A first-timer's guide to South West WA

Sacred lands, beautiful beaches, and rugged rock formations: everything is in WA’s South West.

The Noongar Boodjar People have called the South West home for thousands of years and their ancient pathways still twist and turn around these sacred lands, which remain ribboned with their songlines. Take the time to care for Boodja (Country) while watching the landscape unfold in the five vastly different sub regions: go birdwatching in a national park, sample wines at any one of the world-class cellar doors, surf waves that curl onto beaches gouged by time, and visit rugged rock formations that have long reigned over these lands. The South West includes the Margaret River Wine Region, Great Southern, Bunbury Geographe and the Southern Forests and Valleys. Here, get a taste of what the region has to offer.

Unique stays

Hidden Valley Forest Retreat

Each self-contained chalet at this secluded luxury retreat features a log fire and a private outdoor spa bath where you can look up at the rich, dark-velvet night sky scattered with stars. Wake to the light filtering through the ghostly grey bush.

Burnside Organic Farm

This cosy farm stay is all about immersing yourself in your surroundings and getting a feel for life on a working farm. Guests staying in the luxury bungalows, which have stone baths and a fireplace, will have access to the kitchen garden, walking tracks and wine tastings.

Latitude 35°5, Goode Beach

Luxury meets location at this private sanctuary which has commanding views across Frenchman Bay and Goode Beach.Take over the luxurious holiday home for your exclusive use and enjoy the amenity of a chef ’s kitchen, freestanding bathtub, 160-bottle cellar and soaring fireplace.

Room interior, Latitude 35 5, South West, Western Australia — Luxury meets location at this private sanctuary. (Image: Marco Kraus)

Five top spots

Boranup Forest

Listen to the ghostly trees groan and sigh, and the twitters and wails of birdsong in a karri forest where some of the trees tower so high (more than 60 metres) that their canopies can be blanketed in cloud.

Elephant Rocks

Visit Elephant Rocks in the late afternoon when the sun is setting on these giant granite boulders that resemble a herd of elephants lumbering out to sea. This spectacular rock formation is in the Great Southern region near Denmark.

Point Picquet

This striking beach only has a thin margin of sand that comes and goes with the ebb and flow of the tide. Head to this secluded spot during the migratory months of June through to November and you will have a front-row seat for whale watching.

Koombana Bay

Koombana Bay is a protected strip of sand in Bunbury where basalt rock is a defining aspect of the landscape, said to be part of a lava flow that dates back some 150 million years. The sheltered bay is a draw for swimmers and paddle boarders who are likely to have the Bunbury Geographe region on their bucket list as a place to see wild bottlenose dolphins.

Sugarloaf Rock

Sugarloaf Rock is a gigantic granite rock that juts out from the Indian Ocean along the Cape to Cape Track. Time your visit to coincide with the sun dissolving over the horizon and you will see the rock change from ochre to pink, then indigo.

South West, Western Australia — See the iconic Sugarloaf Rock. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

Where to eat

Liberte Albany

Located in Albany’s historic London Hotel, this buzzing, convivial Parisian-inspired bar serves up interesting fusion cocktails and a menu of Vietnamese dishes made with local produce, such as crispy chicken bao, and marron and pork banh xeo, which are perfect for sharing.

Yarri

Take a seat at the bar overlooking the kitchen at Yarri and you will get dinner and a show at this warm and inviting restaurant, where locals seem to sail in like it’s an extension of their living room. Located in Dunsborough, Yarri is all about ‘people, produce and place’ and supports sustainable farmers and growers.

Top things to do

Smiths Beach

Go for a surf or swim at Smiths Beach, an under-the-radar stretch of sand that is a top spot to catch a few curlers when there’s swell and a dreamy place to swim in crystalline seas when there’s not.

The Meelup Brook Trail

Pull on your hiking boots and head off along Meelup Beach on a 1.2-kilometre trail that is largely uphill until you reach a timber deck overlooking Meelup Brook, which bubbles along in autumn and winter. Stop at Meelup Farmhouse to enjoy a farm-to-table lunch.

Meelup Farmhouse, South West, Western Australia — Meet at Meelup Farmhouse for a farm-to-table feast.(Image: Tourism Western Australia)

Go free camping

You can free camp along the Blackwood River, in the Southern Forests and Valleys, at the Alexandra Bridge Camping Ground, 26 kilometres north-east of Augusta. The river wends its way from Wagin in the Wheatbelt all the way to Augusta and is known for its native water birds.

Discover the perfect road trip stopover between Perth and wine country.

Western Australia punches above its weight when it comes to coastal hot spots, but no other town or city has seen a tourism boom quite like Mandurah. Named Australia’s Top Tourism Town in 2023 , it’s the relaxed, beachside break you’ve been searching for. And it’s perfectly placed, sitting between Margaret River and Perth, as it’s just a 55-minute drive from Perth’s CBD. Which is why we’ve put together your ultimate Mandurah guide.

