Name: Great Ocean Ecolodge
Address: 635 Lighthouse Road, Cape Otway, Cape Otway, Cape Otway, 3233, Australia
Rating: 10

24-hour reception

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Great Ocean Ecolodge

Cape Otway

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

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10-beds

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bay-view

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canal-view

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harbour-view

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lake-view

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annex

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

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safe

mini-bar

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kitchen

This is not 5 star luxury so I don’t want to mislead anyone but it’s a genuine 5🌟 experience. 

Firstly let’s talk wildlife. 6 koalas within 30m of the lodge, a baby a belligerent male who was going for a walk when we found him, and really close up!! 

So many kangaroos it was hilarious, tons of young joeys in and out of pouches, a bit of a box on and a bit of x rated kangaroo sex. The mob is about 60 strong and often sit right outside the lounge window. 

Lots of birds probably 40 species in total seen including a wedgetail eagle. 

There are lots of research projects going on and you will all love the sugar gliders the potoroos and for us the quolls, both eastern and tiger!

So let’s talk about the accommodation. It’s rustic, it’s antique, we really loved it but it’s not the Intercontinental. The beds are comfortable the bathrooms large the lounge and dining nice. 

Staff. They are on a winner here. Steve and Caroline look after the lodge. They are fantastic! Caroline looks after the cooking and she is an amazing cook!!! Steve was so helpful with all our questions. Caroline also rears orphaned animals in her spare time! 

Emma was our guide, she is a fountain of knowledge, has an amazing rapport with animals and owner of Pepper the koala finding wonder dog!! She can charm quolls, potoroos and red neck wallabies. (She is not as keen on tiger snakes which I think are beautiful). 

Lastly Jack the uni intern who is a fount of knowledge on all the animals ( ask him about sugar gliders!) was generous with his time, great company and Karen and I wish him well on his career!

It’s a not for profit so spend big!! The wines are good value as are the dinners!!

Btw nearby is the Otway lighthouse the amazing Great Ocean Walk and beautiful scenery. 



Better than I believed possible!!

As most reviewers have noted, the welcome is warm and the hospitality generous. Breakfast is continental-style, with warm croissants and home-made muesli and jams. Dinners were consistently good, simple and wholesome and always with a choice of main course. The rooms are comfortable but a little spartan, with no wardrobe, and it can get chilly at night. The wi-fi annoyingly needs a new code every four hours, and the signal is unreliable beyond the lounge.
At 4pm every day there's tea, coffee and home-made cake served in the lounge as a prelude to a tour of the property's wildlife, enthusiastically led by Emma and her koala-spotting dog Pepper. The whole team's enthusiasm for the wildlife, and the fact that you're pretty much guaranteed to see kangaroos, koalas, a wallaby or two, a quoll, some kookaburras, poteroos and sugar gliders make this an essential stop on your Great Ocean Road itinerary

If you want wildlife, this is the place

Room was clean and tidy, basic but should be expected in that environment.  The staff are all friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating and passionate of the animals, their habitat and well being and the environment.  We had interesting and informative tours, both day and evening and saw loads of kangaroos that came right up to the lodge, some koalas, a quoll, honey gliders and potaroos to name but a few.  Emma an ecologist was very knowledgeable in her subject and her dog was an expert 'koala sniffer' sitting under trees where she knew them to be! The food there was plentiful and delicious with a choice of evening meal. There are no TV's or air conditioning and wifi can only be accessed in the lounge but that adds to the appeal. A special thank you to Rose who looked after us well and always had time for a chat!  We really enjoyed our couple of days there and would thoroughly recommend it.

Eco Friendly Heaven

We recently stayed and didn’t appreciate the Australian trend for voile like curtains - you need an eye mask! Also avoid the room called ‘Nest’ if there are other guests staying in the room above. You can hear EVERY step and loo flush!
That said, if you are curious about Australian animals,  the staff are charming, helpful and very enthusiastic about the wildlife and their conservation programmes. 



Not for light sleepers!

Could only get one night here, but everything lined up and we saw all we could..
Rooms are good, nice size and well appointed.
The lounge is a nice meeting place for all residents, tea and a fantastic apple cake on offer our day - Emma very skilled.
Then the tour round, won’t say how but found 3 Koalas and learnt so much about how they live etc, all great. Then close enough to a mob of kangaroos who seemed as interested in us as we were of them, before we visited the Quoll, a relation of the Tas Devil, which again was great.
Further animal delights late in to the evening with the Sugar Gliders, just lovely...
Food, main meal in the evening was varied and great. See why it is included, as not much else around, and breakfast the next morning, simple and filling to set us up for the day.
Thanks all for a great experience.

Just the best

My son & I had the BEST stay here! The Lodge is well located near the main attractions such as the 12 Apostles, but feels very secluded and quiet. Honestly I felt like I was on Safari. There are lots of wild kangaroos and koala that you can readily see throughout the day. We had both breakfast and dinner with them, and it was delicious. The Team are friendly and helpful. They have several wildlife tours daily around the property. The rooms are comfy & clean. I highly recommend this lodge if you are visiting this area!

Wonderful Experience!

A very special place for many reasons. First, the work they do, the awareness they bring to others and the opportunity to effect change. Secondly, the location. The property is purpose built, well designed and intelligently thought out. You must explore the property to truly appreciate the wonder of it. Also, the night sky is spectacular. Lastly (but not least) the staff. They are genuinely caring for the animals (guests too) and it all translates into a uniquely special experience. TIP: Try to stay at least 2 nights,

WOW - Wonderful Outdoor Wildlife

This was a slightly different pace after Melbourne. On arrival we had this most delicious and gooey homemade chocolate cake followed by the guided walk spotting koalas and kangaroos. In the morning there were kangaroos outside our room. Although not luxurious everything is of a very good standard and we paid extra for a deck - but the room wasn't the point of this stay. We had dinner for AUD 150 including wine. All in all we really enjoyed the experience - we were sad that we couldn't have stayed for 2 nights. Well worth it and such a great thing to do. Such nice people too.

Just so great

We had the pleasure of staying several nights at this beautiful lodge. I’ll start by saying the staff is fantastic. The building is warm and homey and you feel so welcome. Caroline cooked us amazing dinners each night, served by the roaring fire and Stephan made perfect coffees and cheerily served breakfasts in the mornings. BOTH were full of information and answered hundreds of (probably very common) questions with smiles. Our beds were comfy and the family style dining room was elegant. ( I’m a sucker for a tablecloth, wine and a candelabra ) there are cozy sitting areas with couches and chairs and a nice library.  Emma was the animal tour guide in the evenings. She was pleasant and informative. Each morning there were dozens of cute and lively kangaroos in the back and we loved how they designed every other window in the bedroom so as to take great photos. (Thoughtful) we walked all around the property and got pretty close to them too. 
Solar power, recycled rain water,and a puppy or two. 
It was MAGICAL.   Treat yourself.

What a fantastic place

We will never forget our stay at the Great Ocean Ecolodge! We loved how quiet, natural and rural it was while also opening our eyes to so much that is iconic Australia! Koalas in the trees in the front yard and kangaroos in the back - I could have watched them all day...just fascinating! Night walk to see the sugar gliders was a fun surprise as was the native spotted quoll. The food was amazing - fresh, delicious and creative! And the staff both friendly and knowledgeable - I wish we could go back and stay longer, and I'm so happy places like this, dedicated to conservation, exist in this busy world!

Great Ocean Ecolodge

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