The uninterrupted flow of the weather across the vast oceans between Argentina and Cape Otway sees wild storms, strong winds and huge swells hit this part of the south-east coast of Australia with full force. The coast is littered with shipwrecks, and demands respect and caution from all mariners venturing near it.
The so-called ‘shipwreck coast’ stretches over 100kms west from Cape Otway. Over 50 sailing ships have been wrecked along this part of the Victorian coast. It is aligned NW/SE, and faces the prevailing westerly seas and winds that have pounded this coast for millions of years. While not the most southerly point in Victoria, it extends to just shy of the 39th parallel. Cape Otway is technically not in the latitudes of the roaring forties, but it frequently feels otherwise. The parallel of latitude on which Cape Otway sits passes some 240 nautical miles south of Cape Agulhas on the southern tip of the African continent, and the next land to the west is the east coast of Argentina.
The wildest weather and most powerful groundswells to strike the coast east and west of Port Campbell come from the west and south west. The bay at Port Campbell faces directly south west. It is spared nothing in bad weather and big south-westerly swells.
The following two photos of the Port Campbell jetty indicate the range of conditions which can be experienced in the bay at Port Campbell, and this part of the west coast of Victoria.
The weather and sea conditions on the west coast are the subject of previous posts on this blog, including: ‘Wild weather and a big swell on the coast west of Cape Otway’ (published 28 June 2017), and ‘Some winter cameos from the west coast of Victoria’ (published 12 August 2017).
Ocean swimming in this area requires great caution, but also offers great rewards. This post is one average ocean swimmer’s account of two ocean swims in spectacular locations on this coast. I hope to share something of the sense of joy and adventure of ocean swimming in this part of the world.
The 2020 Port Campbell Ocean Swim
The Port Campbell surf life saving club has a long, active and proud tradition in ocean rescue and water safety. In addition to conducting regular beach patrols from November to Easter, the volunteer members provide an important coastal rescue service along 60kms of the coast. They are equipped for inshore rescue operations in areas inaccessible to other vessels and often inaccessible from the land. Port Campbell is the only place between Apollo Bay and Warrnambool that a rescue craft can be launched. Volunteers remain operationally ready every day of the year. They have attended many call outs in life-threatening conditions at isolated and dangerous beaches and locations. They are currently equipped with a 6m rigid-hull inflatable boat to assist in this role, in addition to the standard surf life saving IRBs (inflatable rescue boat), the ‘rubber ducks’. Training over and above life saver training is required to serve on this boat on coastal rescues. In earlier days, there was a team equipped with a rocket with a rope connected to it, for firing from the land where possible to those in need of rescue from the sea.
At Sherbrooke Creek beach (between the 12 Apostles and Port Campbell beach) on 21 April 2019 two volunteer members of the SLSC died when their 6m rigid-hulled rescue boat overturned while they were attempting to rescue a tourist who was in the sea in wild conditions and in trouble. The tourist was subsequently winched to safety by a rescue helicopter. There was a very high swell at the time, and conditions were described by locals as treacherous. They were local dairy farmers. They were highly experienced and respected members of the club. They were a father and son, aged 71 and 32. The club and the whole Port Campbell community were shocked and shattered by the tragedy. The heroism of the two men has rightly been widely recognised throughout Australia and abroad. I salute their bravery. Ross Powell and Andrew Powell and the sacrifice they made will not be forgotten.
Since 2004 the Port Campbell SLSC has participated in conducting a three-swim ocean race series with the surf life saving clubs at Warrnambool and Port Fairy. There is a prize for the overall winner of the series, as well as prizes for individual performance in each of the annual races. Swimmers are welcome to do one, two or all three of the races. The event is called the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series.
The Port Campbell swim is my favourite of all the regular ocean swims conducted by surf life saving clubs along the west coast of Victoria. It’s a true ocean swim. The race has been cancelled on occasions due to rough seas, and this close-knit crew of water men and women does not rush to cancel for rough seas. Indeed, I have arrived to race on days when I was confident it would be cancelled, only to find that the race was going ahead.
