The Best Camping Sites Along The Great Ocean Road

Considered to be one of the world’s most scenic coastal drives, Victoria’s Great Ocean Road gives you the opportunity to see the iconic 12 Apostles, get up close to native wildlife and take in iconic surf breaks, pristine rainforest and misty waterfalls.

The 243-kilometre stretch of road that runs between Torquay and Allansford is actually the world’s largest war memorial – it was built by return First World War servicemen and 2019 marked the centenary of the commencement of construction.

Along the road, you’ll discover beautiful little seaside towns with a rich maritime history and deserted beaches. Popular nature activities include bushwalking, surfing, mountain biking, canoeing and koala-spotting. There’s also excellent food and wine and shopping.

The natural beauty of this area draws visitors from far and wide. To truly drink in the stunning scenery, camping is a great way to go.

Simon Williams at Great Ocean Road Adventure Tours has made a career out of introducing visitors to the best spots along this beautiful stretch of coastline. Here he shares some of his secret favourite camping sites with us.

1. Cumberland River Holiday Park

Just a short drive beyond the popular resort town of Lorne is this truly excellent camping spot. There is great bushwalking around the beautifully grassed campsite.

Walks from here are some of the best in the area and extend up into the Great Otway National Park. The beach opposite is spectacular and the river that runs through the campground has some great areas to relax in and cool down on hot summer days.

If pitching a tent doesn’t appeal there are some well-appointed cabins onsite.

Lush landscapes meet serene river views. (Image: Visit Victoria)

2. Jamieson Creek Campground

Located within the Great Otway National Park, situated near Wye River, this is a very small campsite right by the ocean. It’s also free, which adds to its appeal. Note that it is very basic (i.e. no toilets, running water or barbecues), so you’ll need to come well prepared.

3. Eumeralla Scout Camp

This popular scout camp set in more than 300 hectares of beautiful natural bush is 35 kilometres from Geelong and two kilometres from the popular beach in Anglesea.

It’s an excellent spot if you’re into mountain biking.

The camp is set high on the cliffs and offers spectacular views of the ocean and the township of Anglesea.

As well as cabins and bunk dorms there are a couple of good bush camping sites where you can sleep under the stars.

Eumeralla is a popular scout camp by day

4. Marengo Holiday Park

This is a well-maintained park with good access to the beach and lovely views back towards nearby Apollo Bay. Visitors can choose from both powered and unpowered camping sites, as well as cabins for those wanting to be extra comfortable.

It’s also dog-friendly and has good facilities including a camp kitchen, BBQ area, laundry facilities, a playground, and free wi-fi. The shops of Apollo Bay are reasonably close which is handy if you’re not a well-organised camper and you need to be close to supplies.

Marengo Holiday Park offers as many bells and whistles as camping can

5. Kennett River Holiday Park

This part of the world is known as koala country, and you have a good chance here (and at nearby Grey River) to spot a few of our furry friends. Located between the towns of Lorne and Apollo Bay, the beach at Kennett River has reasonable surf (particularly good for beginners) and the campground is set right across from the beach. Amenities include bathrooms, a camp kitchen, barbecue areas, a playground for children, and a general store nearby for essentials and food.

Great Ocean Walk spots

If you want to get off the beaten track, Simon recommends the Great Ocean Walk, which runs between Apollo Bay and the 12 Apostles. Along the way, you’ll discover some remote and rarely visited camping spots. Many of these are hike-in campsites and are fuel-stove only, you’ll also need to remember to bring your own drinking water and good hiking shoes.

You’ll need to get a camping permit at least two weeks before you start your hike here. Some of Simon’s favourite spots along this route are:

Blanket Bay campsite

This is basic, beautiful bush camping right on the beach. It’s remote and peaceful and there’s plenty of shade. It’s a popular spot for diving.

Aire River campsites

The beach here is spectacular and is a great place for canoeing, fishing and just sitting on the bridge as the sun goes down. There’s lots of birdlife and at one end you’re able to light fires.

