Canonical: https://peninsulainsider.com.au/explore/places/hastings/ Publisher: Peninsula Insider Published: unknown Modified: unknown Format: public main text, generated from the canonical page; imagery and interactive controls omitted. Dates and caveats below retain their page meaning; this format is not a new fact check. [Western Port]() # Hastings Hastings is a port town on the Mornington Peninsula's Western Port shoreline, 75 km from Melbourne, with a Thursday street market and a working commercial harbour on the eastern bay. Hastings sits on the eastern, working side of the Peninsula - the Western Port side, with its mangroves, mudflats, and fishing fleet. It is not a tourist town and never has tried to be, which is exactly what makes it useful. The fishermen's co-op here supplies some of the best seafood in Melbourne, the mussel farms offshore are among the largest sustainable producers in Australia, and if you are driving back from French Island or heading down to Flinders the long way round, Hastings is the place to stop for fish and chips eaten on the pier. The town itself is unvarnished in a way the western Peninsula no longer is, and that counts for something. At a glance **From Melbourne** approximately 1 hour 5 minutes **Best season** Winter For Mussels And Clear Air **Stay** a few hours **Best for** seafood buyers, Western Port detours **Avoid** windy wet afternoons Insider The fish co-op is the real reason to come; locals buy there long before visitors realise they should. The Peninsula's working port, where the seafood is better than the streetscape. Peninsula Insider - editor's note Is Hastings the right base? ## Who this place rewards - and who should keep driving ### It's for - seafood buyers - Western Port detours - ferry connections ### It's not for - a polished weekend escape - people chasing wineries or surf Looking for charm in the town centre - stop for seafood and the pier, then move on. Hastings in brief ## Hastings in 3 points - 01 Hastings is the Peninsula's working port town - a fishermen's co-op, mussel farms offshore, and a Stony Point ferry to Phillip Island that most visitors don't know exists. - 02 Best for: seafood lovers; anyone travelling to French Island or Phillip Island by ferry; travellers arriving by train from Melbourne. - 03 Half a day; stop for fish and chips on the pier, then continue south. A perfect day here ## A day in Hastings Late-morning co-op stop, fish and chips on the foreshore, walk the pier, then ferry onward or drive south. The fish co-op is the real reason to come; locals buy there long before visitors realise they should. - Editor's note What's mapped here - [**2** journal pieces]() Read this place properly ## Journal pieces connected to Hastings Long-form editorial that builds the picture of a place beyond any single visit. [More in the Journal →]() Service 5 min ### [Indoor Play on the Mornington Peninsula: The Four Worth Driving To]() 7 August 2026 When the weather turns and the kids need to run, there are four indoor play venues on the Peninsula that actually hold up. Here is what each one is good for, and the five things to check before you leave the house. Insider Edit 7 min ### [The Seafood List: Where the Fish Comes Off the Boat and Onto the Plate]() 10 April 2026 The Peninsula is a wine region that happens to be surrounded by water. The seafood story is quieter than the pinot story, but it is arguably the more honest one - and the best of it is very, very good. Planning guides ## Service guides for your Hastings trip Long-form editorial that helps you build a weekend, not just a list of places. [All Peninsula guides →]() [3-Day Peninsula Itinerary →]() [Weekend Plans →]() [Best Brunch Guide →]() [Hot Springs Guide →]() [Winter Guide →]() [Dog-Friendly Peninsula →]() [Wedding Venues →]() Where it sits ## Hastings on the Peninsula [See the full Peninsula map →]() Keep going ## Nearby places worth knowing next Because a Peninsula trip is always made up of two or three pockets, not one. Red Hill · village ### [Balnarring]() Balnarring is the village that locals still treat as their own - a cluster of shops, the Emu Plains Market on the third Saturday of the month through the warmer months, a village pub in a 1930s heritage home, and a road network that somehow always seems to lead back to a cellar door. It sits on the eastern edge of the Peninsula's wine country, closer to Western Port than Port Phillip, and that changes the character: the light is softer, the crowds are thinner, and the vineyards here tend to be smaller family operations rather than destination estates. Balnarring is where you go when you want a Peninsula weekend that feels like the way things used to work before the region became a brand. The beach is genuine and quiet, the coffee is unpretentious, and the drive in from Tedesca or Montalto takes fifteen minutes of roads you've mostly never seen. Ocean Coast · town ### [Flinders]() Flinders sits on the wild southern edge of the Peninsula and carries itself with a kind of salt-air confidence. The village is compact but smart - a bakery, a handful of good shops, an old pub, and a coastline that feels a world away from the bay-facing polish further north. Base yourself here if you want your mornings to begin with wind off Bass Strait, your afternoons with a drive back inland for lunch, and your evenings under a harder, cleaner sky. [← Explore more Peninsula destinations]() Got a Hastings secret? If there's a Hastings corner you think we'd cover better with your help - a back-bay swimming hole, a producer's farm-gate, a local pub that hits - send it through. Editorial review, named credit if we publish it. [Tell us about Hastings →]() Something wrong on this page, or is this your business? [Tell us what to fix]() and you get a case reference back. corrections@peninsulainsider.com.au reaches the same desk. ## The Insider Note The Peninsula worth knowing. An occasional email. What's on, where we'd go and what's worth knowing next. Independent editorial. Sent when there is something worth knowing. Unsubscribe any time [Privacy]() On the map ## Hastings, by location Every editorially verified pin in Hastings on one screen - toggle a category, click any marker for the editor's note. Loading map… On the calendar in this place ## Events in Hastings Coming up in Hastings, pulled from the events registry. [All events →]() - [Every Thursday ### ✦ Hastings Thursday Street Market Hastings Weekly outdoor street market on High Street Hastings every Thursday. 40+ stalls featuring homemade, homegrown and craft goods. Fresh produce, handmade goods, plants. Local food options available on the street. Markets]()