Koonya Ocean Beach

Koonya Ocean Beach sits at the end of Hughes Road on the Sorrento ocean coast, and surfing, fishing and sunbathing are the reasons to make the trip down the stairs. It is unpatrolled, with large waves, strong currents and submerged reefs, which keeps the swimmers away and leaves the gutters to anglers. The headline fish is the salmon that patrols the wash; gummies come out at night. It is the sort of beach where a bad day still comes with a very good view.

Look for the darker gutters and rips between the reefs, ideally from the lookout before you walk down — the stairs are a lot of effort to spend on the wrong gutter. Spin metal lures through the white water for salmon, or fish a paternoster with pipi or squid into the gutter. Night sessions with fresh bait on a running rig are for gummies.

Salmon are the main catch, with gummy sharks after dark and mullet in the wash. Salmon 21 cm and 20 combined with Australian herring. Gummy shark 45 cm partial length and 2 combined with school shark (kept whole or as a carcass until off the water). Mullet no minimum and 40 combined.

The beach is in Mornington Peninsula National Park: no dogs anywhere in the park, including the beaches and car parks. Keep off the dunes and use the formed stairs; the dunes are holding the car park up. Fish the bottom half of the tide carefully — the reefs that make the gutters also trap lines and feet. Hooded plovers nest in the dunes here — follow the signs and keep off fenced habitat.

The beach is at the end of Hughes Road on the Sorrento–Blairgowrie border, where a high car park and lookout sit above the sand. The beach is reached by stairs and a steep ramp, so it is not suited to wheelchairs or prams. The beach is unpatrolled all year.

Koonya faces Bass Strait between reef breaks, so the gutters sit between the reefs rather than along open sand. A moderate swell builds them; a big south-westerly swell makes the beach dangerous and unfishable. Northerly winds are offshore and best. Dawn and dusk on a rising tide.

Parks Victoria advises against swimming here because of large waves, strong currents and submerged rocky reefs, and the beach is unpatrolled. Don't wade out to cast, and watch for sets. Any rock platform on this coast falls inside VFA's mandatory-lifejacket zone — all rock platforms between Point Nepean and West Head — so if you step off the sand onto the rocks you must wear one (AS 4758 level 50S or greater, children in your care Level 100 or greater), and fines apply.

No. Koonya Ocean Beach is unpatrolled, and swimming is not advised because of large waves, strong currents and submerged reefs.

Yes — it is a fishing and surfing beach. Salmon are the main catch from the gutters, with gummy sharks at night.

Drive to the end of Hughes Road on the Sorrento–Blairgowrie border, where a high car park and lookout sit above the beach. The beach is reached by stairs and a steep ramp.