Western Port

A large tidal bay with mangroves, marine life and a long naval history.

Western Port is a large, shallow bay on the south-east side of Melbourne. Its shores have mangroves, mudflats and seagrass beds that are home to many birds and marine animals. A large area of the bay north of Hastings is a marine national park, and the wider area is part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Crib Point

Crib Point is about 64 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, next to the naval base HMAS Cerberus. The town is said to take its name from a fishermen's hut built on the point in the 1850s. The museum is in the former BP Refinery administration building on The Esplanade, which looks over the Crib Point shipping terminal.

A naval neighbourhood

HMAS Cerberus, the Royal Australian Navy's training base, is close to Crib Point. The navy's long presence in Western Port is part of the story we tell at the museum: see our collection and the story of how the museum began.