Sunnyside Beach is located about 50 kilometers southeast of the center of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula, which is on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay. The beach is between the outlying suburbs of Mount Eliza and Mornington. Sunnyside is a rather narrow beach, and the northern part is legally clothing optional, a status that local naturists attained in 1986.

When you arrive at the parking lot, you will be directly above the textile part of the beach. Instead of descending to the beach, you can walk north (to the right when facing the bay) on the path atop the bluff. The path runs above a very narrow and rocky part of the beach that disappears at high tide. After a few hundred meters, you will reach the start of the nude part of the beach, which extends northward about 500 meters. Straight couples tend to gather toward the start of the nude area, while the northern end is mostly a gay beach. The boundaries of the nude area are signed at both ends. There are toilets in the textile area, but otherwise there are no beach amenities.

Of the five nude beaches that are within about 100 kilometers of downtown Melbourne, Sunnyside is the second closest, but it still takes at least an hour to get to Sunnyside by car from the city center. Still, Sunnyside is the Melbourne area's most popular nude beach and is generally favored over Campbell's Cove on the other side of Port Phillip Bay, even though Campbell's Cove is closer to the city. The Sunnyside parking lot is often full. There is additional parking along the street leading up to the parking lot, but watch for posted restrictions and be careful not to block driveways. Ticketing for illegally parked cars is vigilant.

more info from Free Beaches Australia (scroll down to Sunnyside North)

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GPS: -38.1959, 145.0664

suburb, city, state, country
  Mount Eliza, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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