Central and Western Victoria Region

The central-western Victorian coast contains three distinct primary compartments: an eastern series of open and enclosed bays, the southeast-facing Surf Coast, and the exposed high energy west coast. The entire open coast is exposed to persistent southwest swell and periodic strong westerly winds, with tide predominately micro, while beach sands increases in shelf-derived carbonate content from 28% in the east to 78% in the west. The eastern open bays curve to face southwest into the swell that enters through Bass Strait and are generally backed by transgressive dunes, while the two large enclosed bays, Western Port and Port Phillip, have respectively, meso- and micro-tides with very different shorelines. The Surf Coast is a lee shore with moderate energy beaches and limited barrier development, while the exposed west coast has eroding limestone cliffs in the east grading to a series of large curving bays to the west with easterly longshore transport. This chapter describes the geology, climate, coastal process and the beaches, barriers, sediment transport and sediment compartments.