Destination: The Amazing South Coast of Western Australia

Wild, remote and stunningly beautiful, Western Australia’s South Coast is packed with natural wonders from end to end.

The South Coast of Western Australia, from Eucla in the arid east, to Albany in the verdant west, fronts the Great Australian Bight and the Southern Ocean for a distance of 1,100km. Much of it is wild, remote and sparsely populated. All of it is stunningly beautiful, with long white-sand beaches, secluded bays sheltered by rocky headlands, and sheer limestone ramparts that form the longest uninterrupted sea cliffs in the world. Behind this wave-washed strand lie vast sandhills and plains of sweeping heathland edged by ancient scarps and dotted with domed, granite peaks.

Offshore, the seabed is a complex array of continental shelf, mid-slope terraces, canyons and deep abyssal plains. Swept by major oceanic currents, these varied habitats support a wide range of marine life, more than 80 per cent of which is found nowhere else on the planet. Just as the terrestrial environment is conserved by a corridor of national parks and nature reserves, so too are large areas of these southern waters and islands protected by a network of State and Commonwealth marine parks.

Eucla

The tiny township of Eucla is the easternmost locality in Western Australia, just 11km from the South Australian border. It’s perched on the edge of the Hampton Scarp at Eucla Pass and commands a panoramic view over the Roe Plains and beyond to the Bight.

The original settlement was established on the plain in 1877, around a repeater station for the Overland Telegraph. This was the only place for hundreds of kilometres along this remote coastline where boats could moor safely, and a jetty was constructed for offloading supplies to a tramway connected to the station. For a time it was the busiest and most important telegraphic link between Perth and Darwin, but it ceased operating in 1929 when a new telegraph line was constructed further north beside the Trans-Australian rail line.

Today, the former settlement and the ghostly ruins of the old telegraph station are gradually being buried by the beautiful Delisser Sandhills, part of an expansive dune complex that stretches east to the South Australian border. Enclosed by the Eucla National Park (3,340ha), these mountains of soft, pure white sand rise more than 100m above the plain and are fringed by mallee scrub and heathland that shelter rare plants and wildflowers. The dunes are backed by Wilson Bluff, a towering limestone escarpment which continues eastward for 200km as the Bunda Cliffs - the longest uninterrupted line of sea cliffs in the world.

The Great Southern Scarp

From Eucla, Wilson Bluff and Hampton Scarp stretch westward, merging with the Baxter Cliffs and Wylie Scarp to form a 600km rampart known as the Great Southern Scarp (GSS), terminating inland from Israelite Bay. The GSS is the southern rim of a limestone plateau, formed as the bed of an ancient sea about 60 million years ago. Once a continuous sea-cliff on the edge of the Bight, localised tectonic forces have lifted sections of it to create a coastal plain as wide as 45km in some places. 

Eucla to Twilight Cove

Hampton Scarp holds the Roe Plains against the ocean for nearly 300km before rejoining the coastline at Twilight Cove. Red Rocks Point, about 170km from Eucla, marks the eastern boundary of the Nuytsland Nature Reserve, named after Dutch explorer Peter Nuyts who sailed this coast in 1627. The reserve covers 6,253sq km in a long strip to Cape Pasley, 500km to the southwest, and includes the Eyre Bird Observatory at Kanidal Beach. The Observatory is housed in a lovely stone building that served as a station on the International Telegraph Line (ITL) from 1897 to 1930, and incorporates a library and displays about the coastal environment and a small museum on the history of the station and the ITL. West of the Observatory, Twilight Cove embraces a spectacular white sand beach backed by 70m cliffs, and is named for the ship (Twilight) that was wrecked here in 1877. The cove is reputed to be an excellent fishing spot, and the dunes behind the beach harbour the remains of a hut where the Carlisle family, including eleven children, lived during the mid-20th century.

Twilight Cove to Toolinna Cove

From Twilight Cove, the scarp continues west for 190km as the Baxter Cliffs. Rising 90m above the pounding Southern Ocean, these impressive sea cliffs are named in honour of John Baxter, who accompanied Edward Eyre during their arduous east-west crossing of the continent in 1841. Baxter was murdered by two of the aboriginal members of the party near Point Dover, and a memorial to him has been erected near Toolinna Cove. This remote cove is one of few gaps in the Baxter Cliffs where supplies were landed during the construction of the ITL. 

