Lady Bay Boat Ramp, Warrnambool

The Lady Bay Boat Ramp is located on Breakwater Road at the western end of Lady Bay in the Port of Warrnambool, facing the Southern Ocean. The infrastructure consists of a dual-lane concrete boat ramp surfaced with heavy, grooved concrete panels designed to smooth out the gradient and improve traction. Staging is provided by rebuilt north and south boarding jetties that replaced the aging wooden jetties to provide vessel tie-up points. Navigational hazards are severe, as the bay is highly exposed to Southern Ocean waves, littoral sand drift, and rapid sand deposition. Sand transport regularly deposits sand at the toe of the ramp at low tides, rendering the lanes unusable and requiring the council to clear it with excavators. A $1 million dredging program was initiated in 2023 to remove 20,000 cubic meters of sand to keep wave heights under 20 centimeters. Land-side facilities include a reconfigured boat trailer parking area with a vessel holding area, reinforced rock revetments, and a live Boating Vic app webcam. However, boarding is restricted to climbing vertical timber ladders to access vessels from the jetties, which creates accessibility barriers for disabled boaters.