Victoria Tide Times

About Victorian Tides

The open coast runs a twice-daily Bass Strait tide. Port Phillip is the odd one out: the whole bay fills and empties through the Rip at the Heads, so by the time the tide reaches Melbourne's piers it has lost most of its range and turns hours after the ocean does. Western Port, with a wide entrance either side of Phillip Island, gets close to the full ocean tide and drains a lot of mud on the way out — its jetties fish to the tide almost by the clock.

For fishing, the tide that counts isn't the height — it's the movement. The bay piers fish the hours around the change, Western Port and the river mouths fish the run itself, and slack water goes quiet everywhere. Each spot page below shows the day's best bite window alongside the next 14 days of tides.

Common Tide & Swell Questions

What is the tidal range in Melbourne?

Small. Port Phillip fills and empties through the Rip, a gap at the Heads not much over three kilometres wide, so by the time the tide reaches Melbourne's piers it has lost most of its range and arrives hours behind the ocean. Think well under a metre on a typical day — enough to move bait around the pylons, not enough to strand anyone.

Why is Western Port so different to Port Phillip?

Western Port has a wide-open entrance either side of Phillip Island, so the tide comes in nearly at full strength and drains vast mud flats on the way out. The range is several times Port Phillip's and the current runs hard, which is why the Western Port jetties fish to the tide almost by the clock — and why a low-tide jetty can sit over mud.

What is the best tide to fish in Victoria?

Moving water. In the bay that usually means the hours around the change, when the run sweeps bait past the pier; in Western Port and the river mouths the run itself is the window and slack water is the coffee break. On the open coast, the run-in into a surf gutter at dusk is the classic salmon setup. Each spot page below shows the day's best bite window alongside the tide.

Is it safe to fish near the Rip?

From the shore, only with respect. The water through the Heads is among the most dangerous in the country — fast, deep and cold — and the ocean side of the peninsula cops whatever Bass Strait sends. On every rock platform from Point Nepean to West Head a lifejacket is the law, not a suggestion; wear one on any other platform too, check the swell and its period before you go, and if the wash reaches your feet you are standing in the wrong spot.

How accurate are these tide times?

They're modelled (Open-Meteo, ~8 km resolution), so treat them as a guide rather than a train timetable — and expect the most drift deep inside Port Phillip and up the inlets, where the model has the least to work with. The bite windows lean on sun and moon as much as tide, so they hold up even when the tide clock runs a bit early or late.