Aerial view of Mandurah. — Plan your perfect coastal escape to Australia’s Top Tourism Town of 2023.

The best things to do in Mandurah

Wetlands and rivers, ocean and inlet; Mandurah’s laid-back lifestyle centres around the aquatic. Its waterways cover twice the ground of Sydney Harbour – measuring some 134 square kilometres in total – and form a unique environment for oceanic and estuarine flora and fauna to thrive.

In the city’s estuary lives perhaps the region’s most famed inhabitants – a resident pod of 100 bottlenose dolphins – and the inlet’s silty bottom is home to the prized blue manna crab. Spot the former breaching and playing on an hour-long dolphin cruise through the channels, or try your hand at catching the latter by wading through the estuary’s shallows with a scoop net in hand.

While swimming at the circular Kwillena Gabi Pool, chance encounters with the local wildlife aren’t uncommon. The sheltered estuarine pool takes its name from the traditional custodians of the land, the Bindjareb people, and directly translates to ‘dolphin waters’. Jutting out of the eastern foreshore, it’s enclosed by a ring of net-free floating pontoons, which allow the dolphins to swim freely through the attraction.

If that’s a little too close for comfort, book a kayak tour with Down Under Discoveries . The dolphins have been known to cruise beside the paddle-powered crafts, which are a fun, family-friendly way to explore the city’s inner waterways.

Dolphins swimming in Mandurah. — Watch dolphins glide by as you explore Mandurah.

You don’t have to be on the water to appreciate the coastal city’s aquatic beauty, with 600 kilometres of cycleways and scenic walking trails traversing Mandurah’s estuary, inlet and coast.

Follow the 30-kilometre coastal trail and you’ll come face to face with one of Thomas Dambo’s headline-making ‘Giants of Mandurah sculptures, Santi Ikto, along the way. There are five sculptures around Mandurah in total, hidden among gum-filled reserves or sitting sentry over the water.

Head to the Mandurah Visitor Centre to pick up a map to pinpoint their exact location and download the traveller’s companion to learn more about the sights along the way. Or join a three-hour e-bike tour from The Bike Kiosk and you’ll stop by two of the giants – Santi Ikto and Yaburgurt Winjan Cirkelstone – as you sightsee central Mandurah.

The towering Santi Ikto, one of Thomas Dambo’s iconic Giants of Mandurah. — Meet Santi Ikto, one of the legendary Giants of Mandurah.

Where to eat in Mandurah

Mandurah’s culinary scene reflects its laid-back lifestyle, with large, honest meals and locally brewed beer. After visiting Lake Clifton’s 2000-year-old thrombolites, head to the peppermint and gum-shaded beer garden at Thorny Devil Brewery . Tuck into a platter of house-smoked meats and an ale pulled fresh from the tanks. Closer to town and right on the waterfront is Boundary Island Brewery ; here, woodfired pizza, pub-style seafood dishes and easy-drinking brews are centre stage.

On a Murray River Lunch Cruise , the focus is as much on the environment around you as the food you’re filling up on. Help yourself to the colourful salads and freshly cooked meats on the buffet as you meander up the winding, jarrah tree-lined waterway, stopping at the heritage Cooper’s Mill for a quick walking tour along the way.

Keep your eyes trained on the Creery Wetlands as you pass – you’ll spot much of the region’s migratory birdlife, and, as always, might see the playful bottlenose dolphins in the inlet.

The most memorable meals aren’t necessarily always the fanciest, and lunch aboard a self-skippered Mandurah BBQ Boat is a testament to that. All food and beverage prep is left up to you as you cruise through the canals, sausages and steaks sizzling away on the central hot plate.

If seafood is more your kind of fare, board the Wild Seafood Experience , where dolphin cruise meets long table lunch. Eight courses of crab, crayfish and scallops await.

A table filled with plates of crab, crayfish, and scallops. — Dine on the water with eight courses of ocean-fresh fare.

Where to stay in Mandurah

With so many waterways comes abundant waterside stays. Like the self-contained Seashells Mandurah on the shores of Comet Bay. The calm, oceanic outlook from the one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and villas is as close to Maldivian as Mandurah gets. Families especially enjoy the property, bouncing between the protected cove and the beachfront pool for endless hours of fun.

The Sebel Mandurah , just a hop, skip and jump from the Mandurah Ocean Marina, has a different outlook entirely, overlooking the estuary and lively foreshore on the other side. It’s also within walking distance of the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre , cinema and a swathe of waterfront bars and eateries.

But you can’t get any closer to the water than on a vessel from Mandurah Houseboats . You don’t need a skipper’s ticket to hire one, nor do you need comprehensive boating experience; just a full driver’s license and your undivided attention during the pre-departure tuition will do. Then you’re free to take to the estuaries and tributaries for a few nights of peaceful rest, surrounded by the very element that makes Mandurah so special.

A houseboat cruising in Mandurah along the river — Captain a houseboat to explore Mandurah at your own pace.

Plan your next WA getaway in Mandurah.

A first-timer’s guide to South West WA