The Baxter Cliffs are a formidable rampart against the Southern Ocean

Toolinna Cove to Point Dempster

The Baxter Cliffs stretch for another 50km to Point Culver, a spectacular headland marking the northeast end of the Wylie Scarp, named after Eyre’s faithful Aboriginal companion. Here, the scarp veers away from the shoreline to enclose a narrow heath-covered plain comprising the extensive Bilbunya Dunes, salt lakes, clay pans and sweeping white sand beaches with some of the best fishing on the south coast. After 140km, the Wylie Scarp terminates about 15km inland from Point Dempster, which forms the southern arm of scenic Israelite Bay. A fascinating heritage site at the bay includes substantial stone ruins of the Post Office and Telegraph Station (built 1896), together with a few graves and an old cottage. An attractive camping area in the adjacent recreation reserve has ready access to the beach for fishing. 

Cape Arid National Park

West of Israelite Bay, the pristine wilderness of Cape Arid National Park protects habitats for 1,100 species of plants and more than 160 kinds of birds, some of which are endangered. The park takes its name from its southernmost headland, dubbed ‘Cap Aride’ by French Admiral Bruni D’Entrecasteaux in 1792, later anglicised by Matthew Flinders. From a coastal fringe of long sweeping beaches and rocky headlands between Cape Pasley and Tagon Point, the park extends inland for nearly 280,000ha, across sand plains, heathlands and mallee to low granite hills and the pinnacles of Tower Peak (585m) and Mt Ragged (594m) in the jagged Russell Range. Bush and beach walking trails provide scenic routes through the park’s beautiful environment, and camping is available at many locations for swimming and fishing. The Tagon Coastal Trail and Dolphin Cove offer excellent vantage points for spotting migrating southern right and humpback whales in late winter and spring.

Cape Le Grand National Park

Cape Le Grand National Park fronts the Southern Ocean between Cheyne Point and Mount Le Grand, east of Esperance, with a coastline scalloped by turquoise bays, rugged headlands and sugar-white beaches backed by steep dunes. Inland, the park protects 31,800ha of undulating heath-covered sandplains, interspersed with swamps and freshwater pools that support a rich variety of wildlife. The south-west landscape is dominated by ancient granite peaks, including Mount Le Grand (345m) and Frenchman Peak (262m), that contain sites of great cultural significance to the local Nyungar and Ngadju Aboriginal people.

Offshore, the Recherche Archipelago stretches 240km from east to west, comprising 105 granite islands and more than 1,500 reefs, rocks and shoals that present ‘obstacles to shipping’. The islands provide important habitats for terrestrial fauna, haul-out sites for marine mammals and crucial breeding grounds for resident and migratory birds. Middle Island contains Aboriginal cultural sites with artefacts dating back 11,000 years when the archipelago was part of the mainland.

Sunrise over Lucky Bay, Cape Le Grand

These coastal waters are a popular destination for fishing and blue-water sailing. Boats are best launched at Lucky Bay and off Le Grand Beach, and anchorages to suit various wind and sea conditions may be made around the park at O’Briens Beach, Lucky Bay and Thistle Cove. There are two camping areas in the park, at Lucky Bay and Le Grand Beach, both with toilets, showers, barbecues and picnic shelters. 

Some maritime history

The region’s long and distinguished maritime history began in 1627 when the Dutch mariners Pieter Van Nuyts and François Thijssen, in the Gulden Zeepaert (Golden Seahorse), navigated the  southern coastline from Cape Leeuwin to the Eyre Peninsula. George Vancouver sailed through the archipelago during his expedition in HMS Discovery in 1791.

A year later, the French scientific expedition of Bruni D’Entrecasteaux in La Recherche and Huon de Kermadec in L'Esperance were forced to shelter from a violent storm in the lee of Observatory Island, 15km west of the bay enclosing present-day Esperance. The bay and the archipelago were named after their ships, and Cape Le Grand in honour of the young ensign who guided them to safe anchor. In 1802, while charting the archipelago in HMS Investigator, Matthew Flinders was also forced by rough weather to shelter in a small cove east of Cape Le Grand, which he named Lucky Bay. 

From the 1820s, the archipelago was a favoured hunting ground for whalers and sealers from as far away as Tasmania and America. Australia's only recorded pirate, John Anderson, frequented the archipelago in the 1830s. A former whaler, “Black Jack” (as he was known) used Middle Island as a base from which to launch raids on vessels sailing between Adelaide and Albany, until he was murdered by his own crew.

Esperance

Seven hundred kilometres from Eucla, Esperance is the major service town and administrative centre of a shire spanning 42,000sq km north to the goldfields and east to the South Australian border. The region’s thriving economy supports a population of around 15,000 and is powered by agriculture, mining, light industry, commercial fishing and wind-generated electricity. One of its key strategic assets is the Port of Esperance, close to the town at the southern end of Esperance Bay. As the only port on this remote southeast coastline, with extensive road and rail infrastructure, it is a major trading hub for a wide range of products. 

