{{Use Australian English|date=February 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = suburb | name = Safety Beach | city = Melbourne | state = vic | image = Boats_at_Martha_Cove,_Safety_Beach.jpg | caption = Boats at Martha Cove, Safety Beach | lga = Shire of Mornington Peninsula | alternative_location_map = Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne | coordinates = {{coord|38.322|S|144.986|E|display=inline,title}} | postcode = 3936 | pop = 6,328 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name="abs">{{Census 2021 AUS | id = SAL22222 | name = Safety Beach (Vic.) | accessdate = 12 July 2022 | quick = on}}</ref> | area = 6 | est = | stategov = Nepean | fedgov = Flinders | dist1 = 73 | location1= Melbourne | dist2 = 9 | location2= Rosebud | near-nw = ''Port Phillip'' | near-n = | near-ne = Mount Martha | near-w = ''Port Phillip'' | near-e = | near-sw = Dromana | near-s = | near-se = Red Hill | local_map = yes | zoom = 12 }}
'''Safety Beach''' is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, {{convert|56|km|abbr=on}} south of Melbourne's city centre, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Safety Beach recorded a population of 6,328 at the 2021 census.<ref name=abs/>
Safety Beach occupies slightly less than half the area of land between the foothills of Mount Martha and Arthurs Seat and borders Port Philip Bay to its west.
Martha Cove is a large inland harbour and residential development at Safety Beach, named after its location in a cove at the foot of Mount Martha. The project, which began in 2004, initially sparked protests by residents. After experiencing considerable financial difficulties, Martha Cove recovered and became a thriving residential community.<ref>{{cite web |last=Allen |first=Elizabeth |url=http://mornington-peninsula-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/stormclouds-over-martha-cove/ |title=Stormclouds over Martha Cove - Business - News - Mornington Peninsula Leader |publisher=Mornington-peninsula-leader.whereilive.com.au |date= |access-date=17 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301221904/http://mornington-peninsula-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/stormclouds-over-martha-cove/ |archive-date=1 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Tatman |first=Christian |url=http://mornington-peninsula-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/martha-cove-investors-feel-the-heat/ |title=Martha Cove investors feel the heat - Business - News - Mornington Peninsula Leader |publisher=Mornington-peninsula-leader.whereilive.com.au |date= |access-date=17 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720165644/http://mornington-peninsula-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/martha-cove-investors-feel-the-heat/ |archive-date=20 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Hidden Harbour Marina|url=http://core-projects.com.au/projects/martha-cove-safety-beach-2-2/|publisher= Core Projects|year=2014|accessdate=22 October 2015|quote=After much dedication, we converted Martha Cove from a floundering project into a raging success.}}</ref>
Golfers play at the Mount Martha Valley Golf Club on Country Club Drive,<ref name = "golf">{{Cite web | author= Golf Select | title = Mount Martha Valley | url = http://www.golfselect.com.au/armchair/courseView.aspx?course_id=302 | accessdate = 11 May 2009 }}</ref> or at the Safety Beach Golf Course nearby.<ref name = "golf2">{{Cite web | author= Golf Select | title = Safety Beach | url = http://www.golfselect.com.au/armchair/courseView.aspx?course_id=1733 | accessdate = 11 May 2009 }}</ref>
There used to be an abattoir nearby to slaughter local farm animals. Blood and offal from the abattoir operations were dumped into the Sheepwash and Dunns Creeks, and carried into Dromana Bay at Safety Beach. That attracted sharks and led to people calling Safety Beach “Shark Bay” for some years. Eventually, the state Health Department ordered the abattoir to clean up its operations and Safety Beach retains the name given to it by John Aitken in 1836.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patterson |first=G |date=2013 |title=Coastal Guide to nature and history Port Phillip Bay |url=https://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Activities/Parks-Reserves/Safety-Beach-Bay-Trail/Pillar-2-Safety-beach-bay-trail }}</ref>
