As Melburnians braced for wild weather on Tuesday, six students and two teachers from Brauer Secondary College in Warrnambool at the camp in Anglesea took to the water in kayaks.

Swept from their small boats soon after they set out, they then spent almost an hour in the heaving waters of Bass Strait, a kilometre off shore.

Transport Safety Victoria is now investigating the incident, which took place on a day with a severe weather warning.

The group was rescued by off-duty lifeguards, who noticed that the kayaks had been swept out to sea.

TSV's's director of maritime safety, Peter Corcoran, said he had "serious concerns" about the actions of those involved.

"Despite the weather warnings for this week, we're dismayed to see people continuing to put themselves and others at risk," he said.

"It is difficult to understand how any boater would consider the severe weather warnings in place to represent safe boating conditions."

Brauer Secondary College principal Jane Boyle said the lifesavers had only rescued two students.

"We chose to hold this activity at Anglesea front beach because lifesavers were present," she said.

"This incident occurred early in the morning, well before [the bad] weather set in.

"Our staff monitored weather reports throughout the morning to ensure students were nowhere near the water by the time the weather changed," she said.

Weather data from the Bureau of Meteorology shows that at nearby Aireys Inlet, the wind was gusting at 89km/h at 6.30am on Tuesday and peaked at 109km/h at 9.30am.

Ms Boyle thanked lifesavers at Anglesea Surf Lifesaving Club and said the students were "fine" and had returned to Warrnambool.

An Education Department spokesman said schools had to conduct a risk assessment before every excursion.

"We will be working with Transport Safety Victoria to facilitate its independent investigation and will take any necessary action as a result," he said.

The TSV investigation will look at the actions of Great Ocean Road Adventure Tours – the company that leased the kayaks– and the procedures followed by the school.

The agency will also hold talks with the Education Department to determine if there were any breaches of marine safety law.

Mr Corcoran said it was fortunate that the group was wearing lifejackets. Their kayaks were not recovered.

He said the incident was almost identical to another school camp mishap a decade ago.

In 2006, 16 year-nine students from Lara Secondary College were blown out to sea off Torquay while canoeing in very poor weather .

As in this week's incident, all the students were rescued safely, but Mr Corcoran said more needed to be done to ensure kayakers' safety across the state.

"We're taking this latest incident very seriously as there have been too many deaths and near-misses in recent years involving paddle craft," he said.

It's not the first time a school camp has run into trouble on beaches along the Great Ocean Road. In 2011, several Shelford Girls' Grammar students were rescued from rough surf on the nearby Bells Beach. Their teacher died while trying to save them from the dangerous swells.