Fairhaven, Victoria
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox Australian place | type = other
| name = Fairhaven
| city =
| state = vic
| image = File:Fairhaven clubhouse.jpg
| caption = The Fairhaven clubhouse, 2014
| use_lga_map = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|38|27|22|S|144|05|09|E|display=inline,title}}
| lga = Surf Coast Shire
| postcode = 3231
| pop =
| pop_year =
| pop_footnotes =
| area =
| dist1 = 43
| dir1 = SW
| location1= Geelong
| dist2 = 106
| dir2 = SW
| location2 = Melbourne
| fedgov = Wannon
| stategov = Polwarth
| near-nw = Aireys Inlet
| near-n = Aireys Inlet
| near-ne = Aireys Inlet
| near-w = Moggs Creek
| near-e = Aireys Inlet
| near-sw = Bass Strait
| near-s = Bass Strait
| near-se = Bass Strait
}}
Fairhaven is a town in the Surf Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia.{{cite VICNAMES|101133|Fairhaven|access-date=20 June 2014}} In the 2021 census, Fairhaven had a population of 390 people.{{Census 2011 AUS|id=SSC20481|name=Fairhaven (SSC)|access-date=11 June 2014|quick=on}}
The town is a popular holiday destination, with many homes being used for that purpose. It adjoins Fairhaven Beach, which at 6 km long is the longest beach on the Great Ocean Road. The town is separated from adjoining Aireys Inlet by the Painkalac Creek, and development in recent years has seen Fairhaven become increasingly joined to the Aireys Inlet township.{{cite web|url=http://www.greatoceanroad.com/towns/158-fairhaven |title=Fairhaven |publisher=greatoceanroad.com |access-date=20 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714222012/http://www.greatoceanroad.com/towns/158-fairhaven |archive-date=14 July 2014 |df= }}
Fairhaven Beach is a popular surfing destination, and the Fairhaven Surf Lifesaving Club, which was founded in 1957, has been described as Fairhaven's "social centre".{{cite web|url=http://www.lifesavingvictoria.com.au/www/html/258-fairhaven-surf-life-saving-club.asp?intSiteID=1 |title=Fairhaven Surf Lifesaving Club |publisher=Lifesaving Victoria |access-date=20 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301013005/http://www.lifesavingvictoria.com.au/www/html/258-fairhaven-surf-life-saving-club.asp?intSiteID=1 |archive-date=1 March 2014 |df= }}{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/travel/holiday-type/weekends-away/weekend-away-fairhaven-20131206-2yw3b.html | title=Weekend Away: Fairhaven | work=Sydney Morning Herald | date=7 December 2013 | access-date=20 June 2014 | author=Dubecki, Larissa}} The club operated out of a volunteer-built clubhouse from 1960 until 2012, when the building was demolished to allow for the construction of a new modern one. Numerous delays saw the club operating out of shipping containers for more than a year, but a new clubhouse finally opened in December 2013.{{cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/fairhavens-new-surf-life-saving-clubhouse-to-the-rescue-after-years-of-troubled-waters-20131227-2zzv5.html | title=Fairhaven's new surf life saving clubhouse to the rescue after years of troubled waters | work=The Age | date=28 December 2013 | access-date=20 June 2014 | author=Schelle, Caroline}}
The locality was mentioned in the 1991 Hollywood blockbuster “Point Break” during the final portion of the movie on a radio weather warning for a cyclone whose eye was about to cross over the locality during the famed 50 year storm. In reality the area is around 1500 kilometres south of the zone in which a cyclone can form.
A local landmark is the Pole House, situated on a concrete column 40 metres above Fairhaven Beach. The original house, built in 1978, was demolished in 2013 after the owners thwarted a bid to list the building on the Victorian Heritage Register. In 2013–14, a house was rebuilt on the existing pole, to a modern design along similar lines. Better Homes and Gardens filmed a segment there for the opening of the replacement house in early 2014.{{cite news | url=http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/renovated-fairhaven-pole-house-revealed/story-fnjuhxh0-1226818777976 | title=Renovated Fairhaven pole house revealed | work=Geelong Advertiser | date=6 February 2014 | access-date=20 June 2014}}{{cite web | url=http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=38068#.U6QxTpSk0u8 | title=Fairhaven Pole House | publisher=Only Melbourne | access-date=20 June 2014}}
The Fairhaven area was badly damaged in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983.{{cite book | url=http://www.surfcoast.vic.gov.au/files/73b2b206-2f1b-4eae-bff5-a1a1010d789e/FarmlandForestSurfEnvironmental_History_2009.pdf | title=Farmland, Forest & Surf: Environmental History of Surf Coast Shire | publisher=Surf Coast Shire | author=Kellaway, Carlotta | pages=76 | access-date=20 June 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714183417/http://www.surfcoast.vic.gov.au/files/73b2b206-2f1b-4eae-bff5-a1a1010d789e/FarmlandForestSurfEnvironmental_History_2009.pdf | archive-date=14 July 2014 | url-status=dead }}