Depending on your interests and abilities, there are many ways to explore the Point Nepean National Park. You can join a day trip of the Mornington Peninsula from Melbourne, take a guided kayaking tour, or rent a bike and look around under your own pedal power. A hop-on hop-off shuttle service travels between the Quarantine Station and Fort Nepean and is a good way of exploring the historic sites. If you’d like to stay overnight, you can even book a pre-pitched tent in the Quarantine Precinct section of the park.
Swimming at the beach below the Quarantine Station is allowed, but be mindful of the conditions and the potential for strong currents and rips.
Some parts of the park are accessible to wheelchair users, particularly the Quarantine Station, Gunners Cottage, and Fort Nepean.
Look out for humpback whales off-shore if you visit between April and October.
Most travelers visit Point Nepean National Park and the Mornington Peninsula from Melbourne. Unless you’re on a tour, the quickest way to get there is by self-driving, which takes about 90 minutes. To get there by bus, take a suburban train from Melbourne to Frankston and then catch a local bus to Portsea, just outside the entrance to the park.
The park is open every day of the year and is accessible to walkers and cyclists at any time. Vehicles are only permitted from early morning until early evening. The various heritage buildings within the park have different opening times. As many visitors to Point Nepean National Park come to hike or cycle, it’s best to come when the weather is dry but not too hot: Spring and autumn offer ideal conditions for visiting the park.
The Point Nepean National Park is noteworthy partly because of what has happened off-shore over the centuries: An estimated 130 ships have been wrecked in the Port Phillip area. From a viewing area in the park overlooking Cheviot Beach, visitors can gaze out over the site of Victoria’s worst shipwreck, where the SS Cheviot hit a reef in 1887, killing 35 of the passengers. This is also where Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming in 1967–his body was never found.
