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Coastal townsVictoria2026

Victoria Coastal Towns

Cowes, Geelong and Torquay were the most booked of the 21 coastal towns in Victoria on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, with an estimated 15,984, 11,349 and 10,901 stays. January is the busiest month across them, and the typical stay is 4.2 nights.

Source: AirROI Reviewed by Jun Zhou, Founder @ AirROI Updated November 4, 2026

Figures are AirROI estimates. How they are made

Among the 10 towns with 200+ homes

Most booked of these 10: Cowes 15,984 stays
Highest revenue per home of these 10: Lorne A$45,745 a year
Highest rated of these 10: Ocean Grove 4.86 out of 5
Lowest nightly rate of these 10: Geelong A$274 a night
Longest typical stay of these 10: Ocean Grove 4.8 nights

Ranking

Victoria Coastal Towns Ranked by Airbnb Stays

Every one of the coastal and beach towns in Victoria with 100 or more Airbnb homes and recent stays, most booked first.

Victoria Coastal Towns ranked by Airbnb stays, with homes, typical stay, busiest month, nightly rate, occupancy, revenue per home and guest rating

1	Cowes	15,984	751	3.9 nights	January	A$431	33%	A$39,725	4.77
2	Geelong	11,349	434	4.6 nights	January	A$274	41%	A$32,320	4.79
3	Torquay	10,901	498	4.7 nights	January	A$469	37%	A$43,954	4.84
4	Apollo Bay	10,649	439	3.5 nights	January	A$417	35%	A$42,553	4.75
5	Lorne	8,593	417	3.9 nights	January	A$582	31%	A$45,745	4.72
6	Ocean Grove	8,333	415	4.8 nights	January	A$435	36%	A$39,961	4.86
7	Port Fairy	7,100	329	3.9 nights	January	A$417	33%	A$38,262	4.76
8	Inverloch	5,763	340	4.4 nights	January	A$404	31%	A$29,330	4.80
9	Anglesea	4,320	278	4.6 nights	January	A$486	30%	A$35,063	4.82
10	Lakes Entrance	4,263	194	3.5 nights	January	A$360	34%	A$34,865	4.71
11	Surf Coast	3,846	203	4.3 nights	January	A$490	32%	A$37,761	4.83
12	Cape Woolamai	3,338	171	4.2 nights	January	A$422	33%	A$36,297	4.82
13	Port Campbell	3,091	133	2.2 nights	January	A$391	39%	A$50,346	4.74
14	Bass Coast. Includes Phillip Island and Wonthaggi.	3,032	119	3.9 nights	January	A$447	36%	A$46,731	4.84
15	Ventnor	2,543	126	4.5 nights	January	A$428	35%	A$41,230	4.81
16	St Kilda	2,511	155	6.9 nights	November	A$244	46%	A$23,520	4.74
17	Portarlington	2,508	153	4.5 nights	January	A$392	31%	A$28,730	4.83
18	Rye	2,449	131	4.1 nights	December	A$574	34%	A$47,279	4.88
19	Sandy Point	2,193	114	4.3 nights	January	A$396	31%	A$33,125	4.72
20	Aireys Inlet	2,189	121	4.5 nights	January	A$493	31%	A$39,723	4.79
21	St Leonards	2,096	136	4.2 nights	January	A$409	30%	A$28,156	4.84

Figures are AirROI estimates for the 12 months to October 2026, and stays count Airbnb bookings only. Typical stay is a booking's length, occupancy the share of available nights booked, and revenue the yearly average per home, before costs. Guest rating is out of 5. Airbnb data files some places as one district or township, so Bass Coast and rows like it cover several towns.

Money figures on this page are in Australian dollars, converted from US dollars at A$1.44 per US$, the typical rate from November 2025 to October 2026.

Town by town

Where the Top Towns Stand Out

All 8 are busiest in January, and among guests who left a review, Melbourne is the top home city in each. Houses are the largest home type in all 8. The lines below add what the table can't show, where one of the 8 most booked towns leads its peers or differs from the rest.

Cowes
Of the 10 coastal towns in Victoria with 200 or more homes, Cowes had the most Airbnb homes, at 751, and had the biggest share of homes that sleep 8 or more, at 54%, in the 12 months to October 2026.
Geelong
Of the 10 coastal towns in Victoria with 200 or more homes, Geelong had the highest occupancy, at 41%, and had the lowest nightly rate, at A$274, in the 12 months to October 2026.
4
Apollo Bay
Of the 10 coastal towns in Victoria with 200 or more homes, Apollo Bay had the biggest share from abroad among guests who left a review, at 39%, in the 12 months to October 2026.
5
Lorne
Of the 10 coastal towns in Victoria with 200 or more homes, Lorne had the highest nightly rate, at A$582, and was booked furthest ahead, about 94 days before arrival, in the 12 months to October 2026.
6
Ocean Grove
Of the 10 coastal towns in Victoria with 200 or more homes, Ocean Grove had the highest guest rating, at 4.86, and had the longest typical stay, at 4.8 nights, in the 12 months to October 2026.

