The Mornington Peninsula makes one of the best beach day trips or weekend getaways from Melbourne. One of the best beaches on the Mornington Peninsula is Safety Beach in Dromana, which has a pier, sparkling turquoise water, and a row of brightly coloured bathing boxes on the sand. We first visited with my Dad, on one of his first trips to visit us in Melbourne. Dromana is an easy one hour drive from Melbourne.

One of The Wanderbug’s readers kindly left a comment on my first post about the Mornington Peninsula, suggesting Two Buoys Tapas Bar in the small beach town of Dromana. I’m so glad Sue commented, because otherwise I would not have had any reason to pick Dromana from the long list of options.

Before we hit the beach, we had lunch at a tapas bar, Two Buoys. We shared crab sliders, calamari and a few other small plates. All the dishes were delicious and served with a little twist, which was a nice change from the standard beach town fish & chip shop ( as much as I love them!).

Dromana

Dromana was a Victorian seaside resort in the 1880s, but not much of the architecture from this time remains. Unlike Sorrento and Mornington, the streets and shops of Dromana aren’t particularly charming, but the main attraction is beautiful Safety Beach and its brightly coloured bathing boxes. Fortunately, the rainbow row of Bathing Boxes along the beach have been beautifully preserved.

Safety Beach & Bathing Boxes

Safety Beach is one of the best beaches on the Mornington Peninsula, with soft white sand, calm and clear water, and a row of iconic bathing boxes along the beach. Gentle hills wrap around the either end of the wide, shallow beach. The euphoric shade of very bright blue ocean made me happy, just be looking at it. The shallow bayside water was more like a giant swimming pool than the rough and tumble of the surf I’m used to in Queensland, but it is a nice change. Sometimes, swimming in the east coast= surf is like trying to fight your way through a mile-wide washing machine. I could see myself spending lazy days bobbing in the bayside water at Dromana.

We walked up the pier, which was dotted with fishermen (and women) who had pulled up a fold out chair and kids using the pier as a diving board. Three tiny dinghies and motor boats bobbed along the shoreline, their shadow visible through the clear water. A father and son zipped around on an enormous jet ski a little further out. Swimmers mainly stuck to bobbing in the water because there’s no need to exert yourself too much in the calm bay, without the onslaught of the surf.

The beach is dotted with sunbathers, with pink faces and leathery limbs glistening in the sun. The smarter ones, in a very Victorian fashion, erect colourful beach umbrellas and pitch tents. Pop up beach tents seem to be a singularly Victorian fascination and on this particular beach, I could see why. A smattering of brightly-painted bathing boxes lined the back of the beach, with their cheaper, modern equivalents pitched in a higgledy-piggledy row in front of them. The Bathing Boxes are popular on beaches in Victoria and South Australia, most famously on Dendy Beach in Brighton.

Have you been to Dromana? What are your favourite day trips or weekends from Melbourne? As you can see, I really appreciate getting tips!

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