Busselton

Busselton is a city of 28,000 people (2018) on Geographe Bay in the South West region of Western Australia. It is famous for its 2-km-long heritage jetty, which has been restored for tourism. Busselton was voted Western Australia's top tourist town in 1995, 1996, and 2005.

Understand
Busselton was a very early settled farming and timber port in a sheltered Geographe Bay, just south of the larger Bunbury.

It was connected by railway to Perth until 1957. It is now served by wider, faster highways, and is predominantly a car-oriented location. Although public and private transport is available to the intrepid traveller, car-based travel in the area is the dominant mode.

The regions roads are so much faster and by connecting to Margaret River to the south, the by-pass road lies just to the south, and you can travel to Margaret River without 'going into' Busselton, as you had to do in the past.

The town was on a beachside, and it spread, and spread, and now with the named location Dunsborough to the west, and wetlands to the east, it is a long spread out homage to the beachside environment. Because the town and its spread around the bay is all flat, it is an excellent bicycling area.

The original town next to the jetty remains busy and central for services.

In the 1970s an enterprising Perth based artist designed a t-shirt satirising the Western Australian tourist promotion of the time Relax in a State of Excitement with a reply, by putting on the rear of the t-shirt - A Billion flies cannot be wrong.

Busselton and the surrounds have in the past been captive to the swarm of bush flies that gather on the back, and around the eyes of the unwary. Hats with corks and nets hanging from them are good antidotes if you are otherwise unprepared for them.

Get in
Busselton is 220 km (140 mi) south-west of Perth.

By car
Busselton is under 3 hours drive from Perth, and under an hour from Bunbury.

By coach
TransWA connect with the Bunbury Train. South West Coaches have scheduled services to Bunbury with onward connections to Perth (including direct connecting services from Perth Airport to Bunbury).

By plane
Busselton Margaret River Airport is around 10 minutes drive inland from town, but does not have any commercial services. Charter flights may be available.

Get around
You can walk from the pier and the beach to town, they are around 200 m apart.

Busselton has a local bus service, stretching as far south as the Margaret River region, as far north as Bunbury.

Do

 * Swimming, there is a swimming pier by the side of the main pier, close to shore.
 * Snorkelling is good around the main pier.
 * Tennis - nice old-fashioned grass tennis courts available to hire at the tennis centre by the water.

Eat
If you feel like ice-cream, you have a choice of Simmos at the beach, or Gelato in town. The Gelato is homemade and relatively cheap, and they make their own chocolate spoons and bowls.

Busselton has an amazing amount of large licenced cafes, serving modern Australian style cuisine. You have plenty of choice if you take a walk down the main street.



Go next

 * West
 * Yallingup
 * South
 * Cowaramup
 * Margaret River
 * Augusta
 * South East
 * Nannup