Queenscliffe Maritime Museum

Escape into Queenscliff's fascinating past. The shipwrecks, the rescues, the lifeboat, and the Pilots who continue to bring ships safely through the Rip and into Port. You will experience this and more at the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum.

The museum has developed since the last Queenscliff lifeboat was offered to the Borough of Queenscliffe for care and display. A committee was formed at a public meeting on March 13 1980 to investigate how the lifeboat could be preserved. This led to the formation of the Queenscliffe Lifeboat Preservation Society Incorporated which oversaw the early stages of restoration of the vessel and the establishment of the Maritime museum which opened in 1986 to display the lifeboat. The Museum has since expanded to cover the maritime history of Queenscliff, Southern Port Phillip and the Bass Strait interface. In 1998 the name was changed to the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum to better reflect the ever expanding collection.

Over the ensuing years a boatshed has been built to house exhibits and provide workshop space. Artefacts continue to be added to the Collection, donated by individuals, families, collectors and companies.

Note: The two spellings of Queenscliffe are historically based:

'Queenscliff' refers to the town
'Queenscliffe' refers to the Borough which includes Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale.