Western Australia
AUSTRALIA
The country’s best-kept secret. And I know exactly where to take you.
WHY WESTERN AUSTRALIA
I grew up in Australia, and Western Australia still stops me every time I come back.
It is the scale of it. The way the landscape shifts from world-class wine country in the south, to ancient limestone formations rising out of desert sand, to a reef so pristine you can snorkel it straight from the beach. It is a country within a country, and most international visitors never get further than Sydney or Melbourne.
That is their loss. And your opportunity.
Western Australia spans the same landmass as Western Europe and holds more extraordinary, untouched landscape per square kilometer than anywhere else on the continent. Perth is a harbor city with a quality of life that consistently surprises first-time visitors.
The Margaret River wine region is one of the world’s genuinely great wine destinations, still underestimated outside Australia. The Coral Coast to the north is where you swim with whale sharks and snorkel a fringing reef that begins meters from the shore. And the southern coastline between Albany and Esperance is one of the most dramatic and least-visited stretches of coast in the country.
The travelers I bring here leave differently to how they arrived. Western Australia does that to people.
HIGHLIGHTS
Four regions that together tell the full story of Western Australia, from the wine country south to the reef in the north.
Margaret River: Wine, Coast and Something Harder to Name
Margaret River is one of the world’s genuinely great wine regions, and it remains underestimated outside Australia.
The cellar doors here are serious, the food culture that has grown up around them is just as good, and between the vineyards the coastline is wild and dramatic in a way that takes you completely by surprise.
Surfing at Surfers Point. Long lunches at cellar doors that open onto vineyard views. The karri forests that line the roads south of the town. A week here does not feel like enough. A week here never feels like enough.
The South Coast: Where the Land Meets the Ocean on Its Own Terms
From the wind-thrashed granite lookouts at The Gap and Natural Bridge near Albany, to the ancient tingle forests of Walpole, to the impossibly white sand of Lucky Bay where kangaroos wander the shoreline as if they own it, the southern coast of WA is one of Australia’s most underrated stretches of landscape.
Esperance alone is worth the journey. The beaches look tropical. The water is ice cold. Nothing about it makes sense and all of it is extraordinary.
Monkey Mia and Shark Bay: Wildlife on a Different Scale
Shark Bay is UNESCO World Heritage listed, and the reasons become clear quickly. At Monkey Mia, wild dolphins come in to shore each morning. It is not a performance. There are no tanks. This is just what happens here, on a remote stretch of World Heritage coastline, and it has been happening for decades.
Shell Beach, made entirely of tiny white shells stretching for kilometers, is the kind of place that makes you feel like you have found something the rest of the world has not caught up with yet.
Ningaloo Reef:
The Most Accessible Reef on Earth
The Great Barrier Reef gets the attention. Ningaloo deserves it more. It is a fringing reef, which means it starts meters from the shore. Walk in from the beach and within minutes you are swimming above coral, sea turtles and reef fish in water so clear it barely feels like water.
Between March and July, whale sharks move through these waters. Swimming alongside one of the largest fish on earth is the kind of experience that rewrites your understanding of what travel can be.
WHEN TO GO
Western Australia’s size means different regions have different ideal windows, and timing matters more here than almost anywhere.
The southwest, covering Perth, Margaret River and the southern coast, is at its best from February through April. Days are long, the weather is settled, and the wine region is at its most beautiful in late summer and early autumn light.
The Coral Coast and Ningaloo are at their best from late March through June. April is a particularly strong window for whale shark season, which typically runs from mid-March through July or August. The best operators fill quickly. Book early.
The far north, including Karijini National Park, is best visited between May and September. Summer temperatures up there are extreme and that part of the state is best left for a separate trip or a cooler time of year.
If you want to do the full sweep of the state, a two to three week journey is ideal. It sounds like a long time until you are there and realize how much you would be leaving behind.
A TASTE OF THE JOURNEY
A well-planned Western Australia trip typically moves in two distinct arcs.
The first takes you south from Perth through wine country and along the dramatic southern coastline, ending at Esperance where the beaches will genuinely surprise you.
The second heads north from Perth up the Coral Coast, stopping at the limestone Pinnacles, the gorges of Kalbarri, the UNESCO coastline of Shark Bay and finally Ningaloo Reef.
Together, these two loops give you a state that most visitors never fully see. The routing, the pacing, the specific properties and the right time of year for each region are the things I plan around you, not around a template.
WHERE TO STAY
COMO The Treasury, Perth is the finest hotel in the city. A meticulous restoration of the nineteenth century State Buildings complex in the heart of Perth, with the COMO Shambhala spa as its centerpiece. The spa alone is a reason to base yourself here. The rooftop setting and the quality of the rooms place it among the best city hotels in Australia.
The Ritz-Carlton Perth sits directly on Elizabeth Quay with an infinity pool that looks out over the Swan River and the city beyond. The Hearth restaurant, built around a wood-fired kitchen, is one of the best dining experiences in Perth. For clients who want a landmark property with the full Ritz-Carlton service standard, this is the alternative to COMO and a strong one.
Cape Lodge, Margaret River is the definitive luxury base for the wine region. Twenty-two rooms set within the estate’s own vineyard, with a restaurant that is consistently rated among the finest in Western Australia. The intimacy of the property, the vineyard setting and the quality of what comes out of the kitchen make it the natural choice for clients who want Margaret River done properly.
Sal Salis, Ningaloo Reef is in a category of its own. Sixteen canvas eco-tents perched on sand dunes above the beach, completely off-grid, with the reef accessible on foot within minutes. Guests consistently describe the stargazing, the sound of the ocean from bed and the simplicity of walking directly into one of the world’s great reef systems as experiences that stay with them long after everything else fades. For clients who want Ningaloo at its most immersive, there is nothing else like it.
GOOD TO KNOW
The things worth knowing before you plan.
American passport holders require an Electronic Travel Authority to enter Australia, which I handle as part of the planning process. It is straightforward and linked directly to your passport.
Perth is most commonly reached via Sydney or Melbourne, with Qantas operating the connecting services. I plan the routing as part of the booking process to make the connection as smooth as possible.
Western Australia runs on Australian Western Standard Time, two hours behind Sydney. It is worth knowing for any connections or calls home.
The distances are real. Western Australia is the largest state in Australia and one of the largest administrative regions on earth. That is part of what makes it extraordinary and something to plan around carefully. Most of my WA itineraries use a combination of driving and short internal flights to cover ground without spending the whole trip in a car.
Tipping is not expected. A gesture for genuinely exceptional service is appreciated and never required.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Let’s plan your West Australia adventure.
Western Australia rewards travelers who go in well-prepared.
That’s what I’m here for.