The Ninety Mile Beach is a sandy stretch of

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

on the south-eastern coastline of the

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (St ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in Australia. The beach faces Bass Strait and backs the

Gippsland Lakes The Gippsland Lakes are a network of coastal lakes, marshes and lagoons in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an overall area of about between the rural towns of Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale and Sale. The largest of the lakes are L ...

. The beach is just over in length, running north-eastward from a spit near Port Albert to the man-made channel at Lakes Entrance. Behind the beach are long sandy dunes that separate the Gippsland Lakes from Bass Strait. The beach is an uninterrupted stretch of untamed coastline; it does not have any rocky headlands or platforms, and offshore there are only a few ribbons of reef which are periodically covered by sand. In the northern section, the beach runs along a sandbar on what amounts to a series of tidal islands. Behind this are several large lakes and numerous shallow littoral lagoons. The three main lakes are Lake King, Lake Victoria and Lake Wellington, partially contained within The Lakes National Park.

Location

The Ninety Mile Beach is located about from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and can be reached from the

South Gippsland Highway The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in Victoria, Australia which connects the city of Melbourne with the South Gippsland region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale. The highway begins at Lonsdale Street (Princes High ...

passing the coastal towns of McLoughlins Beach, Woodside, Seaspray, Golden Beach, and Loch Sport. The beach is located within the Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park, with the Ninety Mile Beach Marine National Park located off-shore.

Tourism

Ninety Mile Beach attracts a large number of visitors each year and offers a wide variety of activities such as camping, picnicking, whale watching, and beach and water-based activities. The beach has golden sand, with crashing waves and a natural bush environment. It is part of the Ninety Mile Beach Marine National Park, which covers 2,750 hectares and of coastline, south of Sale. There are basic camping facilities within the park at Emu Bight, as well as accommodation at Seaspray and Lakes Entrance. Rotamah Island, which is part of the Lakes National Park, has a large bird observatory, and can be visited by boat from Paynesville, about away. Coastal towns of Woodside, Lochsport, Seaspray, Golden Beach and Lakes Entrance are popular tourist towns, attracting large numbers of visitors during the warmer months. Woodside, Seaspray and Lakes Entrance have life saving beach patrols during the summer season. Surf fishing is a key drawcard for the area, with main varieties of fish including snapper, flathead and gummy sharks. Port Albert, McLoughlins Beach, Lochsport and Lakes Entrance have jetties and temporary berthing facilities.

Ecology

The beach's length ensures that the waves break too close to the beach for good surfing, and there are strong

rip current A rip current, often simply called a rip (or misleadingly a ''rip tide''), is a specific kind of water current that can occur near beaches with breaking waves. A rip is a strong, localized, and narrow current of water which moves directly away ...

s and cross-currents that make conditions rather hazardous. The local authorities recommend that anyone who wishes to swim should do so at Woodside, Seaspray and Lakes Entrance, which have life saving beach patrols during the summer season. The beach is believed to be the fourth longest uninterrupted beach in the world, behind

Praia do Cassino Praia do Cassino (Portuguese for ''Casino Beach'') is the world's longest sea beach and is located in the southernmost of the Brazilian coast (), on the South Atlantic Ocean, in the Rio Grande do Sul state. It is the longest uninterrupted sandy ...

on the Brazilian southern coast,

Padre Island Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrier islands and the world's longest barrier island. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is noted for its white sandy beaches. Meaning ''father'' in Spanish, it ...

on the US

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

and

Eighty Mile Beach Eighty Mile Beach, also spelled Eighty-mile Beach or 80-mile Beach, lies along the north-west coast of Western Australia about half-way between the towns of Broome and Port Hedland. It is a beach some in length, forming the coastline where t ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, which is actually long. Wild horses were introduced to the park after the islands were explored to help eat and trample down small areas of bush so it could be more easily explored but they were left unchecked and their numbers quickly increased. Their large numbers grew and over time started to cause concern as environmental damage became an issue, but once the park was established as a national heritage the horses were rounded up and transported back across to the mainland.

Gallery

File:Ninety Mile Beach Victoria Western end.jpg, Western edge of Ninety Mile Beach Image:90 mile beach02.jpg, Ninety Mile Beach at Lakes Entrance Image:90 mile beach.jpg, Ninety Mile Beach at Lakes Entrance File:South-west along 90 Mile Beach, Seaspray, Vic, jjron, 31.03.2016.jpg, Ninety Mile Beach/ McLoughlins Beach at Seaspray

References

External links

{{commonscat
Gippsland's Official tourism website - Ninety Mile Beach

Parks Victoria - Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park

Parks Victoria - The Lakes National Park

Gippsland's official tourism website - Beach fishing

Gippsland Ports Victoria
East Gippsland Beaches of Victoria (Australia) 2