The drive from Apollo Bay to the 12 Apostles is only 85km and without stops, it takes you less than 90 minutes. But there is an enormous amount to see and do along the way. From rainforest walks and wildlife parks to lighthouse tours, wind swept beaches and shipwrecks there is enough to keep you busy for a full day.
We have done the drive from Apollo Bay to the 12 Apostles a few times. Read our guide of all the stops you could do along the way. We also have comprehensive guides to many of the stops if you would like more information.
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Marengo
🚙 4 minutes, 3km from Apollo Bay
If you have been staying in Apollo Bay, you should have already had a look around Marengo. There is an easy 6km return walk along the coast to Marengo if you want to stretch your legs.
The other highlight of Marengo is the Marengo Reef Marine Sanctuary. There are not a lot of safe places to swim along the Great Ocean Road, but this is one of the better spots with thre reef providing some protection,
It is also a great spot to go for a snorkel, or sea the team from Apollo Bay Surf and Kayak and have a paddle around the sheltered waters. Whether you stay on shore or get into or onto the water it is a lovely spot to look around. If you do go for a paddle or have a good zoom on your camera, look for the seals that rest on the outer Marengo Reef.
Wildlife Wonders
🚙 6 minutes, 5.3 km from Apollo Bay
We were based in Apollo Bay and did a morning guided through this sanctuary devoted to preserving the flora and fauna of the Otway rainforests. There are no enclosures at Wildlife Wonders, you just set off with your guide, armed with binoculars to see what you can see.
It is a fascinating tour, great for the whole family. The guides are enthusiastic so even if the animals don’t appear you have a fun time. Fortunately for us we spotted a rare, red-bellied pademelon, some koalas, kangaroos and emus.
Shelly Beach
🚙 11 minutes, 8.5km from Apollo Bay
If you are coming from further away than Apollo Bay, this easy 1.9km return walk to Shelly Beach is a great place to stretch your legs. We popped in here after walking around Wildlife Wonders. Look for the turnoff onto Elliott Road. The walk is well signed and takes you to a beautiful beach surrounded by forest.
We had a great time looking around the rock pools and taking in the amazing setting of the forest and rugged coastline. You get the best experience at low tide. Allow about 60 minutes to do the walk and look around.
Mait’s Rest Walk
🚙 16 minutes, 17km form Apollo Bay
A highlight of the Great Ocean Road drive is exploring the temperate rainforests of Great Otway National Park. If you want to do a short walk that doesn’t have lots of steps to get up and down, and still get a feel for the forests, Mait’s Rest Walk is the best stop to do it.
We loved, this short walk. It is super relaxing, there are huge mountain ash trees, tree fern lined paths and lots of spots to sit and talk in the sites, sounds and smells of the forest. There is a nice picnic ground and toilets here. It is a perfect stop for families or anyone wanting to take some deep breaths of forest air.
Cape Otway Light Station
🚙 34 minutes, 33km from Apollo Bay
This is the first detour you could take off the Great Ocean Road. Form the turn off, it is 13km to the Light Station. The drive to the Light Station is a stunner, you drive through along an avenue of towering trees. It is a great area for spotting koalas, so keep an eye out. We saw one crossing the road at the entrance to the light station precinct.
You can tour the light station, do a tour of the lighthouse (check availability) and the lookout over the coast is one of the best places along the Great Ocean Road to look for whales during whale watching season that runs from June to October.
Castle Cove Lookout
🚙 31 minutes, 33km from Apollo Bay
Back on the Great Ocean Road, Castle Cove Lookout is an easy stop to see some of the tallest cliffs along the drive. There are great views and not much else. It is easy to access to worth a stop as you are going past.
Johanna Beach
🚙 43 minutes, 43km from Apollo Bay
We have great memories of Johanna Beach back from our trip around Australia. It is a 5km detour off the Great Ocean Road to get there, but if you enjoy a walk on the beach and stunning coastline you will love it.
There is a day use car park at the end of Red Johanna Road with picnic tables, toilets and beach access. There is another beach access point if you follow the road through to the camping area. It is a great spot for ocean views, a beach walk, surfing, or fishing. We don’t recommend swimming here due to strong currents and heavy surf conditions, but it is a great spot to stretch your legs.
You can take Blue Johanna Road to return to the Great Ocean Road. It is a bit shorter, but it is more windy which makes it a slightly longer trip than returning the way you came into Johanna Beach.
Lavers Hill
🚙 43 minutes, 47km from Apollo Bay
If you feel like a snack or a coffee, Yatzie’s café on the round about at Lavers Hill is a good rest spot on the drive between Apollo Bay and 12 Apostles. As well as something to eat and drink, you can grab some tourist information – the staff are super friendly.
There is also a photo board out the front where you can be the face of a koala or kangaroo which kids, or the young at heart, will love. Keep an eye out for birds around the café too. The feeders down the left side of the café attract lots of parrots.
Melba Gully
🚙 47 minutes, 53km form Apollo Bay
Best known as a site for seeing glow worms, (you will have to visit at night to see the glow), Melba Gully is another chance to go for a walk and experience the rainforest. The 1.5km loop starts off as an easy walk but the second half has lots of steps and some steep slopes to walk down.
Even if you just do the out and back walk of the easy first part of the walk you can learn a lot about the history of the property and see some beautiful forest scenery. There is toilet, picnic and BBQ facilities here. Dogs are not permitted at Melba Gully.
