Castle Cove
Castle Cove
4.5
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4.5
17 reviews
Excellent
7
Very good
9
Average
1
Poor
0
Terrible
0
krocchi
Singapore, Singapore2,239 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
A picture stop along great ocean road. Stop by for a less than 10 minutes for pictures if you’re visiting great ocean road.
Written 23 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ducktalk
Cowes, Australia235 contributions
Mar 2019 • Friends
Dawned a very very hot day so not able to hike. Thought we'd have a cuppa at Castle Cove lookout instead and watch the sun rise over the beach. Parking easy and used our phones to find the path in the dark. Lookout is really well done, nicely built.
Was very entertaining - lots of surfers turned up to check the waves and we watched many of them riding the not insubstantial waves. Looked pretty good from up at the lookout.
Oh, and the sunrise was real nice as well. Got some great pics.
Was very entertaining - lots of surfers turned up to check the waves and we watched many of them riding the not insubstantial waves. Looked pretty good from up at the lookout.
Oh, and the sunrise was real nice as well. Got some great pics.
Written 15 April 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emily K
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia18 contributions
Jul 2018 • Family
We walked from the lighthouse to Castle Cove, along the GOW trail. Took us more than 5 hours at a leisurely pace. Great scenery, along the shore, cliffs and inland. The trail is well marked, with boardwalk in some areas. Not difficult.
Written 31 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
EndlessTravels
Greater Melbourne, Australia38,701 contributions
Jan 2018
Not a well trodden stop on the GOR itinerary but one of my favourite. Offers easy beach access from car park or you can take pics from lookout. one of the few spots that link Great Ocean Walk and Great Ocean Road
Written 12 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Niccers16
Bundaberg, Australia914 contributions
Aug 2022 • Couples
Saw the lookout sign and stopped. Not a bad lookout with a small parking area. Was nice to stretch the legs and get a view of the rugged coastline.
Written 12 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stumpie8
Echuca, Australia845 contributions
Mar 2022
A easy walk to the lookout of this amazing scenery. This lookout has a small car park and was very quite when we visited. Great views.
Written 28 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
gregs3071
melbourne8,038 contributions
Jun 2021
So, if you are reading this review the first things you will have noticed are the title and the rating. I rated Castle Cove three dots--average. That's not a criticism of Castle Cove, that's just a fact. It is average. Average for a place along the Great Ocean Road which just happens to be a world renowned tourist attraction famous for its cliff top views overlooking the ocean. In most other places in the world Castle Cove would rate at least four dots, probably five, but here, on Victoria's Shipwreck Coast I can only give it three, in all fairness.
Castle Cove was my first stop on the third day of my Great Ocean Road tour after leaving Apollo Bay. It is relatively easy to find but if you blink you will miss it. I wasn't looking for it but I saw a sign and a car park and thought I had better check it out. If you are heading West along the Great Ocean Road, after you pass through Apollo Bay, and then exit the winding rainforest section, and you've passed the Aire River East Campground/Hordern Vale Rd turnoff, and you've turned right after Glenaire and the Johanna River turnoff, you'll find it at, or near enough to, the top of the hill. If you're heading East, well, good luck, you'll probably drive past it before you realise. You can probably turn around at the bottom of the hill.
When I arrived there, at 9.16am, there were quite a few cars, intriguing for a place that I hadn't even vaguely heard of. I'm Melbourne born and bred, and this part of Victoria crops up in print and in conversation every now and then. But Castle Cove is not the kind of place that gets mentioned. Frankly, it's not a "must do" stop along a road that has many.
There's a path out to a cliff top viewing platform. The view is great, don't get me wrong, it's just that it greatness pales when compared to the views at other places nearby. There were about a dozen people at the viewing platform. I don't imagine that most of the people had planned to stop there. I think they, like me, had seen the sign, seen the cars parked, and decided to stop in for a look.