The swim takes swimmers out beyond the eastern headland of the bay to where there is a spectacular view down the coastal cliffs to the east. The sea is never still at the far turn buoys, even if from shore it appears to be so. Sometimes the swell is sufficiently large that even with a field of a couple of hundred swimmers, not one of them can be seen by an individual swimmer when in the troughs. I have experienced breaking waves out the back, and strong currents taking me seaward past the eastern headland. I would not contemplate such a swim without the Port Campbell SLSC members on paddle boards, skis and in rubber ducks patrolling the swimming field to ensure safety. It is a wonderful privilege to be 600m or so offshore, swimming in such a place. I was so enthralled and rapt with the wild beauty of this place, that last year, my 11th Port Campbell ocean race, I abandoned the notion of racing, and just cruised around the course with my GoPro camera taking photos and chatting to lifesavers along the way, all of whom laughingly endorsed my decision to tour rather than race. The photos and story of that swim are on this blog in the post, ‘Port Campbell Ocean Swim February 2019’, published February 3 2019.
There is a wonderful small community vibe to this swim. The swim is very well organised and safety is clearly paramount, but the administration and organisation aspects are refreshingly relaxed. The field is generally around 200 strong, so there is no rush, or press or pressure associated with the race. The start and finish lines are friendly places.
So of course, I lined up on Sunday 2 February 2020 for my 12th ocean swim at Port Campbell. I’ve always liked supporting this club and its community, given its history and tradition of selfless support to those in trouble in the sea. I knew it would be business as usual and that on race day, while nothing would be said, the absence of two volunteer members and stalwarts of the club would be deeply felt. In a strange way, it felt like a privilege to swim in their bay on their watch.












But I have the collectors’ item when it comes to Port Campbell ocean swim T shirts!







The memorable and never repeated Boat Bay swim at the Bay of Islands on 14 March 2015
The organisers of the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series (the SLSCs of Port Campbell, Warrnambool and Port Fairy) in early 2015 announced the ‘inaugural Bay of Islands swim’, to be held in Boat Bay. This bay is part of the beautiful but lesser know Bay of Islands, west of Port Campbell and the Twelve Apostles. I signed up in a flash, recognising this as a wonderful opportunity to do a decent swim offshore in the waters of this wild coast. The swim was never advertised as a race, and indeed was explained as an organised swim in a beautiful place with some safety backup. What a great idea.
The use of the word ‘inaugural’ in the advertising, caused me to believe the event would be repeated. Unfortunately, it never was. It remains a wonderful memory, all the more so for it having been a one-off. I persuaded good friends Susan, Mike and Richard to join me for this swim. It was always known it would be weather dependent.

This pretty much sums up the swimming issues at Boat Bay. It fails to mention sharks, but their presence is well known and taken for granted. I am aware that others have dived and snorkelled here. But I don’t know of any who have done a swim such as we did.
The swimming route Three dimensional view of the swimming route The view from the cliffs above Boat Bay, on another day, looking south east over the swim site. The stack on the far left of the image is the one we swam to the left (east) of on our swim back to shore in the cove below the boat ramp. The completely visible stack on the right of the image is the one we swam out to on the first leg. Taken from the cliffs on the eastern side of Boat Bay, on another day, looking west. The stack in the top left of this image (above the cliff in the foreground) is the stack we swam out to on the first leg of the swim. The cove where we started and finished is out of frame on the mid-right of the image. The first leg was basically from the right hand side of this image to the left hand side in front of that stack.
