The Twelve Apostles

6 min read Updated November 2026 Compare all tours

The Twelve Apostles stand in the surf below the cliffs of Port Campbell National Park, on Booringa Road. The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority, which manages the park, describes the setting as limestone cliffs, offshore stacks, sea caves and natural arches. Viewpoints, shelters, picnic tables, toilets and accessible facilities are spread across the clifftop, and the park is open all year.

The name promises twelve stacks, but the park authority gives no count. What you do see is a line of pillars of different heights in the surf, a long beach and the cliff line behind it.

The new visitor centre and booking

On 16 October 2026 the Keerray Woorroong Visitor Centre opened to visitors, ahead of the summer season. It has a café with 230 seats, a kiosk, a gallery and a rooftop terrace, a cultural garden by the Eastern Maar people and an artwork of the short-finned eel, Kooyang. The car park holds more than 950 vehicles and includes bays for coaches.

The rules changed with the opening. A booking is now required before you arrive, and it also secures your parking space for a set time. Booking is free until April 2027; after that a booking fee applies, and the amount had not been published when this page was written. The public can book up to one month ahead, while tour operators get guaranteed coach bays, which is one reason a tour can be simpler in the busy months. The centre is open daily from 8 am to 8 pm. Book on the official site at twelveapostles.org.au.

The booking covers the Twelve Apostles precinct only. According to the park authority, access to Loch Ard Gorge and Gibson Steps is unchanged.

When to go

The park authority notes that the site is busy all year and busiest around midday, and that early morning and late afternoon are quieter. It recommends sunset. In late December the sun goes down at about 8:52 pm, after the visitor centre closes at 8 pm. In late June it sets at about 5:13 pm, and from May to September a sunset stop fits into an ordinary day trip. At dusk little penguins come ashore on the beach below the stacks, though you need patience and luck to spot them from the clifftop.

The coast is cool and windy for much of the year. At Cape Otway, the nearest long-term weather station, average highs range from 21.5 °C in January and February to 13 °C in July, and between 5 and 16 days a month bring rain. Spring and summer have the most settled weather, according to the park authority. Bring a windproof layer in any month.

Gibson Steps and the beach

Gibson Steps are a separate stop in the same park. When conditions allow, the steps lead down to a wild beach at the foot of the cliffs. The park authority warns that beach access may change with weather, tides and safety conditions, so check the signs before you go down. Reviews of one large day tour mention that the advertised stop at the steps was skipped on the day; several tours list the steps only when access allows.

Getting here from Melbourne

The fastest drive from central Melbourne runs inland via Colac: about 227 km and roughly 3 hours 20 minutes without stops. The coast road through Torquay, Lorne and Apollo Bay is about 280 km and takes around 4 hours 30 minutes before any breaks. Most day tours combine the two, coast one way and inland the other, which adds up to around 500 km of driving in one day. Our page on touring or driving yourself weighs up the options.

Classic tours go along the coast first and arrive in the afternoon. Some coach tours stay up to 90 minutes at the Apostles from October to April and continue to London Bridge from May to September instead. Reviews of the larger coaches mention big, noisy groups and rushed stops on a very long day.

Reverse tours head inland first and reach the Apostles in the morning, then follow the coast back. Sunset tours pick you up later, between 9 and 11 am depending on the season, and time the visit for the evening light, which brings you back to Melbourne late at night.

From the air

A helicopter pad sits at 20 Booringa Road, next to the precinct. The local operator, 12 Apostles Helicopters, flies a short circuit of about 45 km to London Bridge, a 25-minute flight to the Bay of Islands and a one-hour flight of about 220 km to Cape Otway. Flights run seven days a week, in summer from 10 am to 6:30 pm and in winter from 9 am until one hour before sunset. Some coach tours let you add a flight during their long stop here. Our page on helicopter flights compares them.

Nearby stops

Loch Ard Gorge is only minutes away and has a sheltered beach between high cliffs. London Bridge, The Grotto and The Arch share a site on London Bridge Road near Peterborough. The Port Campbell Discovery Walk follows the coast from Port Campbell to Two Mile Bay. Dogs are not allowed at any of these sites. In an emergency call 000.