal Affairs Victoria AAV and Native Title Services Victoria

Mudflats and mangrove swamps around the northern end of the Bay support a large number of invertebrates that are an important food source for waders and visiting migratory birds.

French Island is home to migratory wader birds, pelican and Short-tailed Shearwater rookeries, and many other significant fauna species.

Phillip Island Penguin Reserve has the largest colony of Little Penguins in Victoria as well as major breeding colonies of Short-tailed Shearwaters, and Hooded Plovers and Peregrine Falcon nesting areas. Seal Rock off Phillip Island is home to the largest colony of Australian Fur Seals and the only known breeding site of the Kelp Gull and Sooty Oyster-catcher. San Remo's marine community is a rich assemblage of marine biota listed under the State Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, 1988.

Western Port supports a mosaic of habitat types including underwater seagrass beds, intertidal rock platforms, sandy beaches, intertidal mudflats, tidal channels, saltmarshes and mangroves.

The coastline around Phillip Island is of State significance because of its remnant coastal tussock grasslands and dune scrub, a rare vegetation community in Victoria.

Western Port is south-east of the centre of Melbourne, bordered by the Mornington Peninsula to the west, the Koo Wee Rup plain to the north, and to the east by the South Gippsland hills to the east.

Phillip Island is about 120 km from Melbourne off the Bass Highway. Tourist buses run from Melbourne daily. A ferry can be taken from Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula to Cowes on the north of the island. Light planes take off for the island from Essendon and Moorabbin. Brochures can be obtained from Parks Victoria at San Remo, before crossing the bridge to the island.

French Island can be reached by the ferry which runs from Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula to Tankerton on the island.

• Coolart Wetlands and Homestead
• French Island National Park
• Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve
• Mornington Peninsula National Park