St Kilda Beach is Melbourne's most popular urban beach, a long sandy foreshore on Port Phillip Bay about five kilometres from the CBD. The beach runs for around a kilometre from the breakwater at St Kilda Pier to the southern end of the esplanade, backed by a row of palm trees and the wide promenade of the Esplanade. Swimming is possible but the bay waters are calm and sometimes murky — most visitors come for the atmosphere and the walk rather than serious beach use.
The St Kilda Pier, jutting out into the bay, is the most reliable spot in Melbourne to see little (fairy) penguins returning to their nests at dusk. The small penguin colony lives under the pier's breakwater rocks, and on most evenings from spring to autumn you can watch them waddling in from the water at last light — keep your distance and do not use flash photography. The Sunday Esplanade Market, running along the foreshore path, is a popular arts and craft market that has operated for decades and draws thousands of visitors each weekend.