Mandurah

Mandurah sits where the Peel-Harvey Estuary meets the Indian Ocean, roughly an hour's drive south of Perth. The city is built around water. An extensive canal system threads through residential neighbourhoods, connecting the estuary to a marina lined with restaurants, and the coastline runs for kilometres in both directions with uncrowded beaches that most international visitors have never heard of.

The waterways are the defining feature. Around 100 wild bottlenose dolphins live permanently in the estuary and canals, making Mandurah home to one of the largest urban dolphin populations in Australia. Crabbing from jetties and canal banks is a local pastime that visitors adopt quickly, and the fishing, both estuary and offshore, is excellent year-round. The marina at Dolphin Quay anchors the town's dining and social life, with seafood restaurants overlooking the water and cruise operators running everything from dolphin-spotting tours to multi-course seafood banquets on the estuary.

Beyond the canals, Mandurah has a quieter appeal. The beaches along the coast are long, clean, and rarely crowded, even in the Western Australian summer. The Peel Region inland offers bushwalking, the historic timber town of Dwellingup, and the Murray River. It functions well as a base for exploring the wider Perth south coast, but the town itself, with its waterfront boardwalk, weekend markets, and unhurried pace, gives you enough reason to stay put.