Johanna beach campsites

This location is super popular with surfers as it’s one of the country’s best breaks. As such it’s considered to be one of the best beach camping spots along the Great Ocean Road. The 25-pitch campsite is tucked away behind sand dunes and has non-flushing toilets only.

Last but not least …

If you want to whale watch in Warrnambool: Logan’s Beach in Warrnambool is a hotspot for whale watching. Surfside Holiday Park is not far from Logan’s Beach and has powered and unpowered campsites available. There’s also a good camp kitchen and laundries (as well as cabins if you’re not up for pitching your tent).

Surfside Holiday Park is not far from Logan’s Beach

If you want to check out the world-famous Bells Beach surf break: The Jan Juc Caravan Park is about as close as you’re going to get. There are barbecues, powered and unpowered campsites and cabins available. Book early, as this spot is popular.

If you want to spend time at the 12 Apostles: Your best bet is to head to Port Campbell which is about 10 minutes away from this incredible natural wonder (and is also a good spot to stock up on supplies). The Port Campbell Recreation Reserve has some good amenities, hot showers, nice views of the Campbell Creek estuary and a decent camp kitchen.

Expect your basic camping facilities at Port Campbell Recreation Reserve

Discover the best things to do on the Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is a Victorian icon. But there’s more to this stretch of coast than its famous rock formations, from volcanoes to hot springs and paddling with fur seals.

Wind tugs my hair horizontal atop the crater rim. It’s a commanding outlook 240 metres above the volcanic plains that peers into a 90-metre-deep basin. Jagged nubs of reddish-brown scoria protruding through the grass are unyielding beneath my runners and not one tree marks the landscape, an expansive emptiness overhung by a vast blue sky.

For a few fleeting moments, Mt Elephant in Western Victoria brings to mind the windblown Mongolian Steppe. But this hour-long walk is the first of many unexpected moments I’ll experience while exploring the Great Ocean Road with a friend over the next four days.

I should probably know this place – I only live 90 minutes away – but, like many who visit the region, I’ve been distracted by the spotlight shining on its most famous drawcards, such as the iconic 12 Apostles. The Great Ocean Road is a state treasure, tackled by many as a day-long scenic drive punctuated with pauses at myriad lookouts, striking rock formations and idyllic beaches. But its lesser-known features can be unearthed when extending a visit over multiple days. Mt Elephant being a case in point.

It was returned First World War servicemen who built the Great Ocean Road (largely by pick and shovel), creating simultaneously the world’s largest war memorial and a gloriously scenic drive that stretches 240 kilometres between the surf mecca of Torquay and Warrnambool.

From craft breweries to hot springs

the Noodledoof brewery and distillery, Great Ocean Road itinerary

Noodledoof is based in Koroit and is both a brewery and distillery.

We fast-track inland to Noodledoof, a craft brewery and distillery that makes for a convenient pit stop in Koroit. After devouring a pulled pork ‘sando’ with smoky apple rub and slaw, we head towards our next discovery. Victoria’s Western Volcanic Plains is the world’s third largest volcanic plain and the origins of Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve are abundantly clear from first sight. The small island of conical hills sits adrift within the crater lake of a larger volcanic rim, connected by a narrow isthmus and creating an almost isolated reserve for native Australian wildlife.

two kangaroos are standing in the grass near the ocean at Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve

Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve is home to many native Australian animals. (Image: Ben Savage)

We’re barely parked before noticing a dozen people with their heads tilted towards the treetops and the koalas scattered there. One koala clings to a thin branch, unhurriedly plucking fresh gum leaves while its perch swings wildly in the 60-kilometre-per-hour gusts. Others are wedged in more solid forks, limbs dangling lazily. On the ground, a pair of emus pace slowly, feathered skirts lofting like flouncy tutus.

the volcanic crater at Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve

The sanctuary sits in a large volcanic crater near the Great Ocean Road.. (Image: Ben Savage)

Four walks here range from 30 minutes to an hour, tracing across remnant lava flow and around wetlands, lakes and craters. Echidnas, kangaroos, turtles and bird sightings are common.

