Santa gets sandy on the Bellarine

SANTA has left the North Pole behind and is fully embracing his time in between the palm trees and surfboards on the Bellarine.

The big man in the red suit has posed for photos with more than 130 local families over the past two weekends as part of the Sandy

Santa initiative.

Sandy Santa gives locals and travellers alike the opportunity to get “a more Australian” Christmas photo away from the generic shopping centre.

Co-founder Reife Braun said demand had far exceeded expectations so far.

“We’ve been lapping up the opportunity to bring festivities back to the beach.

“We’ve had over 130 already and there’s still another 200 families set to come on down and get their pictures done in the next few weeks.

“It’s been awesome. Seeing all the smiles and families hanging out together has brought a lot of joy.”

Sandy Santa will continue on Friday nights and Saturday mornings in the lead up to Christmas.

The meeting spot is located at the first beach carpark on the Ocean Grove side of the Barwon Heads bridge.

Bookings are still available by heading to sandysanta.square.site