Location
Barwon Heads is a seaside town at the mouth of the Barwon River, 18km south-east of Geelong city.

Description
The streets of Barwon Heads are bordered by seaside grasses and ti-tree. Some roads are still unsealed. The town is smaller than Ocean Grove and Torquay and still retains an older charm. The town area is low-lying, protected by a levee bank from flooding. Beaches along the river are safe and popular swimming spots. On the ocean beach, high hummocks shelter one of Australia's best links golf courses. Nearby 13th Beach is loved by surfers. One main shopping street and a large hotel provide for locals and the summer influx. The main street ends near Barwon Heads Village Park with facilities for most sports. The wind and water-swept river mouth make Barwon Heads a great place for watersports of all descriptions. Barwon Heads is just 30 minutes from Geelong.

History
In 1835, a surveyor named the river after hearing the Aboriginal word for the river. Local archaeologist,Mrs Louis Lane, writes that the Wathaurong word for the river was 'Barra Warre N Yallok' which meant, in translation, 'the great river which flows from the uplands (or Otways) to the sea'. The Barwon marked the south-west boundary of the lands of the Bengalat Clan of the Wathaurong people, which included most of the Bellarine Peninsula east of Moolap.

The other side of the Barwon and west to Point Danger was owned by the Mon Mart Clan. Settlement at the mouth of the river began on the Ocean Grove side in 1854, but settlement on the western side, at Barwon Heads, was delayed until 1875.

The lava that once flowed from Mount Moriac into the sea at Barwon Heads formed reefs that wrecked 12 ships between 1853 and 1890. In its early years, Barwon Heads was a boating, fishing and waterfowl hunting destination. Row boats and then motor ferries carried people to and from Ocean Grove and the highway. A fishing fleet ran the tides from the 1880s and by the early 1920s, the township had a hotel, boarding houses and a golf links.

The river was bridged in 1927 and Barwon Heads, like Ocean Grove before it, became a holiday destination for the people of Geelong. Camping facilities on the river's shore have attracted holiday-makers for more than 100 years.