- Published:
- Thursday 5 March 2026 at 2:37 pm
It might be the first few days of autumn, but Melburnians’ enthusiasm for the beach will not be dampened just yet.
Despite cooler conditions and even some rain to start the new season, warm weather is expected for some time with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a warm, dry autumn making Port Phillip Bay beaches a continuing draw card.
To help get the most from our beaches, EPA Beach Report will continue to provide twice daily updates on bay water quality.
EPA Beach Report data has been used to compile a list of the bay beaches that performed the best over summer based on the number of Good, Fair and Poor forecasts they received.
Port Phillip Bay’s top performing beaches ranked in order were Santa Casa, Portsea, Mt Martha Surf Life Saving Club, Black Rock, Half Moon Bay, Sandringham and Eastern Beach.
Carrum faired worst ranked last at 36th with Frankston Surf Live Saving Club at 35 and Frankston Coast Guard at 34th with Mordialloc and Port Melbourne filling out the bottom performing five.
“The data shows that, despite an overall improvement in bay water quality over the last four decades, it is generally the beaches farthest from the most densely populated urban areas that perform best,” said EPA Chief Environmental Scientist, Dr Jen Martin.
“Summer 2025-2026 was drier than average overall, with January the month driest of the season,” said Dr Martin.
“As heavy rain washes pollutants from Melbourne’s streets and footpaths through the stormwater drain system to our creeks and waterways, ultimately ending up in the bay, having drier weather usually leads to an improvement in the bay’s water quality.
“Water pollution after rain might aggravate skin conditions or even cause gastro. Given time, it dilutes and water quality improves.
“Our testing with Beach Report and our long running coastal monitoring program, shows that water quality in the bay is usually pretty good, especially when you consider how highly urbanised most of the area surrounding it is.”
Dr Martin said we can also do our bit to keep the water and beaches clean by leaving the beach with everything we took down and making sure we never let anything but rainwater down stormwater drains.
“If you’re taking advantage of the longer summer weather this weekend, make sure you pack up your sunscreen, sunhats, beach umbrellas, drink bottles, food packaging and the like, take it home with you and we can all continue to enjoy our magnificent bay beaches,” she said.
The EPA Beach Report (epa.vic.gov.au/for-community/summer-water-quality/beach-report(opens in a new window)) is available twice a day even outside summer.
Updated