There’s no charge to visit Loch Ard Gorge. Most travelers come for a quick photo stop or to walk one of three short, easy walking routes: the Shipwreck Walk, the Geology Walk, or the Living on the Edge bird walk. Mutton Island, near the beach, houses a colony of short-tailed shearwater seabirds in spring and summer, when it’s possible to watch thousands of them flying home at dusk to feed their hungry chicks.
Many Great Ocean Road tours and Melbourne–Adelaide overland journeys stop at Loch Ard Gorge. For a less busy experience, consider joining a reverse itinerary Great Ocean Road day tour, which visits the area in the morning rather than the afternoon; a sunset tour; or a multi-day tour with a stopover in Port Campbell.