Sorrento 16°C Sunset 5:48 pm Bay glassy, tide low Winter Insider · June 2026

RACV Cape Schanck Golf Course

RACV Cape Schanck is the scenic one. The course plays along the clifftops and through the coastal scrub around the Cape Schanck lighthouse precinct, and the ocean is in play — visually and occasionally physically — on most of the back nine. It is not the Peninsula's most architecturally celebrated course (that's St Andrews Beach or The National), but it is probably its most dramatic setting. For the right round on the right day, few Australian courses match it. The resort integration matters. RACV members get preferential access and packages; non-members can book public tee times and use the clubhouse and facilities. On-site accommodation at RACV Cape Schanck Resort makes it the easiest 'stay and play' option on the Peninsula — walk from your room to the first tee. Conditioning is consistent, service is resort-standard, and the pro shop is well-run. Pair with the Cape Schanck boardwalk and lighthouse precinct for a weekend that feels like a destination rather than just a round.

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Where to eat, drink, or stay nearby

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Restaurant Cape Schanck

Barragunda Dining

165 Boneo Rd, Cape Schanck VIC 3939 · $$$$

Chef Simone Watts's farm dining room on a 1000-acre regenerative estate at Cape Schanck, one of the Peninsula's most compelling new voices.

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Villa Cape Schanck

The Cape Retreat

Cape Schanck VIC 3939 · $$$$

Twelve luxury suites on a Cape Schanck hilltop with Bass Strait views, primarily exclusive-hire, individual suites may be available on enquiry.

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Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens

Ashcombe Maze holds Australia's oldest symmetrical hedge maze, a circular rose garden, a lavender labyrinth, and a small café that sells lavender everything, ice cream, scones, shortbread, tisane, from a room that smells exactly like the fields outside. The gardens are at their peak in spring when the lavender is up, but the maze works in any season and the café is reason enough in autumn. The place is deliberately low-tempo. You walk the maze, you sit in the lavender, you drink tea, and you leave feeling like you have stumbled into a slightly older, gentler version of the Peninsula. It is a good rainy-afternoon reset and an even better spring morning plan. Pair it with Flinders Sourdough on the way through or Flinders General Store afterwards. Bring the kids. Bring older visitors. Do not try to be cynical about it, the charm wins.

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Cape Schanck 180 min · Moderate

Bushrangers Bay

Bushrangers Bay is a hidden ocean beach accessed via a 2.5-kilometre walk through coastal heathland from Cape Schanck - and, remarkably, almost nobody goes here even in summer. In April it is completely deserted. Dramatic rock formations, sea caves along the cliffs, and the raw power of the Southern Ocean breaking against the headlands at the far end of the beach. The walk in from Cape Schanck is straightforward and well-marked, descending gradually through the heath to the back of the beach. Once you arrive, the scale of the place - cliffs, caves, ocean, almost no human presence - is the reason to come. Walk the sand, look at the rock formations, turn around. One of the Peninsula's genuinely remote-feeling experiences, hiding in plain sight. Bring water; there are no facilities at the beach itself.

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Cape Schanck 90 min · Moderate

Bushrangers Bay Walk

Bushrangers Bay is the walk we send people to when they say they want to see the wilder side of the Peninsula without committing to a full-day hike. The track drops from the Cape Schanck lighthouse precinct through coastal scrub and opens onto a broad crescent of basalt and sand that feels much further from Melbourne than it is. The return climb is enough to justify lunch afterwards, but not so punishing that it tips into chore. Do it in the late afternoon when the light starts to flatten across the water and the whole coastline turns silver.

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Further reading

Journal pieces that deepen this stop

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Trail Guide 6 min

Cape Schanck — The Complete Guide

22 April 2026

The 1859 limestone lighthouse, the boardwalk to Pulpit Rock and Pebble Beach, and the 5.4km return walk to Bushrangers Bay. Cape Schanck lighthouse grounds are free from 6am — lighthouse tours are ticketed. Here is everything.

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Peninsula This Weekend 31 May

King's Birthday is the loudest winter weekend on the Peninsula. Two clear moves, and the rest of the weekend kept open.

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