Can my dog go on the beach —
right now

One answer from the council rules, then the beaches around it.

Starting beach

Elwood Beach

Checking today’s rule…

Elwood

For Rock groyne south of Point Ormond to the rock groyne in front of Elwood Angling Club only. 1 other stretch has different rules.

Get directionsRead the council rule

Rules can change at short notice. Always check the signs at the beach and the council's page before you go.

77 beaches

Updated 27 October 2026

77 beaches

City of Port Phillip

Bayside City Council

City of Kingston

Frankston City Council

Hobsons Bay City Council

Wyndham City Council

Mornington Peninsula Shire

City of Greater Geelong

Surf Coast Shire

Sutherland Shire Council

Waverley Council

Northern Beaches Council

Randwick City Council

Bayside Council (NSW)

Sunday 1 November 2026 is when many Victorian summer dog-beach rules begin. Frankston’s ban starts 1 December. Hobsons Bay’s restricted hours run to 30 April.

How the status is worked out

The coloured status takes the current moment and converts it into the beach’s time zone, Australia/Melbourne or Australia/Sydney, so daylight saving is included. Where a council rule says sunrise or sunset, those times are calculated for the pin and can be a minute or two off the sign.

Public holidays are only applied where the council says so. Barwon Coast’s peak times also cover the Easter weekend, including 29 February in a leap year. The map does not list the days, so this tool uses Good Friday to Easter Monday and says so on that page. Horderns Beach uses the NSW public holidays in the Public Holidays Act 2010, plus the extra Anzac Mondays on the NSW Government list for 2026 and 2027. The August bank holiday is not included. From January 2028, Horderns says check with council from September to April until that list is published again. A council that is silent about holidays is followed seven days a week.

If a page says check with council, the published wording was not complete enough for a yes or no. That is deliberate. The sources page lists every beach, the page it was read from, and the date it was checked.

Questions people ask

Can my dog go on the beach right now?

It depends on the beach and the time. This page lists dog beaches for Melbourne Bay, Geelong, the Surf Coast and parts of Sydney. Open a beach to read the council rule. A status is then worked out in your browser from today’s date and the beach’s time zone.

When do Victorian summer dog-beach rules start in 2026?

Sunday 1 November 2026 is the start date published by Port Phillip, Bayside, Kingston and Hobsons Bay. Frankston’s dog ban on the sand starts later, on 1 December, and runs to 31 March. Hobsons Bay’s restricted hours run from 1 November to 30 April. Mornington Peninsula bay beaches are not given a clock time here, because the Shire’s map does not publish one.

Are dogs allowed on Cronulla Beach?

No. Sutherland Shire prohibits dogs on Cronulla Beach. The timed off-leash beach is Greenhills, north of Wanda: 4pm to 10am in daylight saving, and 3pm to 10am in standard time. Cronulla Beach · Greenhills Beach

What are the dog beach times at Aspendale and Edithvale?

On Kingston’s summer map, 1 November to 31 March, those beaches are off leash from sunrise to 10am, closed from 10am to 7:30pm, and on leash from 7:30pm to sunrise. On the winter map, 1 April to 31 October, they are on leash from 11am to 3pm and off leash at other times. Aspendale · Edithvale · Kingston Council

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