From up high, the distant big blue of the ocean beckons, leading us to Warrnambool and the Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs. There’s an immediate sense of calm to be found in the hotel’s seafront location, moments from coastal paths, boardwalks and the sheltered Stingray Bay.

food and drinks on the table at Tides Cafe, Bar & Restaurant, Great Ocean Road itinerary

Drift into Tides Cafe, Bar & Restaurant to enjoy nourishing dishes inspired by local produce.

Even more calming is the outdoor bathing sanctuary, filled with geothermal mineral water pumped from 850 metres underground. We’re booked for a twilight bathing session, so a quick bite at the hotel’s Tides Cafe, Bar & Restaurant seems a good idea, but we soon lament not having more time (and belly room) to savour our whipped ricotta with charred sourdough, soba noodles and wakame salad, and chorizo and manchego arancini (or “balls of heaven” as our waiter calls them).

a woman soaking in an outdoor hotspring at Deep Blue Hotel

Soak in the outdoor hot springs while staying at the Deep Blue Hotel. (Image: Caitlyn Leggett/The Wanderlust Times)

Really, we’re just swapping one delight for another though. Amid the landscaped maze of steaming pools and caves is a waterfall raining drops so heavy they make my scalp tingle, sending shivers down my entire body. In another pool I’m cradled, weightless and warm. As time passes, the chatter quietens as bathers slip into peaceful meditation.

Seeing the 12 Apostles anew

the iconic 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road itinerary

The iconic 12 Apostles (of which seven remain) stand like sentinels in the wild Southern Ocean. (Image: Kirk Richards)

Between the Bay of Islands and the 12 Apostles is where the majority of scenic lookouts are. And though stopping for every one of them requires pulling over what seems like every 10 minutes, all are eminently worthy.

No matter how many times I see The Razorback, a sheer limestone wall rising from pounding seas, I’m in awe. Then there’s London Bridge, The Grotto, The Arch, Loch Ard Gorge (where the only two survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck crawled ashore in 1878) and many more.

the Loch Ard Gorge, Great Ocean Road itinerary

Loch Ard Gorge is on Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast. (Image: Mark Watson)

I must have visited the 12 Apostles a dozen times, but this visit is different. Most witness the string of 45-metre-high water-bound limestone towers from an enormous cantilevered viewing platform – sunsets are especially captivating – but 12 Apostles Helicopters show me another vantage point, broaching the sheer fringe of the cliffs and out over the Southern Ocean.

Seven of the original 12 Apostles are still standing. (Image: Adeline & Lumiere)

Through a bubble front window, wrapping head to toe, the coastline is revealed in unfettered glory, its endless deep coves and rock formations nibbled by the eroding power of waves. In winter, whales might be spotted. “See that hole?” our pilot points to a sea-bound rock arch. “This chopper would fit through it, rotors and all.”

Only by getting closer can we understand the scale of the place. A walk down the Gibson Steps leads us to a wild surf beach beneath 70-metre cliffs so sheer it’s as though they have been cut with a knife. For a while I sit on the sand and take it all in, the frothing surf and fragrant ocean mist; Gog and Magog, two rock stacks standing as offshore sentinels.

To sailors in the 1800s and 1900s, this was an inhospitable coastline that wrecked hundreds of ships. But Port Campbell, set in a deep cove, feels like the haven it’s been for centuries. Now, its sheltered beach is accompanied by one main street and the scenic Port Campbell Discovery Walk, which eases over a suspension bridge and around the clifftops.

The town is entirely walkable, allowing us to down car keys and surrender ourselves to the hospitality of Waves Port Campbell and its spacious spa suites (there are cliff views from my bed), a buzzing restaurant and bar. A minute’s walk away, the characterful Port Campbell Hotel entices for a cosy after-dinner vino and chat with the locals.

