St Andrews Beach with the Dog
Off-lead all day, pub lunch at the Fingal Pizza Shack, bush trails just behind the dunes.
St Andrews Beach is the Mornington Peninsula's quiet alternative to Sorrento — a 4km arc of back-beach sand that stays off-lead for dogs all year. Pair it with the scruffy, much-loved Fingal Pizza Shack and you have a weekend that costs almost nothing.
Highlights
- Off-lead dog beach the full length of St Andrews
- Gunnamatta surf beach for a bigger swell (on-lead)
- Bush tracks at Greens Bush, just 10 minutes inland
- Fingal Pizza Shack — picnic tables, BYO, cash only
- Sunset from Cape Schanck lighthouse (dogs allowed on the access trail)
Suggested itinerary
- Saturday · Morning
Drive, big beach walk
Arrive 10am, 90-minute off-lead run on St Andrews back beach. Ball-thrower or long lead for recall training.
- Saturday · 1pm
Pizza Shack lunch
Fingal Pizza Shack — casual outdoor tables, very dog-welcoming. BYO beer from the Rye Hotel bottle-o.
- Saturday · 4pm
Greens Bush walk
Baldry's Crossing to Long Point loop is 6km through stringybark — dogs on lead per park rules.
- Saturday · Evening
Dinner pickup
Fish and chips in Rye, eat on Rye front beach. Dogs off-lead after 7:30pm April–October.
- Sunday · Morning
Cape Schanck access trail
Dogs on the upper access road only (not the boardwalk). Basalt columns and big views.
Getting there
90 minutes via Peninsula Link (M11). The dog beach car park is at the end of Sandy Road — look for the off-lead signage, not the on-lead patrolled beach to the west.
Eat & drink
- Fingal Pizza Shack for BYO casual pizza
- Rye Hotel bistro — dogs in the beer garden
- Cape Schanck General Store for a takeaway coffee
Local tips
- Check on-lead hours — some sections are on-lead 9am–7pm November to April
- Fresh water tap at the car park but it's unreliable; bring your own
- Snakes sometimes on dune tracks in summer — dogs on long lead in warm weather
- Fingal Pizza Shack is cash-only and closes in winter — call first