St Kilda Pier

St Kilda Pier is a 300-metre concrete pier in Port Phillip Bay, joined to a 750-metre rubble-stone breakwater; the 2024 replacement was designed by Jackson Clements Burroughs with a curved end following the breakwater. The 1904 St Kilda Pavilion kiosk stands at the beach end, and the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron's 280-berth marina lies alongside.

First built in 1853 as a private timber jetty by the St Kilda Pier and Jetty Company, it was destroyed the same year and rebuilt by 1855 as a public pier. By the 1880s it had grown to 1,944 feet with stone groins, a beach-end shelter, a breakwater and an L-shaped extension for the St Kilda Yacht Club. Moorings for Port Phillip Bay excursion steamers were added in 1893, and the St Kilda Pavilion followed in 1904. The timber breakwater was replaced with rubble stone in 1955, and the timber pier gave way to concrete in the 1970s.

The pier's name comes from St Kilda, the Melbourne suburb it serves, and walking to the end and back is the established local routine. The 280-berth marina of the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron occupies the sheltered water beside it, and anglers have used the pier since the 19th century.

The pier is easily reached by public transport, with several tram and bus routes nearby. Parking is available but can be crowded on weekends, so walking or using public transit is often a better option.

A colony of little penguins returns to the nearby breakwater at dusk after spending the day at sea, offering visitors a rare chance to watch these small birds come ashore. Bringing a red-filtered light allows you to observe them without disrupting their rest.