Melbourne is situated on Port Phillip Bay. The open ocean is about 150
km from the city centre. The quality of the roads is quite good and it
takes about 1.5 - 2 hours drive. It is not a problem at all to go to the
beach on a Sunday. Some keen surfers even travel to the beach at dawn
and are sitting at their desk by 9am starting work.
My favorite beaches for the weekend are situated on the Western coast
(also called the Surf coast). Torquay
and Angelsea are places
where you can find excellent surf beaches.
On the Eastern coast there are some beautiful places
- Sorrento (ocean side beach) and Kilcunda.
However, the waves are more dangerous here. Guanamatta
is considered to be one of the most dangerous beaches in Australia, because
of big waves and underwater currents (The Rip).
As for me, I think it's OK to swim in the bay. Melbourne citizens often say, "it's too dirty there", but I find it not bad.
One of the best known city beaches is St Kilda Beach. It's not far away from the city-centre and you can get there by tram.
The adjacent suburb - St Kilda is well known as a nightlife centre. Unfortunately,
it's also known as a 'drug-users' and 'prostitute's' place. For swimming
during the week after work I prefer Port
Melbourne or (better) Brighton
Beach.
