Esperance is blessed with beautiful white sand, turquoise waters, untouched islands and colourful wildflower country. A beach and nature-lover’s dream, it’s famous for having Australia’s whitest beach, Lucky Bay – set against a stunning seascape of 110 islands of the Recherche Archipelago.
Esperance is a one-and-a-half-hour flight (in a commercial aircraft), or an eight-hour drive south-east from Perth, making Esperance an ideal get-away-from-it-all holiday. Many attractions are easily accessible, with plenty of guided tour options, but a four wheel drive is a must if you want to venture off the beaten track.
The calm, clear waters of Blue Haven Beach and Twilight Cove, just a short drive from town, are idyllic spots for swimming and snorkelling.
If you’re seeking waves, hit the surf at West Beach, Fourth Beach or Observatory Beach. To hook dinner, throw in a line out near Bandy Creek Harbour or try your luck rock fishing at Salmon Beach located out along the Great Ocean Drive.
Back in town, the adventure continues with four wheel drive beach safaris, Indigenous cultural tours, coach tours, island cruises, diving and fishing charters, sand boarding, canoeing, mini golf and steam train rides.
Check out the arts centre and galleries, making time to drop into the museum to view what’s left of the NASA Skylab after it slammed back down to Earth near Balladonia. On the way to Cape Le Grand, you’ll even find a slice of ancient druid history with a full-size replica of Stonehenge.
Flying to Esperance in the RV-7A
It was time for a break after a busy start to the year, so we decided to head to Esperance. It has been an amazing Autumn in Perth – clear blue skies and warm weather, and we hoped this weather would be the same in Esperance. Luckily it was!
Myrup airstrip, Esperance is 310 nm from Serpentine, and took us just under two and a half hours flying time to get there. En-route we flew over the Darling Range, Lake Grace and Newdegate, plus a lot of open country. The lack of rain in April was obvious with most of the countryside being quite brown.
Esperance certainly has some of the best beaches in the world, with clear turquoise water and stunning white sand that is so clean it squeaks as you walk on it. We hired a car and explored all the bays and beaches around the area. My favourite was Lucky Bay, home to some very tame kangaroos that love to sunbake on the beach!
The flight home was a little slower as we encountered strong head winds and areas of quite dense smoke from fires burning below us.
