Surf Beach flood map & planning overlays
Surf Beach sits on 709 m² lots, 81.1% bushfire, 11% flood.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Surf Beach
(Bass Coast, VIC) - 2.91 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
2.91 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Surf Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Surf Beach
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 24 Oct 2026
typical observed square 0 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 9,000 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Surf Beach at a glance
How Surf Beach is zoned
Selling in Surf Beach? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 2.91 km², Surf Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 11% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 81% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 709 m² across 939 parcels.
Who lives in Surf Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Surf Beach suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 1007, and decile 6 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Surf Beach's 670 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Phillip Island, the wider ABS statistical area containing Surf Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Surf Beach itself.
7,361 in 2001 to 14,795 in 2025, up 101%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Surf Beach data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Zoning | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 24 October 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Surf Beach address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 59% of Surf Beach. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Surf Beach lot.
Surf Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Surf Beach flood-prone?
About 11% of Surf Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 15%.
Is Surf Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 81% of Surf Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Bass Coast average of 93%.
Is Surf Beach under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 59% of Surf Beach, and over about 80% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 1,000 ft, with an average of 2,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 0 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Surf Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Surf Beach is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes General Residential Zone (GRZ1) and Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).
Does Surf Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Surf Beach.
What is the typical lot size in Surf Beach?
Across 939 surveyed parcels in Surf Beach, the median lot size is about 709 m². There are also 270 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Surf Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Surf Beach itself. The suburb is served by 2 bus stops.
What is the population of Surf Beach?
At the 2021 Census Surf Beach had 670 usual residents, with a median age of 46 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Phillip Island statistical area, which contains Surf Beach, went from 7,361 people in 2001 to 14,795 in 2025, up 101%.
Is Surf Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Surf Beach scores 1007 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Surf Beach?
Median household income in Surf Beach was $1,414 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,286 for the typical suburb in Bass Coast. Median rent was $316 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,433 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunderland Bay | 1.6 km | <1% | 87% |
| Sunset Strip | 2.5 km | Not mapped | 47% |
| Smiths Beach | 3.0 km | 2% | 71% |
| Rhyll | 3.4 km | 14% | 94% |
| Newhaven | 3.8 km | 14% | 94% |
| Churchill Island | 4.3 km | 21% | 90% |
| Wimbledon Heights | 5.7 km | Not mapped | 39% |
| Cape Woolamai | 6.1 km | 4% | 88% |
| Silverleaves | 6.2 km | 94% | 82% |
| Cowes | 6.3 km | 1% | 68% |