Beach wheelchair accessible dining

Accessible Pier St Portarlington is positioned where you would expect it to be. Right at the end of the Portarlington Pier. Day-trippers disembarking from Port Phillip Ferries are greeted by Pier St Portarlington’s casual, comfortable seaside blue and white façade.

I am a repeat visitor to Pier St Portarlington as the food, the staff and the physical features make it a truly delicious inclusive dining venue.

WEBSITE | BOOKING

https://www.pierstreet.com.au/new-page

WHAT WORKS:

• The menu is easy to navigate to

• Online booking includes adding notes

WHAT DOESN'T WORK :

No mention of accessibility at all – as Pier St is very easy to enter and move around inside this information would help a lot of people

ACCESS TO VENUE | PARKING:

There are a proportionately higher than average availability of accessible car parks RIGHT OUT THE FRONT ! Amazing and wonderful.

WHAT’S INSIDE:

WHAT WORKS:

A smooth pebblecrete path takes us to the step-free double door entrance. This single level building has an expansive concrete floor and plenty of room to negotiate a wheelchair around the tables.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK AS WELL:

• No internal accessible toilet. The closest accessible toilet is only a few metres outside in a public toilet block. But there is an improvement coming as a Changing Places facility looks like it might be coming to Portarlington Main Beach after state government funding receipt. If you haven't heard of this fabulous initiative have a read of my blog here on changing places facilities here.

• Can get a little noisy at times.

WHAT'S AROUND:

Pier St Café Portarlington is a very comfortable roll stroll along flat part on the foreshore to Point Richards. The newly renovated jetty is lovely to wander along as well.

IMPORTANT FOOTNOTE:

I look at the ways in which businesses present an overall inclusive experience for their patrons. While I focus on mobility access I hope to get ideas from you and others to add observations relating to other disabilities. I take a comprehensive look at everything from initial website experience to staff attitudes. I do not comment on food (except sometimes if it’s super fab I might not be able to help myself) as you can have the joy of making up your own mind on that.

Happy accessible living,