DESTINATIONS
Western Australia
I know Perth, Margaret River and Albany firsthand. The rest I plan through trusted local specialists.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA AT A GLANCE
BEST FOR
Wine · Reef · Wildlife · Remote coast
IDEAL STAY
2 to 3 weeks
PACE
Road trip + short flights
BEST TIME
Varies by region
Sydney · Melbourne · Tropical North QueenslandPAIRS WELL WITH
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 wine country in the south, to ancient limestone formations rising out of desert sand, to a reef you can snorkel 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 covers about a third of the country, and much of it is untouched. Perth is a river and beach city with a quality of life that surprises first-time visitors. Margaret River is one of the great wine regions of the world, the Coral Coast to the north has a 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 plan this trip for come home changed. 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.
Perth, Margaret River, Albany and the country between them I know from having been there. Ningaloo, Shark Bay, Lucky Bay and the rest of the north I plan through trusted local specialists rather than from my own travels. I will always tell you which is which.
Margaret River
The cellar doors here, as Australians call their tasting rooms, are serious, and the food culture around them is just as good.
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 never feels like enough.
The South Coast & Esperance
From the granite lookouts at The Gap and Natural Bridge near Albany, to the tingle forests of Walpole, to the white sand of Lucky Bay where kangaroos wander the shoreline, 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 and the water is cold.
Monkey Mia and Shark Bay
Shark Bay is UNESCO World Heritage listed, and the reasons become clear quickly. At Monkey Mia, wild dolphins come into the shallows on most mornings, as they have for more than fifty years, and rangers manage the experience under strict guidelines. On some days the dolphins do not come in at all, so I build in a buffer.
Shell Beach, made entirely of tiny white shells stretching for kilometers, is the kind of place that makes you feel you have found something the rest of the world hasn’t caught up with yet.
Ningaloo Reef
The Great Barrier Reef gets the attention. Ningaloo deserves its own share of it. It is a fringing reef, which means it starts meters from the shore, so you can walk in from the beach and within minutes be swimming above coral and sea turtles.
From about March to July, whale sharks move through these waters.
WHEN TO GO
Western Australia’s size means different regions have different ideal windows, and timing matters more here than almost anywhere.
Southwest, February to April.
Perth, Margaret River and the southern coast, when the days are long and the weather is settled.
Coral Coast and Ningaloo, late March to June.
Whale shark season typically runs from March to July or August, and the best operators fill quickly, so book early.
Karijini National Park, May to September.
In the Pilbara, where summer temperatures are extreme.
To do the full sweep of the state, two to three weeks is ideal.
A TASTE OF THE ADVENTURE
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 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 arcs 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
The properties worth knowing across the state.
COMO The Treasury, Perth is the standout hotel in the city, a restoration of the nineteenth-century State Buildings complex with the COMO Shambhala spa as its centerpiece and a top-floor pool.
The Ritz-Carlton Perth is the alternative, in the heart of the city with the Hearth restaurant on site, and suits clients who prefer a landmark property.
Cape Lodge, Margaret River is temporarily closed for a redevelopment and is expected to reopen in 2028. Its restaurant was awarded an Australian Good Food Guide chef hat in 2026. I will tell you where I would stay in Margaret River in the meantime.
Sal Salis, Ningaloo Reef has sixteen canvas eco-tents on the dunes above the beach, completely off-grid, with the reef accessible on foot within minutes. It operates from mid-March to mid-November. For clients seeking Ningaloo at its most immersive, this is where I send them.
I will always tell you which of these I have stayed at myself and which I know through trusted partners.
GOOD TO KNOW
Entry requirements
American passport holders need 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.
Getting there
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.
Time zone
Western Australia runs on Australian Western Standard Time, which is two hours behind Sydney, or three hours behind when Sydney is on daylight saving time from October to April. It is worth knowing for any connections or calls home.
Distances
The distances are real. Western Australia is the largest state in Australia and one of the largest administrative regions on earth, so the trip needs planning around them. I build Western Australia itineraries around a mix of driving and short internal flights, so you cover the ground without spending the whole trip in a car.
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Western Australia adventure.
Western Australia rewards travelers who go in well-prepared.
That’s what I’m here for.