==Beach activities==
The area has a calm, sandy bay and a swimming beach which is popular for boating. The foreshore reserve has an attractive children's playground and BBQ areas with shading. Safety Beach Sailing Club was established in 1967. Safety Beach Sailing Club has hosted many State and National titles and SBSC sailors are recognised by the sailing community for their excellence in sailing with success at regattas and at State, National and International level.<ref>{{cite web|title=Safety Beach Sailing Club|url=http://safetybeachsailingclub.com.au/|publisher=Safety Beach Sailing Club|year= 2012|accessdate=6 November 2015}}</ref>
==History==
Many believe Safety Beach to originally have been named 'Shark Bay', however this isn't true. No official maps ever recorded the name "Shark Bay"; the nickname was used only informally for a period after blood and offal from a nearby abattoir was discharged into local creeks, attracting large amounts of sharks into Domana Bay.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pillar 2 - Safety beach bay trail |url=https://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Activities/Parks-Reserves/Safety-Beach-Bay-Trail/Pillar-2-Safety-beach-bay-trail |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=www.mornpen.vic.gov.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> The area of port Phillip bay is called Dromana Bay and the first domestic subdivision around 1912 was called Dromana estate and was the blocks of land off Marine Drive and Dromana Parade from Pt Nepean road to around Dunns creek. Safety Beach gets its name from a journal entry of a trading vessel that run aground in storm and they were able to off load the livestock safely.<ref name=discovermorningtonpeninsula>{{Cite web | title = Safety Beach and Hidden Harbour | url = http://www.discovermorningtonpeninsula.com.au/towns/safety-beach.php }} </ref> In 1841, Hugh Jamieson purchased {{convert|5120|acre|ha}}, or eight square miles, of land from the Crown for £1 an acre under the terms of the short-lived Special Survey regulations.<ref name=gazette_18410608>{{Cite journal | title = Selections of Special Surveys | author = Colonial Secretaries Office, Sydney | journal = New South Wales Government Gazette | issue = 45 | date = 8 June 1841 | pages = 784–785 | url = http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/view.cgi?year=1841&class=general&page_num=784&state=N&classNum=G45&searchCode=2060279 | accessdate = 19 September 2010 }} </ref>
The purchase included all of the present suburb of Safety Beach . The area is known as Jamieson's Special Survey in cadastral surveys. The survey extended east as far as Bulldog Creek Rd. Henry Dunn had leased the Survey from 1846 until 1851 and was succeeded by tenants such as the Griffith, Eaton, Peatey, McLear, Clydesdale, Wilson, Cottier and Gibson families, which were involved with the History of Dromana. Edward Louis Tassell leased the northern {{convert|1000|acre|km2}} for some time near the creek that is named after him.
Big Clarke William John Turner Clarke later owned the survey, and sold the northern 1000 or so acres to John Vans Agnew Bruce. Maria Stenniken, who married Godfrey Burdett Wilson, used to work at Bruce's house as a servant during the summer. At the eastern end of the Survey, many of the pioneers worked at goldmining for Bernard Eaton. (Sources: A Dreamtime of Dromana, Lime Land Leisure, Rate records, 1888 Post office directory.)
Safety Beach Post Office opened on 1 October 1953 and closed in 1974.<ref name = "a">{{Cite web | last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 11 April 2008 }}</ref>
==Notable people== * George Calombaris<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.morningtonpeninsulamagazine.com.au/people-places/2017/4/6/calombaris-sets-sail-to-the-peninsula-by-liz-rogers|title=Calombaris sets sail to the Peninsula by Liz Rogers|website=Mornington Peninsula Magazine|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-01-22}}</ref>
==See also== * Shire of Flinders – Safety Beach was previously within this former local government area.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Shire of Mornington Peninsula suburbs}}
Category:Suburbs of Melbourne Category:Suburbs of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula Category:Beaches of Victoria (state)