Merricks Beach lies tucked along Western Port Bay, a stretch of shoreline that feels as though it belongs to another decade. The foreshore reserves behind the sand shelter picnic tables beneath moonah and tea-tree, and the scent of salt mixes with eucalyptus when the northerlies blow. Unlike the ocean beaches that draw the crowds to Portsea and Sorrento, this bay-side pocket remains mercifully quiet even in January, its appeal resting not in drama but in simplicity.
“Western Port's extreme tidal range creates a vast, knee-deep wading zone that stretches hundreds of metres from shore—a rarity on the Peninsula.”
Credit: UnsplashCurl of a barrel wave at sunrise
The water here is bathwater-shallow and famously gentle, a bronze-green expanse that warms quickly under summer sun. You'll wade out past tufts of seagrass, feeling soft sand give beneath your toes, and still find yourself only waist-deep fifty metres from shore. It's this gradual slope that makes Merricks a favourite among families with toddlers, who splash and dig without the threat of dumping waves or rips.
Come at low tide and the beach doubles in width, revealing ribbed sand flats stippled with tiny shells and the occasional stingray glide. Locals favour the early morning, when mist lifts off the bay and the only other souls are dog-walkers and the odd fisherman casting from the rocks at the northern end. There's no pier, no patrol flags, no fanfare—just a honest stretch of Victorian coast that asks nothing more than that you slow down and breathe.