Crowes Lookout
🚙 47 minutes, 51km from Apollo Bay
You might see Crowes Lookout marked on a map or notice a sign for it, but this stop is slightly underwhelming. The view looks across the hills, some cleared of forest, some not. The viewing area is next to a big power pole. It is not a high priority stop as you make your way between Apollo Bay and 12 Apostles.
Wreck Beach
🚙 66 minutes, 67 km to from Apollo Bay
Wreck Beach is a rugged and beautiful part of the Great Ocean Road coast. At low tide, down on the beach you can see the anchors of the Marie Gabrielle and the Fiji that came to grief on the coastline here.
You do need to take a 4km detour off the Great Ocean Road to the Wreck Beach car park. But the biggest challenge here is the 350 steps down to and back up from the beach. Once you make it onto the beach, turn right and it is a 10-15 minute walk to the anchors. It is a fun adventure if you are up for the walk.
An easier walk is the short track to The Gables Lookout which you do from a separate car park nearby.
Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park
🚙 66 minutes, 70km from Apollo Bay
The Great Ocean Wildlife Park is another chance to interact with some of the native animals found in the Otway Ranges. Unlike the hide and seek you do at Wildlife Wonders, fauna is easier to locate here with a petting area and an open range section called the field where you will spot kangaroos, emus, wallabies and some farm animals in the one space.
There is also a dingo awareness centre, and you can pay extra for a dingo encounter that aims to highlight the important role dingos play in nature. Allow about one hour to look through the sanctuary.
Princetown Wetlands Boardwalk
🚙 72 minutes, 79km from Apollo Bay
You need to take a 500m detour to get to the little town of Princetown. Overlooking the Gellibrand River, it is mainly an accommodation hub for the 12 Apostles which are only 7km away. You will find the 13th Apostle Backpackers, the Apostles Camping Park and, over the river, the Princetown Reserve Camping Area if you are looking for somewhere cheap to stay near the famous landmark.
Another reason to have a quick look around Princetown is the short walk you can do along the Princetown Wetlands Boardwalk. Walking by the river and through the reeds is a nice change from the coast. There are lots of birds in the area. Keep an eye out for nesting Australasian bitterns and swamp harriers.
Secret Apostles Lookout
🚙 75 minutes, 83km from Apollo Bay
We must admit, when we saw this lookout, we thought it was where you could see a pillar of limestone not many other know about. That is in fact not the case, but this is still a good stop. If you want to get a preview of the 12 Apostles without the crowds, this much less visited lookout is worth a stop.
There is a short but steepish walk from the turn off right on the Great Ocean Road to a lovely viewing area atop the sea cliffs. You can see one or two of the Apostles and Gibson Steps. Despite the many people we soon encountered at the official 12 Apostles Visitor Centre and lookout, there was no one else here which made a relaxing place to take in some views.
Gibson Steps
🚙 77 minutes, 83.6km from Apollo Bay
This popular stop is a chance to get down to the beach and see a couple of the Apostles from sea level. There are about 80 steps you have to zig zag down from the car park to the sand. On days when there is a high tide or rough surf conditions the stairs might be closed as the surf can come right up to the steps.
There is not a huge amount of car parking here so if it is full, you can walk to Gibson Steps form the main 12 Apostles car park and Visitor Centre. Read more about our stop at Gibson Steps.
12 Apostles
You have made it to the 12 Apostles – one of the most popular stops on one of the busiest scenic drives in Australia. There is a large car park and visitor centre/café/toilets on the opposite side of the road to the Apostles. You access the views from a tunnel that goes beneath the Great Ocean Road. Scenic helicopter flights also leave from the rear of the car park.
In school holidays, particularly in January, it can be bedlam here so if you can visit outside of this time, you will have a much less hectic experience. We came by here in April one year and it was insanely busy. There was a queue to get into the carpark so we just drove on, thankfully we had see them before!
Fun fact – there were never 12 Apostles, only 9. Originally called The Sow and Pigs, in the 1960s a marketing team came up with name of the Apostles. Since the 9 Apostles didn’t have the same ring to it as the 12 Apostles, they took the liberty of rounding the number of Apostles up. A couple of Apostles have been reclaimed by the ocean since 2000 so that should leave 7 remaining.
- Book a full day Great Ocean Road Adventure from Melbourne inc Kennett River Koalas, Gibson Steps & the 12 Apostles
Other Attractions near the 12 Apostles
If you have got to the 12 Apostles, make sure you stop at Loch Ard Gorge just up the road. If there is access to the beach it is one of the great photo ops along the Great Ocean Road. Give yourself up to 2 hours. There are several walks to do that go into the tragic history of the Loch Ard and you can do walks (or drive) to Mutton Bird Island Lookout, Island Arch Lookout and The Razorback.
Port Cambell is only 10 minutes further up the road. It is a good spot to break your drive. There is a safe swimming beach and love foreshore. There are also some nice scenic walks and lookouts around the suspension bridge to a scenic lookout.
We stayed overnight at the Portside Motel in Port Campbell and had a very comfortable stay there. It is also within walking distance of the Port Campbell Hotel which had great meals and a friendly atmosphere.
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Wye River Camping Spots | Kennett River Koalas | Things to do in Warrnambool
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