Bells Beach
Bells Beach | |||||||||||||
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Bells Beach hosting the Rip Curl Pro 2019 | |||||||||||||
Bells Beach | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 38°22′S 144°17′E / 38.367°S 144.283°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
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| • State electorates | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Elevation | 12 m (39 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 130 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 3228 | ||||||||||||
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Bells Beach is a locality in Surf Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia. It is a popular surf beach, located 100 km (62 mi) south-west of Melbourne, on the Great Ocean Road near the towns of Torquay and Jan Juc.
It is named after William Bell, a Geelong businessman and grazier, who owned much of the property there from the 1840s. Many records wrongly accredit the location's name to John Calvert Bell of the family that took up a pastoral run there much later in 1905 and built the 'Addiscot' homestead. John Calvert Bell was, before that time, a resident at Calder Park, Mount Duneed, and not related to William Bell of Bells Beach. The beach and coastal reserve are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
In the 2016 Census, there were 130 people in Bells Beach, 88.7% of whom were born in Australia and 94.5% of whom spoke only English at home.