Holiday houses in Eagle Bay

A collection of hillside houses overlooking beautiful Geographe Bay in Western Australia, Eagle Bay is a popular luxury getaway for residents of Perth. The town faces a sandy beach below the tip of rugged Cape Naturaliste, which shelters the bay from the wild waves of the Southern Ocean. Eagle Bay is a great base for exploring the spectacular Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park at the tip and western side of Cape Naturaliste. And below the town you’ll find more pretty beaches and a dramatic coastline in Meelup Regional Park.

Stay in Eagle Bay to have your choice of tackling bushwalking trails along the coast, spending lazy days on sheltered sandy beaches, or visiting cellar doors in the nearby Margaret River wine region. There’s also a winery and a microbrewery/winery, each with its own restaurant, in Eagle Bay. For a wider selection of dining choices, however, you’ll need to head into the much bigger beachside town of Dunsborough, around a 10-minute drive down the cape.

Eagle Bay is protected by Cape Naturaliste from the cooling ocean winds coming up from the Antarctic. From the start of summer in December through to early autumn you’ll enjoy hot, dry days and warmish nights. Summer is when the vineyards of the nearby Margaret River wine region are at their most colourful, with harvest usually taking place in February and March. Autumn is a great time to hike Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, although by May you’re more likely to encounter rain. The wet weather usually holds off for the Margaret River Pro surfing event in early May. Winter is mild but also the wettest time of the year. In spring, whales linger in Geographe Bay, while competitors gather to swim and kayak across the bay for the Eagle Bay Epic Adventure Race in early November.

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park

This scenic national park is at one end of the renowned Cape to Cape Track, a bushwalking trail that runs along the coast for 130 kilometres from Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, near the town of Augusta. The track starts with a wheelchair-friendly section between the car parks at Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and Sugarloaf Rock, a sea-battered granite rock just offshore.

Meelup Regional Park

This nature reserve of dense bushland, granite rock formations, and pretty beaches occupies the coastline from Bunker Bay north of Eagle Bay to the outskirts of Dunsborough further south. Walking and biking trails run through the park, while rugged cliffs offer plenty of great opportunities for whale-watching during the migration season.

Surfing

The Margaret River region is a world-renowned surf spot. If you’re an experienced surfer you can tackle the wild waves on the exposed side of Cape Naturaliste at Windmills or Three Bears inside the national park. On the Eagle Bay side of the cape, Meelup Regional Park’s Point Piquet and the Farm and Boneyards off Bunker Bay are more manageable surf breaks if you’re still learning.