Frankston is a vibrant beachside suburb ideally situated between Melbourne’s CBD and the Mornington Peninsula.

Located 40km southeast of the city, Frankston is known as the “gateway to the Mornington Peninsula” and is popular with people wanting an affordable beach lifestyle not far from the CBD. It is bordered by Seaford, Langwarrin and Mt Eliza.

The suburb’s biggest attractions centre around local waterways including Frankston Beach, which stretches 2.5km from the Olivers Hill Boat Ramp to the Frankston Pier. The 500m pier has been a local landmark since 1857, while the Frankston Life Saving Club, founded in 1923, remains a pillar of the community.

Kananook Creek also merges with the bay at Frankston and is accessible by a pedestrian bridge that was erected at the site in 2003. The waterway begins at Carrum and runs for 7.5km to Frankston, framed by native bushlands.

The Frankston foreshore precinct and the Bay Trail and Sweetwater Creek walking tracks are also frequented by locals and visitors.

The town centre has many restaurants with cuisines from Italian to Asian and Indian, as well as fresh seafood on offer.

The Bayside Shopping Centre features stores such as Myer, Kmart, JB HI-FI, Coles, Woolworths and Aldi. A Strike Bowling alley, Hoyts cinema, parks, botanical gardens and numerous sporting facilities can also be enjoyed in Frankston.

The suburb is home to a range of top public and private schools, including Woodleigh School, Frankston High School and Bayside Christian College. Monash University’s Peninsula Campus is also situated in the suburb, as is a branch of Chisholm TAFE, which provides locals with an opportunity to pursue further studies closer to home.

At the 2016 Census, there were 36,000 residents in Frankston. In the 12 months to March 2022, a typical house in the suburb cost $775,000, according to data from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV). A unit was priced at about $544,750 in that same period.

Barry Plant Frankston director Thomas Larkin said the suburb offered great “value for money” and was “close to everything”.

“You can still buy a really nice house - a renovated, four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 600sq m - for less than $1 million,” Mr Larkin said.