Australia · Torquay, Victoria · #3 of Australia's ten by fame
The world's longest-running surf contest, and water cold enough to keep it honest.
How we rated it: up one for third place on the fame list (three lists name it), up one for a sourced find (home of the world's longest-running continuous surfing competition). Nothing on record takes it down. Photo: Samantha Lynch samjaynee · CC0
Bells Beach is home to the Rip Curl Pro, the longest-running continuous surfing competition in the world, held every Easter. It is five minutes from Torquay and about an hour's drive from Melbourne, on the Great Ocean Road, and the beach and coastal reserve are heritage-listed in Victoria. Surfers watch the waves from the car park, then head down the weathered steps. There is a public toilet at the car park. Lonely Planet calls the water usually frigid. We measured 371 metres of sand.
Status, dated 2026: The Rip Curl Pro runs each Easter; dogs are not allowed during special events (Lonely Planet, April 2026).
Warmest sea in March. Fewest wet days in January and December. Pick your fight.
One year of data, 2025, from Open-Meteo at this beach's coordinates. A rain day is 1 mm or more. The red bar is the month to aim for in each row.
6 beaches within 6 km, as the gull flies.
Straight-line distances from the mapped beach shapes (OpenStreetMap). Roads are longer, and in Bali they are much longer.
Surfers in the car park, watching the point.
A public toilet at the car park, and the steps down.
Every year over the Easter holiday period. It is the longest-running continuous surfing competition in the world.
It is a surf beach, and Lonely Planet says the water is usually frigid.
