Experience the best of Mandurah

Mandurah sits where the Peel-Harvey Estuary meets the Indian Ocean, about 65 km south of Perth and linked to it by a railway line. Its waterfront wraps around a marina and housing canals, with cafés, a foreshore promenade and boats at every jetty. Bottlenose dolphins live in the estuary, and cruises head out to watch them and to explore the channels and islands.

Crabbing for blue swimmer crabs in the shallows is a local pastime, and an annual Crab Fest celebrates them. South of town, Yalgorup National Park protects lakes where ancient microbial formations called thrombolites grow at Lake Clifton. Inland, the jarrah forest and river pools around Dwellingup in the Darling Range offer cooler walking and picnicking.

Seafood leads the menu, with blue swimmer crab, prawns and fish and chips eaten on the foreshore. Summers are dry and warm with cooling afternoon sea breezes, winters cool and wet, and the calm, clear days of autumn and spring are good for the estuary and the beaches.