Highlights of the South West

Beaches

We all love a good beach and the South West isn’t short of them! So if you’re looking for a patch of sand to lay your towel on or some aquamarine water to dive into we’ve got you covered.

• Meelup Beach, Dunsborough
• Point Picquet, Dunsborough
• Greens Pool, Denmark
• Salmon Beach, D’Entrecasteaux National Park, near Pemberton
• Little Beach, Albany
• Injidup Natural Spa, Yallingup, between Dunsborough and Margaret River
• Lucky Bay, Esperance

And if surfing is more your thing, don’t skip these beaches

• River Mouth Beach, Margaret River
• Surfer’s Point, Margaret River
• Yallingup Beach, Yallingup

Float in the crystal clear waters of Meelup Beach

Trees

An abundance of karri and tingle trees cover the South West, creating some stunning scenic drives throughout the region. Don’t forget to get that picture of you walking down the empty road surrounded by tall trees for the ‘gram:

• Boranup Forest near Margaret River
• Heart Break Trail, Warren National Park near Pemberton
• Greater Beedelup National Park near Pemberton
• Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Walpole

If you prefer to get a bit higher and be up in the forest canopy, make sure you don’t skip Pemberton and Walpole:

• Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, Pemberton
• Gloucester Tree, Pemberton
• Diamond Tree, Pemberton
• Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, Walpole

You know you want a photo like this for the 'gram

Food, wine & beer

Foodies will love the South West. Not only does it play host to the most extravagant food and wine festival – the Margaret River Gourmet Escape – in Australia, but it’s also chock full of delicious food to eat and SO MANY wineries and breweries to visit. There’s a million places to visit, but we recommend:

• Bartholomew Meadery, Denmark for honey flavoured everything!
• Eagle Bay Brewery, Dunsborough
• Jarvis Estate, Margaret River

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A post shared by eaglebaybrewingco (@eaglebaybrewingco) on Mar 29, 2018 at 2:51am PDT

Hikes ‘n caves

It’s not just all beaches in the South West – they’re pretty great though – there are some amazing hikes to do and caves to explore. The caves run from Dunsborough all the way down to Augusta with a number clustered around Margaret River:

• Ngilgi Cave, Yallingup
• Mammoth Cave, Boranup
• Lake Cave, Boranup

If your boots were made for walking, then that’s what you should do! There are some really great walks all throughout the area:

• The Bibbulmun – this track actually starts in Perth and goes all the way to Albany, but you can do sections of the trail throughout the South West
• Mount Chudalup, D’Entrecasteaux National Park, near Pemberton
• Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, near Dunsborough 
• Monkey Rock, near Denmark
• Granite Skywalk, Porongurup National Park, near Albany

Mount Chudalup is a lot easier to climb when you stick to the paths

Animal encounters

There are so many opportunities for you to see the wildlife that makes the South West so unique. From dolphins to quokkas and everything in between, if you don’t see some wildlife in the South West, were you really there?

• Dolphins in Bunbury
• Sting Rays, Busselton Jetty and Hamelin Bay near Margaret River
• Quokkas at the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk in Walpole
• Whales at Point Picquet, Dunsborough and in Albany
• Kangaroos – everywhere. Hopping on the road, in the bush, near your picnic table, just everywhere. More specifically, Lucky Bay in Esperance is a good place to start.

Photo: Tourism WA

Ready to jump in that car? Well then, make sure you book yourself into one of our 8 YHA's that dot the South West so you can save some cash on your accommodation and put it towards petrol. Coz you're gonna need it.