Cape Otway Lighthouse, Historical lighthouse in Great Otway National Park, Australia

Cape Otway Lighthouse is a white cylindrical tower built of stone quarried at the Parker River, standing at the western exit of Bass Strait. Its lower shaft has three small dark windows; the top holds a glass lantern room with a red-railed gallery balcony and a white domed roof with a weather vane. A straight concrete path with white railings leads to it across a grassy rise.

Construction of the stone tower began in 1846 using stone quarried at the Parker River, and the light was first lit in 1848 with a first-order Fresnel lens. It was decommissioned in January 1994 after being the longest continuously operating light on mainland Australia. A telegraph station linked Cape Otway to Launceston in 1859, and the Americans built a radar bunker on the cape in 1942.

The lightstation includes a telegraph station added in 1859, when a submarine cable linked Cape Otway to Launceston and connected Tasmania to the mainland. The first keeper was suspended after three months, while his successor served 30 years; the successor's son George Ford rode to Camperdown to fetch help after the Loch Ard sank in 1878. A plaque at the tower base marks Frederick Valentich's last radio contact on 21 October 1978.

Access is via the Great Ocean Road with parking and information centers available on-site. Bring warm clothing as this headland is windswept and the ocean conditions can look rough most of the year.

The former keeper's cottage has been converted into lodging for walkers tackling the Great Ocean Walk or exploring the park on foot over several days. This allows guests to sleep in the very spaces where lighthouse keepers once lived and worked for generations.