There were three surfers in the water below, and more were making their way down the path along the cliff to join them. This is a spot for the locals, a semi-secret surf spot, and that explains probably half the cars there. The waves were pretty decent, it may be technically the Shipwreck Coast but the waves don't care, it's only just on the other side of the cape from the Surf Coast.
I took a couple of photos, remarkably (not really) similar to the other photos posted here. There was a dog on the other side of the rails at the viewing platform, a friendly looking cattle dog. The dog looked much friendlier than his owner who was talking on his mobile phone, a very serious bloke if I've ever seen one. I was wondering how the dog had got through the palings, and when his master left he was wondering, too, for a few seconds, how to get back onto the platform. Eventually, he figured it out and ran back down alongside the palings until the gap became bigger and he could jump through.
Castle Cove is definitely worth a look if you've got the time, and if you're staying in the area for a while the beach looks worthy as well. But it's not a "must see" so, if you are pushed for time there are probably better ways to spend it. As it was, I only spent about 15 minutes there.
Castle Cove was my first stop on the third day of my Great Ocean Road tour after leaving Apollo Bay. It is relatively easy to find but if you blink you will miss it. I wasn't looking for it but I saw a sign and a car park and thought I had better check it out. If you are heading West along the Great Ocean Road, after you pass through Apollo Bay, and then exit the winding rainforest section, and you've passed the Aire River East Campground/Hordern Vale Rd turnoff, and you've turned right after Glenaire and the Johanna River turnoff, you'll find it at, or near enough to, the top of the hill. If you're heading East, well, good luck, you'll probably drive past it before you realise. You can probably turn around at the bottom of the hill.
When I arrived there, at 9.16am, there were quite a few cars, intriguing for a place that I hadn't even vaguely heard of. I'm Melbourne born and bred, and this part of Victoria crops up in print and in conversation every now and then. But Castle Cove is not the kind of place that gets mentioned. Frankly, it's not a "must do" stop along a road that has many.
There's a path out to a cliff top viewing platform. The view is great, don't get me wrong, it's just that it greatness pales when compared to the views at other places nearby. There were about a dozen people at the viewing platform. I don't imagine that most of the people had planned to stop there. I think they, like me, had seen the sign, seen the cars parked, and decided to stop in for a look.
There were three surfers in the water below, and more were making their way down the path along the cliff to join them. This is a spot for the locals, a semi-secret surf spot, and that explains probably half the cars there. The waves were pretty decent, it may be technically the Shipwreck Coast but the waves don't care, it's only just on the other side of the cape from the Surf Coast.
I took a couple of photos, remarkably (not really) similar to the other photos posted here. There was a dog on the other side of the rails at the viewing platform, a friendly looking cattle dog. The dog looked much friendlier than his owner who was talking on his mobile phone, a very serious bloke if I've ever seen one. I was wondering how the dog had got through the palings, and when his master left he was wondering, too, for a few seconds, how to get back onto the platform. Eventually, he figured it out and ran back down alongside the palings until the gap became bigger and he could jump through.
Castle Cove is definitely worth a look if you've got the time, and if you're staying in the area for a while the beach looks worthy as well. But it's not a "must see" so, if you are pushed for time there are probably better ways to spend it. As it was, I only spent about 15 minutes there.
Written 3 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Richard T
Burnley, UK1,263 contributions
Mar 2020
Yet another spectacular cove. Worth pulling off the Great Ocean Road to visit. We didn’t have time to spend time on the beach but looked so inviting.
Written 27 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CodyMav
Gold Coast, Australia27,270 contributions
Dec 2019
Castle Cove and its lookout are accessed from a small diverted slip road from the Great Ocean Rd. Not a lot of parking.
But if you find a space, the view is rewarding.
But if you find a space, the view is rewarding.
Written 31 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steven W
Sacramento, CA1,334 contributions
Oct 2019
We made an early morning stop here on our 2-day Great Ocean Road tour. Beautiful beach in a peaceful area, along the Great Ocean Road Walking Track. The view into the valley opposite the cove was also quite nice.
Written 1 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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