The very steep boat ramp at Boat Bay. Used only by fishermen. Also taken on a day other than our swim day. The sea conditions shown are more typical for this area than the relatively calm conditions we swam in. View to the south from the small cove where the swim started. The stack in the middle of the frame is the one we swam around on our last leg back to the finish. Conditions were calm inshore, and there was just a bit more texture out the back, but no real swell and certainly no chop. The water was quite shallow inshore and relatively shallow (15-20 feet) for most of the first leg out to the stack where we turned. There was a drop-off out there, and we swam over deeper water for the leg to the east to the second turn buoy. The water was very clear closer to shore with abundant marine plant life and varied reef formations. As I swam out the underwater view alternated with the above water view of the bay and its rugged stacks and cliffs. I couldn’t resist a stop at the first turn buoy to admire the wonderful 360° view from this unique sea-level vantage point. L to R: Mike, me, Susan and Richard. Before the swim. While milling around the starting line waiting for things to get under way, we were surprised to hear a pipe band warming up. This was a school pipe band from Warrnambool. But far from being amateurish or incongruous, they stilled the small crowd as they filled the tiny cove with the surprisingly plaintive and evocative sounds of the pipes. I am familiar with the story of the wreck of the sailing ship the Loch Ard (not far east of Port Campbell). That ship and those like her were of course carrying English, Scottish and Irish hopefuls in search of something in this new land. This pipe band called up something of the past of this part of the coast and gave an atmosphere to the start of this ocean swim that was most fitting. There was no rush, and if there was a timetable, I’m sure it wan’t adhered to rigorously or at all. There was a pre-swim briefing not long after this was taken. There was a list of those who had registered for the swim on a clipboard being wielded by a friendly older woman with a pen. We were strictly instructed to give her our name before we started, and again after we finished. Safety first. Great idea. The briefing was along the usual lines: hand up for help, you will be rounded up if you stray from the course, a lift back to shore is available any time on any grounds whether or not injured or crook, and (the shark part of the briefing), ‘If we pull up beside you in the rubber duck and tell you to get in, don’t argue.’ The S word was not said, but everybody laughed at that part of the briefing which indicated the message was fully understood and that our prompt compliance could be relied upon. I enjoyed the grouping system, which was implemented with words along these lines: ‘It makes sense for the faster swimmers to go first. You know who you are. The rest just follow.’ There was probably a total of only 40 or so swimmers. Mike, me, Richard and Susan wetting our goggles before the swim. Others behind us are rolling the arms over for a bit of a warmup. I don’t do warmups before a race. After the swim. Exhilarated. Very satisfied. Privileged to have done it. Buzzing. Richard got a bit cold by the first turn buoy so didn’t stop to chat, Mike was enjoying himself so much he was heading for Peterborough after the second turn buoy until rounded up and turned towards home by lifesavers in a rubber duck (he navigates much better these days) and Susan was employing her efficient freestyle stroke to cruise around the course. I was savouring every moment of the view of the cliffs and the 360° panorama of this bay in the Bay of Islands from sea level some distance offshore. It occurred to me that very few have seen this view from this vantage point. I wished I had taken a camera with me. Near the off-shore turn points, we swam over a drop-off where the water changed from the light aqua colour of most of the bay, to a deeper more serious blue. Also, a little more swell was present out the back. I couldn’t see the seabed for that part of the swim. No sharks were seen or heard of. As for the woman on the beach with the clip board, I did go up to her after the swim to dutifully give her my name to be ticked off as a survivor. Instead of making the appropriate notation, she just smiled and waved me off, adding, “No need to worry about that. I think everybody made it back OK.” I never heard otherwise, so who am I to criticise? Richard and Susan after the swim on the stairs beside the steep boat ramp leading down to the beach. The view from the clifftops as we headed off home. The closest visible stack is the one we swam around (on the left hand side as seen in the photo) on the final leg back to shore. None of us were in a hurry to leave. There was a sense that we had done something exceptional. In hindsight I think we did. I have often dropped in at this very spot on my motorbike ride, and just looked out over the course we swam. Most times on such visits the conditions are wild and totally unswimmable. We tiptoed through the lion’s den while it slept that day in March 2015.
The link to this video clip (7:50) of the Boat Bay swim is included with the kind permission of Wendy Couch. It captures something of the beauty of the location and the magic of the swim.
https://vimeo.com/user27560798wendycouch
What about a swim out from Loch Ard Gorge, around Mutton Bird Island and back?
I have only heard this unofficially, but it is said that the Boat Bay swim was not repeated because regular fishermen at Boat Bay complained about being denied use of the boat ramp for those couple of hours in 2015 when the swimmers were there.
