Ocean Beach is a long stretch of beach running north of Macquarie Heads and Hells Gates on the West Coast of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. It is close to Strahan and parallel to the

Strahan Airport Strahan Airport is an airport located west of Strahan, Tasmania, Australia. It is the main airport for the West Coast of Tasmania, and is owned and maintained by the West Coast Council. The need for an airport in the area was suggested in the ...

runway. It extends as far north as

Trial Harbour Trial Harbour is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of West Coast Council, West Coast in the North-west and west LGA Region, North-west and west LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about south-west of the town of Zeehan, Tas ...

and the coast immediately west of

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater Zeehan a ...

. Exposed to the ocean with no landmass at this longitude between it and South America, this beach can be exposed to

extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe weather, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weat ...

conditions. In serious weather it can have large extended lines of breakers, and a swell at the Cape Sorell Waverider Buoy at up to 20+ metres. In the 1940s the beach area was utilised by local gliding and soaring club members Whale stranding frequently occurs along this stretch of the West Coast—and can be difficult to remedy due to the isolated location and low population numbers to assist in whale rescue. It was also the name of a stopping place on the

Strahan–Zeehan Railway The Strahan–Zeehan Railway, also known as the "Government Railway", was a railway from Strahan to Zeehan on the west coast of Tasmania. It linked two private railways: the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company railway line (now known as the ...

which was on a part of the railway line where shifting sand dunes often affected the track.

References

Bibliography

* * Beaches of Tasmania Western Tasmania Coastline of Tasmania {{Tasmania-geo-stub