Whites Beach

Whites Beach is the beautiful stretch of sand between Fishermans Beach and Point Impossible named after Andrew White.
White, an Englishman from Warwickshire, came to Australia in 1852 and took up land all around Torquay.
His home was at Stretton Park, Connewarre, and White added to his property whenever he could and he eventually owned much of the land surrounding Torquay. Upon his death, this land passed to his son Alfred George White. Both men were very civic minded. Andrew served for many years as a local councillor, and Alfred notably donated the land for a racetrack down by Spring Creek.
In the early years of the 20th century, the White family sold a paddock on the west side of Spring Creek to the Torquay Golf Club so they could build an 18-hole golf course.
Whites is one of the Surf Coast Shire’s designated off-lead beaches and is a very popular spot with the dog-walking crowd.
The early mornings and weekends are the busiest times with many owners and their pets strolling along this beach joining a town that has the highest dog ownership in Victoria.
It is also known for its optional clothing classification, which has created some interesting stories in itself.
The favoured historic images of Whites Beach have been of the Light Horse Brigade when they were training there during World War II.
The pictures of soldiers and horse in the dunes are quite spectacular.
The light horsemen trained here for a three month period from late 1939 till March 1940 and luckily they were here when the bushfires came through in 1940 and they were able to brush up on their skills on fighting fires. The Light Horsemen fought to save the Palace Hotel, when many houses in that part of town were destroyed.