Harbourside Cafe

Harbourside Cafe sits right on the Western Port Marina at 17-21 Skinner Street in Hastings, trading 7am to 3pm every day of the week. The water is the whole proposition: the undercover outdoor deck looks straight over the boats, and the kitchen runs breakfast through to seafood-leaning lunches like the calamari salad and fish and chips.

The dog setup

Dogs join you on the covered outdoor deck, which keeps the marina view without the wind off the bay, and heaters stretch the season into the cooler months. Staff are notably welcoming: puppaccinos are a standing offer and dogs with good manners have been known to score bacon. Water bowls usually appear outside, though bringing your own removes the doubt. The deck is flat and easy to reach from the car park and marina walkways.

The vibe

It leans casual marina-cafe rather than destination dining: acai bowls and matcha lattes for the morning crew, generous breakfast plates, and beer and wine for anyone settling in. Weekends revolve around the boating crowd, so weekday mornings are the calm window for a dog table. Early risers get the best of it regardless, with the sun coming up over the berths.

Getting there and parking

Free street parking runs along Skinner Street and around the marina precinct, with easy access off the main road into the Hastings waterfront. Hastings sits on Western Port Bay, a bit over an hour from Melbourne.

Close by with the dogs

Pair the deck with the signed off-leash area in Hastings Foreshore Reserve, a grassed zone where dogs can run under effective control, and keep the boardwalk and pier on-lead. Cypress Samuel Reserve's fenced dog park covers secure off-lead time, and Steamin Mugs on High Street is the other dog-friendly cafe in town.

More options are on the Victoria dog friendly cafes guide and the Hastings destination page.

Pepsi: order the puppaccino on arrival, not at the end. A dog that is busy licking a foam cup on the deck is a dog that ignores every gull and pram that walks past.