Venus Bay is a wide bayVenus Bay page at Geoscience Australia and a township on the east coast of Victoria, Australia. At the Venus Bay had a population of 904.

The name Venus Bay was given to the bay by a French expedition under Nicholas Baudin. This was apparently after George Bass's trading ship the Venus. (The expedition traded with Bass in Sydney in around 1801.)

The town of Venus Bay is situated on a narrow peninsula of land located 180 km south-east of Melbourne. Originally named Evergreen the town takes its name from the body of water on its western shore. On the eastern side of the peninsula is Anderson's Inlet, named after the settler Samuel Anderson.

History

Indigenous History The land surrounding Venus Bay is part of the traditional country of the Bunurong (Boon Wurrung) people of the Kulin nation. Indigenous Australians utilized the region's coastal resources for thousands of years prior to European settlement, as evidenced by shell middens preserved throughout the coastal sand dune systems.

European Settlement and Development European settlement of the area began in 1851, when the Tarwin Meadows pastoral run was established by George Black. By the 1870s, the area where the Venus Bay township is located was part of a property called Evergreen, which was split into a number of smaller properties during the 1950s. The township was subdivided into 1,500 properties in 1959, with an additional 1,300 added in the 1980s.

Historical Incidents The town attracted significant media attention in 1978, when human remains were discovered near a shovel, 1940s-era handbag, and pre-1950s coinage during the preparations for construction of a beach house. Speculation was rampant that the remains were those of the "Lady of the Swamp," Margaret Clement of Tullaree. Clement had disappeared without a trace from her dilapidated mansion, 10 kilometres from Venus Bay in 1952. However, the subsequent coronial inquiry was unable to link her disappearance to the remains and returned an open finding.

Modern Incidents In January 2026, Venus Bay attracted national media attention after a 12-year-old boy from Taylors Hill, Melbourne, went missing while swimming at Beach No. 4. The boy was last seen in the water at approximately 11:30 am on 25 January. A large scale search involving Victoria Police, the Water Police Squad, Coast Guard, State Emergency Service, Life Saving Victoria and members of the public was launched. On 27 January, police announced that the search had become a recovery operation due to the length of time the boy had been missing.

Geography and Environment Venus Bay sits on a dynamic barrier sand spit system. The ocean coastline consists of a nearly 24km sandy beach backed by steep, vegetated coastal dune ridges.

Cape Liptrap Coastal Park Much of the undeveloped land on the peninsula forms part of Cape Liptrap Coastal Park, which protects native coastal heathland and banksia woodlands.

Wildlife and Ecology The peninsula supports coastal vegetation including coastal banksia and tea tree.

Township and Estates Venus Bay has become a popular holiday retreat for people from Melbourne and is close to other popular South Gippsland tourist spots such as Phillip Island and Wilsons Promontory. The permanent population hovers just below 1,000, however this can swell into the thousands during holiday periods. The town is split into three 'estates'.

The First Estate is home to the only shopping strip in Venus Bay, consisting of a general store, pharmacy, surf shop / hair dresser, cafe, take-away shops, real estate agents, caravan park and a restaurant. Three of Venus Bay's five surf beaches (Nos. 1, 2 and 3 beaches) are in the First Estate, with the Venus Bay Surf Livesaving Club located at the No. 1 Beach. This is the only patrolled beach, although during the busy summer period surf patrols regularly make their way up and down the beaches to just beyond No. 5 beach.

The Venus Bay Community Centre is also located in the First Estate and runs a variety of programs and activities and is home to the Community Recycling Op Shop. In addition, the Community Centre runs a summer holiday program for kids and organises the Summer Beach Shuttle Bus.

The Second Estate is home to Nos. 4 and 5 beaches as well as the popular fishing jetty on Anderson's Inlet. At the edge of the Second Estate is an elevated viewing platform that allows visitors to look out across Anderson's Inlet and view the many kangaroos that call the quiet eastern shores home.

The Third Estate is a sparsely populated and underdeveloped area leading to the tip of the peninsula (Point Smythe). This estate has the Doyle's Road foreshore reserve and the Point Smythe reservation, home to many wandering tracks that lead to secluded beaches on both shores of the peninsula and to the tip at the mouth of Anderson's Inlet.

Emergency Services and Transport The Venus Bay Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC), established in 1961, provides patrolled lifesaver services at Beach No. 1 during summer months . Fire protection and emergency response for the peninsula are provided by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) operated Tarwin Lower & District Rural Fire Brigade, which operates a dedicated satellite station located within Venus Bay to ensure rapid local response times during peak periods and bushfire threats . Public transport access is limited; regional bus lines serve nearby Tarwin Lower and Leongatha, complemented by a local community shuttle bus operating during summer peak periods .

Life Saving Victoria and the Venus Bay Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) have also operated a public rescue equipment trial across beaches 1–5, providing emergency call buttons and rescue equipment.

Environmental Issues and Community Action In recent years the residents of Venus Bay and nearby Tarwin Lower (5 km closer to Melbourne) have fought off developers seeking to drain the environmental wetlands and set up marina and resort developments. Development proposals have faced opposition from local residents and community groups.

In 2017, the locals at Venus Bay stated their displeasure over excessive harvesting of the pipi shellfish by daytrippers who came from Melbourne. Some incidents of vandalism were reported from the area. However, the locals urged that the anger was not racially charged, but was a misguided attempt to safeguard the ecological balance of the region by attacking pipi collectors rather than seeking regulatory change from appropriate authorities.

References

External links www.venusbay.info Tarwin Lower Venus Bay Association www.venusbay.blogspot.com Venus Bay blog http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=IVICVENU2 Venus Bay Weather