A little local perspective
Worth knowing.
Worth going.
- Destination
- Margaret River, Australia
- The selection
- 7 hotels
- Your kind of trip
- wine · surfing · caves · couples
$$$ to $$$$ — roughly $300-900 a night, peaking in spring and autumn
Cape Leeuwin, at the southwestern tip of Australia, is the only place on the mainland where two oceans are officially recognised as meeting. The Indian Ocean runs up the west coast and the Southern Ocean comes round from the east, and the boundary is drawn at the cape. A lighthouse from 1896 stands on the point and the water beyond it is frequently doing two different things at once.
The region behind it — a ridge of limestone about a hundred kilometres long between two capes — is Margaret River.
Three percent and twenty percent
Margaret River produces roughly three percent of Australia's wine by volume and something in the order of twenty percent of its premium wine. The disparity is the whole story of the place.
It was planted late. A 1965 report by a government agronomist, John Gladstones, argued that the climate here closely resembled Bordeaux's — maritime, moderate, with a low risk of frost or extreme heat — and the first commercial vines went in from 1967. Within thirty years the cabernet and the chardonnay were being ranked against the best anywhere.
There are around two hundred producers in a small area, most of them family-owned and most of them open, which makes the cellar door circuit unusually good and unusually unpretentious.
Caves and surf
The limestone ridge is riddled with caves — Jewel, Lake, Mammoth and Ngilgi among them, with formations and, in Mammoth, the fossil remains of extinct megafauna including a giant wombat-like creature called Zygomaturus.
Above ground, the coast takes serious Indian Ocean swell. Surfers Point at Prevelly hosts a world tour event each autumn, and the breaks along this coast are powerful rather than forgiving.
The Cape to Cape Track runs 123 kilometres between the two lighthouses along clifftop and beach, and can be walked in a week or sampled in a day.
The seven below are grouped by area.
Wilyabrup and the northern vineyards
The heart of the wine country.
Cape Lodge occupies a lakeside property among vineyards north of Margaret River, with a small room count, a kitchen garden and a restaurant that draws people across the state. It is the best hotel in Western Australia outside Perth.
Empire Retreat & Spa sits on a rural property near Yallingup with a spa, a pool and a handful of suites in gardens.
Wildwood Valley occupies a property among the vines with cottages, a pool and a working farm.
Yallingup and the coast
Above the surf.
Injidup Spa Retreat occupies a clifftop at Injidup with private plunge pools, an adults-only policy and the Indian Ocean straight below.
Smiths Beach Resort sits above Smiths Beach with apartments and villas, a beach club and a path to the sand.
Bunker Bay and Dunsborough
The sheltered northern bays.
Pullman Bunker Bay Resort occupies a bay on the Cape Naturaliste side with bungalows in gardens, a pool and a calm north-facing beach.
Margaret River town
Grand Mercure Basildene Manor sits in a nineteenth-century manor near the town with gardens, a small room count and the cellar doors a short drive out.
What we have left off
The self-contained cottages and farm stays across the region are excluded, and among the vineyards there are a great many. They are houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Do four cellar doors, not eight, and book lunch at one of them. Many are family-run and the person pouring is frequently the person who made it.
Drive to Cape Leeuwin, climb the lighthouse and look at the place where the oceans meet, then go to Cape Naturaliste at the other end.
Go into a cave. Jewel has the largest straw stalactite on display anywhere; Mammoth has the megafauna fossils and a self-guided audio route.
Walk a section of the Cape to Cape. The stretch around Wilyabrup cliffs and the Injidup section are the best day-length pieces.
Watch whales from the coast between June and December, when humpbacks and southern rights pass both capes on migration.
Practical notes
Perth is about three hours by road; Busselton has a small regional airport with limited services.
September to November and March to May are ideal. Summer is hot, dry and busy with Perth families. Winter is wet, green and the cellar doors are empty, which some people prefer.
The region is spread out and a car is essential. Plan a driver for tasting days.
Every hotel bookable in Margaret River
Prices shown are sample rates from upcoming dates — not quotes for specific dates. Open a hotel and choose your own dates and guests to see the exact price.
Where do the two oceans meet?
At Cape Leeuwin, the only mainland Australian point where the Indian and Southern Oceans are officially recognised as meeting.
Why is the wine so good for the volume?
A 1965 report identified a climate resembling Bordeaux's, planting began in 1967, and the region now produces about three percent of Australian wine and twenty percent of the premium.
Wine country or coast?
Wilyabrup for the cellar doors, Yallingup and Injidup for cliffs and surf. Twenty minutes apart.
How many nights?
Four. Two for wine and two for the coast and the caves.
