Wilson’s Promontory
Wilson’s Promontory (also known as The Prom) is Victoria’s largest national park. It is 3 hours east of Melbourne and is the most southerly point on the mainland of Australia. We visited as part of our 7-day drive from Melbourne to Sydney.
The park was an amazing place with beautiful beaches (deserted when we visited), a variety of hikes and the sought-after wildlife encounters.
Getting Around
There is no entrance fee to visit, entry is free.
The main walks in the Prom are around Tidal River, which is about a 30-minute drive from Yanakie, the main accommodation area outside the park.
Since we wanted to spend a couple of days exploring the park, we decided to stay at Tidal River and do a few of the 2-hour walks each day.
In theory, many of the walks start from Tidal River, but when we were there, the Tidal River walking bridge was being repaired, so we had to drive out to the individual car parks. Not a problem as we were there in the off-season, but I imagine the car parks could get busy during peak times – hopefully the bridge will be repaired soon.
Use the Wilson’s Promontory website for the latest information about closures.
Accommodation options at Tidal River
Depending on your required level of comfort, several accommodation options are available. However, it is a good idea to book in advance. In the summer, I have heard that the campsites at Tidal River should be booked a year in advance or are only available on a ballot system.
- There are 475 camp pitches at Tidal River campground, 20 of which are powered
- Wilderness retreats – safari style tents with an ensuite, can accommodate three people
- Huts – one-room huts accommodate 4 or 6 people in bunk beds
- Cabins – queen bed in one room and two bunk beds in a second room with a living area and deck
- Units – one-bed units with a living area and deck,
- Group lodges – accommodate 12, 24 or 30 people in dormitory rooms with bunk beds
In addition, you can camp in certain places along the walking routes, but you will need a permit.
We stayed in a Wilderness retreat – being of a certain age, we enjoy the ensuite facilities! Since we had no flexibility on dates, we booked as soon as bookings opened for the season – on 1st April 25.
Wilderness Retreat Details
There were 4 wilderness retreat tents, each in its own little area, with a shared kitchen.
The tent had 3 distinct sections: kitchen/diner, bedroom and bathroom. The kitchen/diner had an under-the-counter fridge, a cupboard, dining table/chairs, and a sofa. The bedroom (which could be shut off from the kitchen with canvas walls) had a queen bed with a made-up trundle single bed underneath (we used the single bed as we like lots of space when sleeping). The bathroom included a shower and a good supply of hot water.
There was an electric heater in the bedroom area as well as extra blankets in the blanket box.
It was a really comfortable home for the 3 nights we were there. However, the first night was very windy, and at times it felt like the whole tent would fly away! An authentic camping experience, I guess!
The 4 wilderness retreats shared a large kitchen tent.
The kitchen tent had two areas, each with a hob, a sink and a dining table, as well as a shared large fridge. All cutlery, crockery and pots/pans were included. We opted for very basic food – burgers/sausages that we had purchased before entering the park, but others were cooking full meals – fish/bolognaise, etc. There is a basic grocery store on site, but be aware that it closes around 4 pm. I believe it sells coffee, pies, etc., but we didn’t actually get the time to visit.
Outside the kitchen tent, there is an outdoor seating and bbq area.
Our original plan was to use the BBQ to cook our sausages/burgers, but the electric BBQ didn’t get hot. Not sure if that was our incompetence or a broken BBQ, but nobody else was using the BBQ in this area. We noticed that the BBQs in other areas of the campground in use were gas rather than electric – perhaps that would make a difference.
Notes about accommodation
If you want to book a Wilderness Retreat for specific dates or a particular campsite during peak times, I highly recommend you book as far in advance as possible.
Booking for all accommodation options on the Parks Victoria website is seasonal. The earliest we could book for November was on 1st April. We were able to book from the UK using a UK-based credit card (unlike booking with Virgin Australia!).
Walks/Wildlife
During the 3 days we were in the Prom, we concentrated on taking those 2-3 hour walks focused on wildlife and views. There are longer walks – full day or multi-day, but the short walks worked best for us.
Find out more about the walks on the Parks Victoria website.
- We did these walks:
- Prom Wildlife Walk around 20km from Yanakie and 17km from Tidal River. We parked in the large layby by the side of the road and walked the paved 2.3km loop (grade 2, 45 min return) across open grasslands. We did this twice and saw emus, kangaroos, wallabies and galahs (rose-breasted cockatoos)
- Norman Beach – an easy walk from our accommodation through the dunes and campground to a beautiful beach. We saw the occasional wombat scuttling across the sandy paths and plenty of crimson rosella parrots.
- Little Oberon Bay – a fairly easy, but quiet walk from our accommodation via Norman Beach through light tea-tree scrub to another beautiful but (when we were there) very windy beach. We spotted a couple of wallabies in the bush on the way.
- Mount Bishop – a more challenging 7.4km walk up from the carpark to the rocky summit of Mount Bishop for views of the west coast of Wilson’s Prom and Norman’s Beach. Just a note, when you think you are at the top, walk across the granite boulders and keep going to see the full extent of the beautiful views.
- From Five Mile carpark we took the easy walk to Millers Landing to see the mangroves (and some wallabies on the way) and then took the steep climb past grass trees to Vereker Outlook. I have to be honest, I’m not sure if we got to the top of the outlook as the trail through the granite boulders got very confusing – not one that I would recommend if you are short of time.
- Squeaky Beach to Picnic Bay and Whisky Bay. We parked at Squeaky Beach – at the time, the trail from Tidal River was closed – and had a short walk to yet another beautiful beach. A highlight of this beach is that the fine, rounded quartz sand really does squeak when walked on. From here, we followed the cliff top path to Picnic Bay and then Whisky Bay. On our return, we saw wallabies in the bush and wombats in the car park.
Wildlife Spotting at The Prom
We came to Wilson’s Prom to see wildlife in their natural habitat, and it didn’t disappoint. We saw wallabies, kangaroos, wombats and birds on our walks, but actually, the best way to get up close to animals in a relaxed way was to walk around Tidal River, particularly in the evenings when the wombats and wallabies came out to feed. We also saw a wombat just outside our Wilderness Retreat one lunch time.
General recommendations / things to consider
We would highly recommend visiting Wilson’s Prom. The journey in and out of the park took about 30 minutes, so it would be possible to stay outside the park, but personally, I felt the experience was better and more relaxed staying at Tidal River. Do book ahead of time, though.
It would be worth going for the beaches alone, though I guess they will get pretty crowded during the height of summer. We went in November, but it was pretty chilly.
We saw loads of wildlife – I was a bit worried it wouldn’t live up to expectations, but actually there was more wildlife than I expected, and we could get much closer than I thought – of course, you have to respect their space.
For us, 3 days was just about right, but you could easily spend longer if you wanted to relax on the beach or do some of the day walks.
If you found this post useful, checkout the full description of our drive from Melbourne to Sydney in 7 days.