About Perth's Beaches

Perth and its environ have a lot to offer; outside the skyscrapers and 19th century facades, you will find a land of sand. Perth has some of the most pristine coastlines in the world. Fine, powdery white beaches stretch from the city s western suburbs to Lancelin, 125 kilometers north of Perth. Although local life is centered around the water, Perth s beaches are never crowded.

The city has nineteen beaches within a short distance of Perth s Central Business District, mostly wide and white with an occasional interesting cove. Many of these beaches are great for surfing. These include Cottesloe, City, Scarborough, Floreat, Brighton, Leighton Port, Swanbourne and Trigg Island, although several of these beaches can get pretty rough at times. If you prefer calmer beaches, head for the calm, protected Peppermint Grove or Crawley Beach on the Swan River or Como, all three of which are within an easy bus ride away. Rent a bike or a convertible car and spend the day cruising under the warm sunshine with a beachside picnic along the sunset trip, or you could try something more adventurous such as yachting or windsurfing.

While pretty much all of the sprawling white beaches in Perth are sensational, Cottesloe, a fifteen-minute ride away from Perth City, tends to be a local favorite. Quaint cafes, children s playgrounds, glorious sunshine and the sparkling Indian Ocean beckons to young crowds and families for body boarding, surfing and snorkeling. Regular swimmers, picnicking families and sun-bakers frequent Cottesloe Beach that is open twenty-four hours a day.

The beach also has a wide variety of choice locations to watch the sunset. Enjoy dazzling views across the Indian Ocean from one of the many bustling restaurants and cafes along Marine Parade or from a deserted stretch of sand. Along the south end of the beach, a sheltered reef provides a good spot for snorkeling. City Beach is also excellent for body boarding and sunset beach fishing. This is one of only a few spots that can be surfed when the Fremantle Doctor blows in. During summer, surfers will have to wait until the flags for swimmers are removed but this is also a good body surfing spot while you are waiting.

City Beach is reputed to be a fun spot particularly for arvo surfing in summer. Another great thing about City Beach is that you can surf at night by the light on the end of the pier. Other surfers head further north in public buses # 400 and 408 which run every eight minutes in summer just west of the Perth train station to Scarborough Beach, 15 minutes north-west of the city. These surfers swear Scarborough Beach has the best white sand surf beach in the world. Beach and water conditions are usually ideal during mornings. Sunny winter days are usually calm and beautiful.

The beach accommodation at Scarborough Beach offers nearby hotels, apartment units and cheap accommodation at the beachside for backpackers. If you re not into surfing yourself, you ll be thrilled by the speed and stunts of Perth s marine windsurfing and kite surfing center during afternoons when the sea breeze gets blowing. You can swim, fish, people-watch, explore, skate, travel, cycle, windsurf, kite surf, shop, dine, hold conferences, or because the beach is so long and vast, you can just choose a peaceful dune hollow away from the crowd and drop out, relax and sun bake.

Leighton Beach is situated twelve kilometers south west of Perth or four kilometers away from Fremantle. It is around an eight hundred meter walk fro the North Fremantle train station. With public toilets, change rooms, a Surf Life Saving Club available, this spot is popular with families. They even offer an animal exercise beach. At Leighton Beach, make sure to stay between the red and yellow flags when swimming as they mark the safest areas to swim. Also, if you are ever unsure of surf conditions, you can always ask the lifeguards who patrol the beach. Swanbourne is the official nude beach in Perth. It attracts hundreds upon hundreds of naturists who are lured by the huge white sand dunes.

The beach is twenty minutes away from Perth. If you don t have a car, you can take the # 207 bus and get off at the Swanbourne-Nedlands Golf Club. If you re taking the train, you get off at Grant Street and walk west about three quarters of a mile to the beach. Swanbourne has been made famous for being the location of the annual nude beach Olympics. This family event features tug-of-wars, nude volleyball, and three legged races, even a best bum competition.This event is traditionally held in late January or early February. Parking is free but better to get there early as the lot gets filled up pretty quickly especially on hot days.

Sports

Being kissed by the sun for a good part of the year makes Perth ideal for outdoor and water sports. As a consequence, Perth has become a haven of acclaimed sporting events and teams. Perth has the world s strongest field hockey regional competition and is home to several members of the national Australian hockey team that has bagged Gold Medals in the Olympics, both in the men and ladies division. Hockey is available to children and to people over forty as shown by the profusion of hockey clubs in the area.

The World Lacrosse Games in 2002 was also hosted by Perth. Aside from the World Lacrosse Championships, the World Lacrosse Games featured the Australian Youth Lacrosse Championship, International Open Championships and championships for the Masters (aged 35 and above) and Grandmasters (aged 45 and above). For tennis enthusiasts, the international tournament known as the Hopman Cup is annually hosted by Perth. The tournament is usually held on the early part January or the last week of December at the harcourt of the Burswood Casino known as the Burswood Dome.

Sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the results of individual players are included in calculating world rankings. The competition is also an important Australian Open prequel. Other annual events include the Avon Descent, Telstra Rally Australia and cricket matches. The Avon Descent, a white water two day event held every August has little motorboats, kayaks and surf skies running from Northam to Western Australia, specifically Perth. Telstra Rally Australia is an automobile competition voted three times as Rally of the Year by the teams of FIA World Rally Championship.

The 2005 rally, which covered three days, was rally number 16 of the World Rally Championships and included the world reknowned Bannister Forest jumps. Test cricket matches and one day internationals are held every summer by the Australian cricket team at the grounds of the WACA. The team is, along with England, internationally the oldest cricket team with a Test match as early as 1877. England and Australia are currently percieved to be the leading nations in Test playing. The Australian cricket team is also the leading team in one day internationals having the distinction of winning the Cricket World Cup three times since 1987.

The WACA ground is also home to the cricket team Western Warriors. It is a first class team that competes in the Pura Cup for first class and the one day ING Cup. It has won the Pura Cup, formerly Sheffield Shield, 15 times since it joined and is the top team in the ING Cup with 11 wins. Perth has concieved of other sporting teams like the Fremantle Football Club and the West Coast Eagles both in the Australian Football League (AFL) and based in the Subiaco Oval. For the A-League soccer competition there s Perth Glory, who won the last two seasons of the National Soccer League. The Perth Wildcats hogs the limelight in the National Basketball League and for rugby there s the Western Force, Perth Gold, Western Reds and the Perth Reds for the Super League.

If you find yourself enjoying your active Perth holiday, have you ever considered skiing? It certainly gives as much as a rush as the surfing of Australia’s famous beaches does! Ski Andorra is one of the most popular options and so why not check it out today. If you prefer natural tourism, you can rent a casa rural León Bierzo, where you can walk and know more about the landscape of the province.