Prior to learning that the swim was not to be repeated, there was talk was of the 2016 swim being at Loch Ard Gorge, out the entrance, around Mutton Bird Island, and back to the beach. That would be about a 2km swim. The Boat Bay swim was around 1500m. I was most excited about the prospect of the Loch Ard swim – again very condition dependent – but on the right day, what a thrill it would be to do that swim. There is said to be a lot of marine life around Mutton Bird Island, and of course, the remains of the wreck of the Loch Ard.
Loch Ard Gorge
The beach with the red pin is Loch Ard Gorge beach. The Island with the pin is Mutton Bird Island. The proposed swim would be out from the beach, through the narrow pass of the Gorge out to sea, turn right and go between the mainland and the northern end of Mutton Bird Island, then around the island and back through the entrance to Loch Ard Gorge beach. A total of 2kms or so. Despite the Loch Ard being wrecked here in 1878, there are significant remains of the shipwreck on the sea floor on the south western side of Mutton Bird Island in 30-80 feet of water. What a great swim that would be. Any starters??
Oh what incredible experiences. I was taken out there with you in the race, and could imagine swimming and trying to find the white buoys, or any head to ensure I was heading where I was meant to be. Not sure about using a cloud for a point of reference yet if that is all there is or you can see, you have to. I have swam with dolphins in NZ outside of the bay entrance into Akoroa. In deep sea it was amazing but I was concerned with what might be under neath me.
I loved swimming when I was young and wish I was fit as this sounds incredible. How many kms do you end up swimming?
I am glad you had the opportunity to swim in the inaugural and only swim at the Boat Bay Swim. Wonderful post thank You I really enjoyed your sharing
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Thanks for your comments Tazzie. Your swim in NZ with the dolphins sounds memorable. Clouds certainly do have their limitations when it comes to navigating as an open water swimmer, but there are some circumstances where they can be useful (especially high level clouds which hold their relative position longer than low clouds), even if only fleetingly. On the Pt Campbell swim, I ended up swimming 1347m. If your question was more general, the answer is that I swim around 300-350kms a year. When training for some longer ocean swims in recent years my monthly tally just before those swims got up to 50kms. If you live near the sea in Tassie, there might well be a bay near you where people meet regularly to swim in the ocean (such swims almost always involve coffee and conversation afterwards). I am confident you will find anything between a quick dip in the cold ocean and swimming longer distances in it most uplifting. This reward is instantly available. As for fitness, that will happen automatically if you swim regularly. I am 70, and quite a few of the friends I swim with in the ocean all year round are in their 60s. There has been no talk of anyone easing up or quitting ocean swimming! I gave a lift to Lorne to an 80 year old for the Pier to Pub 1200m ocean swim in January. He swam it faster than I did (but I still gave him a lift home).
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Thank You John for answering and both are welcome. Thanks also for the information.
I am also delighted to know you are not bitter towards the gentleman who beat you!.
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John, you’ve elegantly rendered these swims for posterity. Having not joined you for the Boat Bay swim, you’ve colorfully brought it into our consciousness. Pity those fishermen didn’t get the message about sharing in kindergarten. Yes, a swim around Mutton Bird Island would be idyllic.
Hunto
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One of the problems with the organisation of a swim around Mutton Bird Island is that the safety IRBs could not be launched from Loch Ard gorge. They’d have to launch at Port Campbell. This would necessitate a calm day for the enjoyment and safety of swimmers as well as boat crew. Such conditions do occur in the area, but they are not the norm. Autumn would offer the best window. While kayaks and paddle boards could be launched from the beach in Loch Ard gorge (after being carried down quite a few stairs), leaving swimmer safety to such craft without the backup of rubber ducks would not be wise. But another Boat Bay swim would not have this problem….
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Thank you John, its lovely to remember such a beautiful day and delightful swim . I remember relishing every view under and over the water. always on the ready to be plucked out of the water by one of the numerous people guarding us in the many IRB’s. IT was so enjoyable not being a race, we had time to relish and enjoy our surroundings and swimming companions.see you swimming soon………SSS
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I hope that another such swim can be organised at some point Susan; if not at Loch Ard Gorge, then at Boat Bay again.
It looks as though the weather and sea conditions will be favourable for the AB team of 6 to do the swim across the Rip tomorrow.
SSS
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