The hidden side of the Great Ocean Road

the exterior of Timboon Railway Shed Distillery

Enjoy a tipple at Timboon Railway Shed Distillery. (Image: Tourism Australia/Cameron Murray)

While this region of Victoria is synonymous with scenic drives, two-wheeled forays show another side. Stretching 20 kilometres between Port Campbell and quaint Timboon is the 12 Apostles Trail, an easy ride (especially with e-bikes from Ride With Us) through dairy farmland and scented forest, with Schulz Organic Creamery & Cafe lingering midway. Organic winery Babche, Timboon Railway Shed Distillery and the legendary Timboon Fine Ice Cream await at the finish.

three people riding bikes from Ride With Us on a trail in the woods, Great Ocean Road Itinerary

Hire a bike from Ride With Us to tackle the trail from Timboon to Port Campbell. (Image: Belinda Van Zanen)

When we later explore some of the roughly 70 kilometres of mountain bike trails scribbled across Forrest in the Otway Ranges, with Michelle Davidson from Forrest MTB Hire, I’m expecting – somewhat presumptuously – another e-bike, but full leg power is required. Fortunately, the gears are so good and the trails so forgiving (plenty of switchbacks) that I’m soon grinning my way over gentle roller coasters between the tree ferns and grass trees.

Tight turns have always been my nemesis, but Michelle’s an expert coach and advises to look beyond the apex of the bend and “lead with my belly button”. It’s an instant success. “Anyone can ride here,” she says. “The trails are wider and shorter. I’ve had women in their sixties learn here.”

a lush tree canopy at Otway Fly Treetop Adventures

Trek through the trees at Otway Fly Treetop Adventures. (Image: Mark Chew/Visit Victoria)

Mountain biking aside, the Otways are also renowned for lush rainforest, waterfalls and walks. But nothing compares to the perspectives from Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, where a 600-metre elevated walkway enables a slow contemplation of rarely seen views.

We come face to face with epiphytes and the mighty trunks of myrtle beech and blackwood, and peer over the circular crowns of tree ferns 30 metres below on the forest floor. Somewhere, a creek rushes; birds sing. It’s hard to tell whether the tree trunks are swaying or we are. I don’t want to come down.

southern rock lobster on a plate at Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-Op

Tuck into southern rock lobster at Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-Op. (Image: Adeline & Lumiere)

Eventually we do, returning to the blue at the laid-back fishing port (read: seafood heaven) of Apollo Bay and its glorious three-kilometre beach. Our cabin at Marengo Family Caravan Park is a stone’s throw from coastal platforms and pools just begging to be explored. Offshore, roughly 200 Australian fur seals gather, which we encounter twirling beneath our boats the next morning on a paddle with Apollo Bay Surf & Kayak.

the exterior of Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-Op, Great Ocean Road itinerary

The co-op supplies some of Australia’s best restaurants. (Image: Adeline & Lumiere)

I’ve gone from visiting the region in one day to exploring it over four, yet still wish I had more time. Not just to see more but to do less; all those beaches deserving of a solid linger. Next time…

an Australian fur seal swimming in the ocean

Spot Australian fur seals on a paddle with Apollo Bay Surf & Kayak. (Image: Tourism Australia/Cameron Murray)

A traveller’s checklist

Getting there

A 90-minute drive west from Melbourne/Naarm leads to Torquay and the start of the Great Ocean Road.

Playing there

There are dozens of walks, beaches and coastal lookouts to explore. Aerial views with Otway Fly Treetop Adventures and 12 Apostles Helicopters offer a different perspective. The Forrest MTB Hire team are the experts on Forrest’s 70 kilometres of mountain bike trails. Apollo Bay Surf & Kayak enable close encounters with seals.

Staying there

the Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs near Warrnambool’s foreshore

Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs is a stone’s throw from Warrnambool’s foreshore. (Image: Caitlyn Leggett/The Wanderlust Times)

Hot springs are on tap at Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs. Waves Port Campbell has spacious suites (most with spa baths) and one of the town’s best eateries. For absolute waterfront, the campsites and cabins at Marengo Family Caravan Park in Apollo Bay can’t be beaten.

Eating there

a spread of food on the table at The Perch Lavers Hill, Great Ocean Road itinerary

The Perch Lavers Hill adheres to an ‘eat well, feel well’ philosophy. (Image: Taryn Elder)