Gippsland Lakes

The Gippsland Lakes are a connected network of coastal lakes, marshes and lagoons in the Gippsland region of eastern Victoria, Australia. The system includes three principal basins commonly named Lake Wellington, Lake Victoria and Lake King and is a major regional waterway.

The lakes support recreational boating, angling, tourism and significant wetland habitats for waterbirds. Shallow bays, reedbeds and saltmarsh areas make the region important for birdwatching and fisheries as well as leisure cruises.

The lakes formed through the interaction of river inflows and coastal sand movement that created barrier beaches along Bass Strait; human intervention, including the dredging and maintenance of the entrance channel at Lakes Entrance, has modified water exchange with the ocean. Management focuses on balancing navigation, tourism, agriculture and conservation.

The Gippsland Lakes sit on the Victoria coast east of Melbourne, with the town of Lakes Entrance located at the ocean channel that links the lakes to Bass Strait.

• Navigation: The lakes system is often described as Australia's largest navigable inland waterway and is used extensively for recreational boating and fishing.
• Towns: Towns that serve as bases for visiting include Lakes Entrance, Paynesville and Metung, each offering boat launches and visitor services.

What to See #

• Lake Wellington: Lake Wellington forms the easternmost and largest of the three main lake basins and connects to the ocean at Lakes Entrance through a dredged channel.
• Lake Victoria: Lake Victoria lies centrally within the system and supports extensive wetlands and recreational boating areas used by local communities.
• Lake King: Lake King is the western basin and contains a mix of open water and marshes important for birdlife and fisheries.