When to go

Busiest and Quietest Months

January, December and March rank as the busiest months for Airbnb nights across the coastal towns in Victoria, and August and May as the quietest. January is the busiest month in 19 of the 21, while St Kilda peaks in November, and Rye in December. Across the 21 towns, nightly rates run lowest in August, at about A$392, and highest in January, at about A$490. Across the 21 towns, stays run longest in December, at 5.4 nights, and shortest in September, at 3.1 nights.

January ranks first, May last

Airbnb months in calendar order. The number is the month's rank, and 1 is the busiest. The bar shows its part of Airbnb nights.

Three busiest months
Other months

Month by month: rank, typical stay and nightly rate

Months in Victoria by rank
Rank	Month	Typical stay	Nightly rate
1	January	4.7 nights	A$490
2	December	5.4 nights	A$469
3	March	3.3 nights	A$430
4	February	3.8 nights	A$432
5	November	4.0 nights	A$427
6	April	3.6 nights	A$440
7	September	3.1 nights	A$401
8	July	4.4 nights	A$402
9	October	3.8 nights	A$419
10	June	3.8 nights	A$404
11	August	3.6 nights	A$392
12	May	3.6 nights	A$412

Who comes

Where Guests Come From

Among guests who left a review, 79% come from within Australia. Among those guests, the largest groups from abroad come from the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore. The top home cities among those guests are Melbourne and Sydney. Apollo Bay draws the most from abroad, at 39%, among towns with 200 or more homes.

Top countries abroad

Among guests who left a review

United Kingdom 4.5%
United States 2.9%
Singapore 2.4%
New Zealand 1.1%
China 1%

Top home cities

Among guests who left a review

79% from within Australia

Melbourne 19%
Sydney 1.2%

The money view

Revenue, Occupancy and Nightly Rate

Among the 10 towns with 200 or more Airbnb homes, Lorne has the highest estimated revenue per home, at A$45,745 a year. Of those 10, Geelong has the highest occupancy, at 41%, and the lowest nightly rate on Airbnb, at A$274. The most booked of the 21, Cowes, earns about A$39,725 per home.

Highest revenue per home of these 10

A year, AirROI estimate

Lorne A$45,745
Torquay A$43,954
Apollo Bay A$42,553
Ocean Grove A$39,961
Cowes A$39,725

Highest occupancy of these 10

Nights booked, AirROI estimate

Lowest nightly rate of these 10

On Airbnb, AirROI estimate

Geelong A$274
Inverloch A$404
Apollo Bay A$417
Port Fairy A$417
Cowes A$431

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular coastal town in Victoria?

By AirROI's estimates, Cowes is the most booked of the 21 coastal towns in Victoria, with 15,984 Airbnb stays in the 12 months to October 2026. Geelong is second, with 11,349. This counts Airbnb bookings only.

What is the most affordable coastal town in Victoria?

By AirROI's estimated nightly rate on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, among coastal towns in Victoria with 200 or more homes, the lowest are Geelong (A$274), Inverloch (A$404) and Apollo Bay (A$417). That is the average asking price on booked nights, not what it costs to live or buy there.

What are some small coastal towns in Victoria?

By AirROI's count of active Airbnb homes as of October 2026, the smallest of the 21 coastal towns it lists in Victoria are Sandy Point (114), Bass Coast (119) and Aireys Inlet (121). AirROI's list starts at 100 homes, so smaller places are not on it.

What coastal towns in Victoria offer the strongest Airbnb returns?

Returns depend on what a home costs to buy and run, which AirROI's figures do not cover. On AirROI's estimated revenue per home in the 12 months to October 2026, among coastal towns in Victoria with 200 or more homes, the highest are Lorne (A$45,745), Torquay (A$43,954) and Apollo Bay (A$42,553). Among the same towns, Geelong has the highest occupancy, at 41%.

Method

How These Lists and Numbers Are Made

How a town gets on this list. A town needs 100 or more Airbnb homes with recent stays. A language model then judges the place from its name, state, country and coordinates, not from words in its name: it has to be on an ocean or sea coast with its own beach, seafront or harbour, or on a Great Lake with a public beach, and within about 10 km of the shore. The town's own listings can back that up, with 30% of its homes listing beach access, or 10% with ocean views, waterfront homes or beach in their titles besides. A town whose listings do not gets a second, stricter check, which asks whether people go there for that or mainly for something else. Big cities stay off. Corrections come last: places the checks got wrong are added or taken off, and rows that name one place are joined.

How the figures are made. Stays, occupancy, nightly rate and revenue are AirROI estimates built from Airbnb listing data, and cover Airbnb only. A town's stays are its bookings in the period, and the typical stay and busiest month come from the same data. Guest ratings, home sizes and how far ahead guests book are the latest figures in each town's AirROI data. Month ranks compare each month's part of Airbnb nights. Origin rests on 402,237 reviews and describes guests who left a review, not everyone who stayed. A town needs 1,000 reviews before this page gives its share from abroad.