Royal Beach in Mornington is a west-facing, small, pebble and sand, pocket beach, just 190 metres long, south of Schnapper Point. Nestled between two 10 to 20 metres high, red sandstone bluffs, it is also backed by grassy bluffs and the Esplanade. On a clear day it offers views of Melbourne’s city skyline to the north.
The beach is named after the Royal Hotel that lies opposite, and the beach is accessed via steps and a sloped walkway down the hillside. The narrow beach looks attractive at high tide, but low tide exposes a continuous rock and reef flat, with deep water only out beyond the rocks.
This is a dedicated dog friendly off leash beach all year long, tucked away to the side from the other local Mornington beaches. While it isn't overly big, it does have different things for dogs to explore; rock pools, a little bit of grassland/scrub, cliff-sides and the one access point with cliffs at the back of the beach means the dogs are relatively safe from the busy road above.
There isn't a lot of parking availability at the top of the cliff along the Esplanade. However it is only about 150 metres south of the pretty Mornington Park (where more parking is available), or a short walk will find you at the main shopping centre of Mornington.
