Dunsborough is a relaxed coastal town just under 3 hours drive south of Perth. It’s a hugely popular holiday destination known for its pristine beaches, beautiful clear water and proximity to the world-renowned Margaret River Wine Region. The town itself is situated on the sheltered shores of Geographe Bay with calm turquoise waters, ideal for many water activities. Dunsborough is considered the northern gateway to the over 100 cellar doors (wineries) and award winning breweries in the Margaret River Region, affording us easy access to an abundance of wines to sample. Aside from wineries we found many beautiful viewpoints, walks and beaches along the coastline. We enjoyed watching the surfers at some of the popular locations.
We ended up in Dunsborough on the advice of our nomad friend Jenny who grew up in this region and gave us so much wonderful advice on where to stay and what to see. It sure helps to have friends in the right places 😊 Our apartment was just outside Dunsborough one block away from Quindalup Beach. When the tide is out the beach and sand bars are a gorgeous place to walk. We even saw a Southern Fiddler Ray cruising near the waters edge one day.
Wine tastings…its hard to choose which cellar door to visit but between our landlord and our friend Jenny we had a few suggestions to get us started. These are the ones we ended up visiting, not as many as we could have but there are many other things to see and do besides visit wineries. The Margaret River region is one of the world’s premier wine destinations with a unique environment and climate suited to wine making. With a Mediterranean climate, ancient gravel loam soil and maritime influences its an ideal place to grow exceptional grapes.
- Vasse Felix was established in 1967, is the region’s founding wine estate and one of the most famous. Anyone we spoke to recommended this winery as their number one choice. The restaurant has been awarded two stars and won the award for Regional Restaurant of the year. Its usually fully booked so we headed there for a wine tasting which was so delicious we bought a glass of our favorite red and a charcuterie board to enjoy outside on the patio. We also purchased our favorite bottle to enjoy at home.
- Aravina Estate Winery is another hugely popular vineyard, restaurant and wedding venue established in 2010. The estate spans 180 acres with 69 acres of vineyards. The original vines on the property were planted in 1986 with more varieties added in 2013. Also on the estate is the first official Western Australia surfing museum showcasing rare and never before seen memorabilia, surfboards and photographs. We bought a couple of bottles of our favorite wines to enjoy at home.
- Driftwood Estate is a boutique winery established in 1989 on what had previously been a country retreat. Their wines are made in small batches on the property. There used to be a restaurant but it has closed and the place feels a bit neglected, however we enjoyed tasting their wines and bought a couple of bottles to take home.
- Rivendell Winery is a small family owned winery established in the early 80’s and one of the regions oldest wineries. Their restaurant and cellar door is quite small and there was not much room, or staff, to make the most of our wine tasting.
- Wise Wine is famous as the only winery with ocean views, where the vines meet the sea. This property is also home to another of the regions’ award winning restaurants. This was our last cellar door visit and because we lean towards a specific type of red wine we chose to share two different glasses of wine along with some bread and olive oil while enjoying the views.
The Vasse Village Farmers Market was a 15 minute drive towards Busselton and was one of the most amazing farmers markets we have ever seen. It’s set up as a one way aisle through all the displays of incredible fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, meats, cheeses, dairy, bakery etc. It was really hard not to overbuy so we made sure to get there more than once during our stay in Dunsborough. I was thrilled to find sheep yoghurt, which I like to have once in a while as an alternative to the Greek yoghurt we usually add to our smoothies.
Surfers Point is known as one of the best “big wave” locations on the planet so we packed a lunch and headed that direction for the day. The waves were not as big as we had hoped and there were not many surfers out but it was fun to watch the ones that were and take in the views of the coastline. When the waves are a their best, between March and April, Surfers Point attracts the best surfers in the world as part of the professional world surfing circuit.
From Surfers Point we drove to Kevill Road Waterfall, well it was not much of a waterfall but still a pretty spot in the forest. We drove back to Surfers Point to have our lunch and enjoy more ocean views.
Very close to our apartment was Yallingup Beach, another very popular surf spot. The waves were not bad when we visited so we watched the surfers for a while but the flies became just too annoying so we left. That’s one thing about WA (Western Australia), the flies can be brutal. But, its not only WA, we were swarmed by flies when we visited the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road in 2020. I guess its just certain times of the year and certain places. My fly net has come in handy!
Our friend Jenny grew up on a dairy farm near the town of Cowaramup, Cowtown to the locals, so we took a drive through there on our way home from Surfers Point. There is quite a long history of dairy farming in the region, with 10% of the states milk produced here, and the best ice cream ever can be found at Millers Ice Cream Shop. Cowaramup is a cute little town with a few tourist attractions and giftware shops, it was a nice stop on our way home.
Just outside Dunsborough is Cape Naturaliste, part of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park and home to an old lighthouse and a network of trails and lookouts around the cape. We headed off in the direction of the Whale Watching Platform to enjoy some wonderful views, but sadly no whales or dolphins.
Windmills Beach Lookout is another gorgeous viewpoint not far from the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse. I think its another good surfing spot but there was nobody in the water when we visited.
The Busselton Jetty is the longest timber-piled jetty in the southern hemisphere and home to one of six underwater observatories in the world. The first section of the jetty was opened in 1865 and extended numerous times until the 1960’s ultimately reaching its current length. During those years the jetty suffered from cyclones, fires and storms, being rebuilt each time. Today the jetty is 1.84 km long and if you don’t feel like walking, there is a little solar powered train that goes almost to the end of the pier. There are a couple of live underwater webcams at the end of the jetty that you can take a peek at here. Tickets to walk the jetty cost AUD $5 (USD $3.25) each.
The Wyadup Rocks and Canal Rocks are two scenic areas renowned for dramatic rock formations and the clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean. This rugged part of the coastline offers stunning views away from crowded tourist areas. Canal Rocks in particular is essentially an open air museum of the geological features of the area. There is a narrow bridge over one of the canals for even better views of the area.
We thoroughly enjoyed our 10 days in Dunsborough, the scenery and peacefulness around this small town was very relaxing. We were also fortunate to have pretty perfect weather during our stay. If you make it all the way to Perth then a trip down south to this region should definitely be part of your itinerary.
Next up, we are headed a little further southeast along the coast to the town of Albany…..
TRIP TIPS
The Dunsborough Gym was 5 minutes from our apartment and a one week membership cost AUD $60 (USD $40) each. We were issued a fob, at no charge, to access the gym outside staffed hours and returned it on our last day. It’s a really good gym for the size of the town.