Aire River to Johanna Beach

Great Ocean Walk · Stage 5

13kmStage distance
323mMapped ascent
5Stage number

Over coastal heath and cliffs to Johanna Beach, more exposed: check the conditions before you set out. About 2 km on the beach with no inland way round, and the Johanna River to cross without a bridge; Hooded Plovers nest above the high-tide mark. About 14 km, 5 hours 15 minutes.

Best season: All year, booked night by night. The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA), which runs the walk since 1 July 2026, publishes no seasonal closure: the campgrounds are booked up to 12 months ahead, and the summer peak (18 December to 28 February) opens for booking on its own day. Rain and rough seas can close the unbridged river crossings; in the fire season, check the fire danger and Total Fire Ban days. Whales pass from July to September. Before you go

Aire River to Johanna Beach

Loading topographic map…
0m25m50m75m100m125m02 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km13.3 km127m0m
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%)
Green: Aire River to Johanna Beach. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.

Aire River to Johanna Beach

5 / 8
GPX

Where this stage starts and ends

Facts read from the operators' own pages and OpenStreetMap on 28 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.

Stage start

Aire River

Camping spot · Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority

Season
2026 Approximate onlyGORCAPA publishes no seasonal closure of the hike-in campgrounds: they are booked night by night, all year, up to 12 months ahead. greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au, read 28 September 20262027 Approximate onlyGORCAPA publishes no seasonal closure of the hike-in campgrounds: they are booked night by night, all year, up to 12 months ahead. greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au, read 28 September 2026
Places
18 places in total Six tent sites of about 3.5 by 3.5 m, up to 3 people each, and a group area of six sites for up to 18; a three-sided shelter with a table; one untreated rainwater tank, water not guaranteed: carry enough; no toilet of its own: use the car-based campground nearby, which has toilets and more untreated rainwater. No campfires.
Booking
Book online Booking is compulsory and is your permit to camp: book each night and each campground separately on GORCAPA's booking site, up to 12 months ahead; the summer peak (18 December to the end of February) opens on its own day: for 2027/28 at 10am on Wednesday 10 February 2027, and from then on the second Wednesday of February. Pay in full when you book; 100% refund 30 or more days before, 50% from 8 to 29 days, none within 7. Up to 3 people per site. No price is printed on GORCAPA's pages.

Stage end · overnight

Johanna Beach

Camping spot · Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority

Season
2026 Approximate onlyGORCAPA publishes no seasonal closure of the hike-in campgrounds: they are booked night by night, all year, up to 12 months ahead. greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au, read 28 September 20262027 Approximate onlyGORCAPA publishes no seasonal closure of the hike-in campgrounds: they are booked night by night, all year, up to 12 months ahead. greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au, read 28 September 2026
Places
24 places in total Eight tent sites of about 3.5 by 3.5 m, up to 3 people each; a three-sided shelter with a table; two untreated rainwater tanks, water not guaranteed: carry enough; two composting toilets. No campfires.
Booking
Book online Booking is compulsory and is your permit to camp: book each night and each campground separately on GORCAPA's booking site, up to 12 months ahead; the summer peak (18 December to the end of February) opens on its own day: for 2027/28 at 10am on Wednesday 10 February 2027, and from then on the second Wednesday of February. Pay in full when you book; 100% refund 30 or more days before, 50% from 8 to 29 days, none within 7. Up to 3 people per site. No price is printed on GORCAPA's pages.

What the operators say about this leg

Make it your trip

Book the campgrounds first

Walkers camp at the seven hike-in campgrounds (or stay off the walk in the car-based campgrounds and towns), and a booking is the permit to camp: camping without one can bring a fine. Book each night and campground separately, up to 12 months ahead; each has six or eight small sites for up to three people. Pay in full when you book: 100% back 30 or more days before, 50% from 8 to 29 days, nothing within 7.

Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles

Eight days and seven nights, one at each hike-in campground, as GORCAPA describes it.

  1. 9.6 km
  2. 11.6 km
  3. 10.8 km
  4. 9.4 km
  5. 13.3 km
  6. 13.6 km
  7. 12.8 km
  8. 15.4 km

Weather this week

Loading the forecast for on the trail (64 m)…

Weather by month

Typical weather on this stage, around 0–128 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.

Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
WeatherGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGood
Day / night21°/13°22°/14°20°/13°18°/11°15°/10°13°/8°12°/7°13°/8°15°/8°17°/9°18°/10°19°/12°
Rain, mm514157698710411012896797251
Snow at high point––––––––––––
Daylight14 h 3513 h 3412 h 2411 h 0710 h 039 h 289 h 4110 h 3411 h 4713 h 0214 h 1314 h 51

Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.

Before you go

Prepare for the Great Ocean Walk

Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.

Tides, beaches and rivers

Some beaches and river crossings become unsafe at high tide or in a rough sea; GORCAPA says there are inland alternatives in many places, but not all. Parks Victoria's day pages (archived before the handover) name the places with no way round: Storm Point, west of Bald Hill, Johanna Beach (about 2 km on the sand) and the first part of Milanesia Beach (about 300 m). The Elliot, Parker, Johanna and Milanesia rivers have no bridges, and after heavy rain you may have to wade. Check the tide times each morning: Apollo Bay's east of Moonlight Head, Port Campbell's west of it.

Parks Victoria's walk page (archived June 2026)

Water, fire and wildlife

The campground tanks hold untreated rainwater and may run dry: carry enough and treat it. No campfires at the hike-in campgrounds; the campgrounds lie in bushfire-prone country, so check the fire danger rating and Total Fire Ban days. Watch for snakes and European wasps. No dogs.

Parks Victoria's walk page (archived June 2026)

East to west, and one way

The walk is designed to be walked from east to west, for the best views and more manageable gradients, and to reduce crowding and wear on the track and campgrounds. It ends far from its start: there is no long-term parking for walkers, and GORCAPA asks you to plan your transport and accommodation before you arrive.

GORCAPA: camping information

Getting there

Connect your journey

Travel around Aire River to Johanna Beach.

Directions to this start Travel from this finish

Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.

To Apollo Bay

V/Line runs every day from Melbourne's Southern Cross by train to Geelong and coach to the Apollo Bay Info Centre, near the start: on weekdays arriving 13.12, 17.27 and 20.44 (from Southern Cross 09.10, 13.30, 16.49), at weekends 13.12, 17.47 and 23.06. The summer holiday timetable (14 December to 27 January) runs every day too.

V/Line timetable (from 23 August 2026)

Back from the Twelve Apostles

The V/Line coach stops at the Twelve Apostles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only: at 15.05 west to Port Campbell and Warrnambool (16.50) for the train to Melbourne, and at 10.40 east to Apollo Bay. Finish on one of those days, or arrange a ride: Parks Victoria listed commercial shuttles back to Apollo Bay.

V/Line timetable (from 23 August 2026)

Take your trip with you

Offline maps

Prepare every day while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.

Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.

  1. Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
  2. Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
  3. Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.

Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.

Route & sources

About this map

GORCAPA gives "more than 100 kilometres" from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles (its booking site: just over 110 km), usually over eight days, walked east to west; its stage table adds up to about 100 km and its campground pages to 97 km to Gibson Steps. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 1951913, planet of 27 September 2026), 96.4 km from the Apollo Bay Visitor Centre to the Twelve Apostles, cut at the seven hike-in campgrounds; the times are GORCAPA's.

Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 28 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.

Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority: the Great Ocean Walk

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation

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