The Whale Tail sculpture on the Esplanade at Esperance

The town is also a popular tourist resort and holiday destination attracting more than 230,000 visitors annually. Local waters are an anglers’ paradise and several local companies operate charters into the archipelago targeting a wide range of deep-sea fish species. In March, the annual Deep Sea Angling Classic draws more than a hundred boats from all over the State to compete for a prize pool of over $20,000.

Esperance is well-endowed with facilities catering to the vibrant boating community. Esperance Bay Yacht Club has a marina with pens for about 35 resident vessels and temporary berthing for visiting boats. North of the yacht club is a boat ramp and a narrow finger jetty, with anchorage nearby in depths of about 2-3m over sand. The Bandy Creek Boat Harbour, 10km east of the town centre, incorporates pens for recreational boats up to 15m long, and a two-lane boat ramp. The Esperance Professional Fishermen's Association operates a private slipway on the northern side of the harbour, with a 60 tonne capacity.

Fitzgerald River National Park

The Fitzgerald River National Park, 200km east of Esperance, embraces 3,300sq km of unspoiled wilderness on a stretch of rugged coastline between the towns of Bremer Bay and Hopetoun. It’s one of Australia's largest national parks and has been designated by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve in recognition of its rich biodiversity. 

Four intermittent rivers carve dramatic gorges through the park from northern uplands to coastal inlets. From undulating sandplains dotted with swamps and shallow lakes rise jagged peaks, dubbed the ‘barren hills’ by Matthew Flinders, of which East Mount Barren (450m) and West Mount Barren (372m) are the tallest. The coastal fringe is dominated by broad sandy bays enclosed by jagged headlands and steep cliffs. 

Four Mile Beach looking towards East Mount Barren

Despite its relative isolation, the park attracts more than 40,000 visitors each year for bushwalking, swimming, camping, fishing and kayaking. Point Ann has several purpose-built viewing platforms that provide grandstand views for whale-watching (June to October). Offshore fishing is concentrated around Bremer Bay and Hopetoun, which have good boat-launching facilities, and Fishery Beach (at Bremer Bay) offers a sheltered anchorage in a small boat harbour enclosed by a rock groyne. 

Fishery Beach boat harbour near Bremer Bay

Albany

Founded in 1826, Albany is Western Australia’s oldest colonial settlement and was once a large whaling port. With a population of about 34,000, the city is an important regional centre, supporting industries that include commercial fishing, timber and agriculture. Its port plays a major role in the state’s maritime trade. Tourism is also a significant contributor to the local economy, based on seasonal whale watching, recreational fishing and excellent sailing on the local blue-water expanses.

The complex coastline around Albany encloses three main bodies of water – King George Sound, Oyster Harbour and Princess Royal Harbour – each with its own unique hydrography. King George Sound covers 110sq km, with an east-facing entrance that is partially protected by Breaksea and Michaelmas Islands. When George Vancouver sailed into the Sound in 1791, he declared it to be "the finest harbour in the Southern Hemisphere".

A regatta in full sail on King George Sound

The city centre lies between Mount Melville and Mount Clarence and its main thoroughfare, York Street, runs down to a maritime precinct at the northern edge of the Princess Royal Harbour. The Port of Albany occupies 80ha of land on the harbour foreshore, with five berths to accommodate panamax-size freighters. The port typically handles about 120 cargo vessels and 16 cruise ships each year, contributing more than $160 million annually to the economy of the Great Southern Region.

Recreational vessels are accommodated at the Albany Waterfront Marina adjacent to the port, the Emu Point Boat Harbour in Oyster Harbour, and the Princess Royal Sailing Club (PRSC) at Little Grove on Princess Royal Harbour. Established in 1909, the PRSC is the only sailing club in the Albany area and offers leisurely squadron cruising, racing regattas and guided fishing safaris. 

Boats are well-catered for at the Albany Marina near the CBD

Depending on wind and sea conditions, safe anchorages may be found at many locations in Albany’s waterways. These include Whalers Beach, Goode Beach and Whaling Cove in Frenchman Bay; Ledge Beach on the northeast shore of King George Sound; Ellen Cove off the south end of Middleton Beach; and anywhere in Princess Royal Harbour, except near the port’s berthing area and in shallow water on the west and southeast margins. Inside Oyster Harbour, the Department of Transport provides public moorings for short-term use by recreational vessels at three locations: the harbour’s northern end near the Lower King Bridge, in the southwest between Green Island and Bayonet Point, and at the southern end in Johnsons Cove.

Contacts

Department of Environment & Conservation (Web)

Cape Le Grand National Park (Web)

Esperance District Office (Web)

Fitzgerald National Park (Web)

Esperance Visitor Centre (Web)

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