Work to start on $200m hot springs at 12 Apostles near Port Campbell

The development - the biggest of its kind in Australia, includes 150 eco-pods, a restaurant, diner, cafe and amphitheatre.

It will create 100 jobs during construction and hundreds more when it opens in late 2024.

Touted as "the largest bathing and spa operation in Australia", planning for the project has been in the works for years but COVID-19 put a handbrake on the start of construction.

The delay has also driven up the cost of the project which when complete could support up to 400 jobs by its third year of operation, those behind the development say.

It will be built on a 78 hectare site on Booringa Road about 1.2 kilometres from the Twelve Apostles Visitor Information Centre which is also earmarked for major upgrade.

The hot springs will source water from the Paaratte formation 930 metres below the ground with initial testing showing a temperature of between 42 and 44 degrees.

The project has also secured Victoria's first EPA permit to treat their own sewerage and use the water to irrigate the site in addition to using the bore to produce their own potable water.

Rainwater will also be used to irrigate a kitchen garden that would supply the onsite restaurants.

The eco-pods will include north facing courtyards that are out of the wind and set among 120,000 new trees that will be planted as part of a plan to revegetate the site.

Strategic project director Guy Obeid said proponents of the proposal were ready to look for development partners two years ago but were forced to delay the process in March 2020, and then again in June 2021.

He said while the pandemic had delayed the project's start by more than two years and driven up the cost, "on the flip side the appetite for domestic tourism has increased".

Mr Obeid said he had been working with Don Musto on the project for some time, but Mark Pomeroy and Peter Quattro have recently come onboard.

"Their expertise is critical to helping us with the work needed to get this going," Mr Obeid said.

"I must admit the COVID delays have been a drag, but we're so excited about this project that it's not difficult to get re-motivated.

"We love the rugged and unspoilt nature of the region however we see that the current visitation to the 12 Apostles is mainly day trippers which leaves very little money in the region.

"The region has much more to offer than what you can get from a fleeting visit."

Mr Obeid said the project would bring in more overnight visitors who would spend more time and money in the region.

"Hot spring bathing is counter seasonal, look at places like Blue Lagoon in Iceland for example, so the project should help increase visits to the region during winter months which I think is a great benefit," he said.

Corangamite mayor Ruth Gstrein, who was on the council when the project was approved in 2017, said it was terrific work was finally starting.

"Having top accommodation along the Great Ocean Road is desperately needed," she said.

"People are looking for that high-end accommodation. It's great to see it happening."

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager Liz Price said it was exciting because they do need something that would encourage more people to stay overnight, to stay longer in the region and travel further.

"We are actually big supporters of this development. It is quite in keeping with whom we are trying to target," she said.

She said it was going to be a number of years before international tourism returned in any great numbers, but projects like this were critical for the region's long-term viability.

"Australians love to go to something new and see something different," she said.

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