Busselton

Busselton is one of the easiest and most rewarding day trips from Bunbury. The drive south along the Bussell Highway takes about 40 minutes, and you arrive at a seaside town built around one truly famous landmark.

The Busselton Jetty

At around 1.8 kilometres, the Busselton Jetty is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere and has been reaching out over Geographe Bay since the 1860s. You can walk its full length, ride the little jetty train, and at the far end descend into the Underwater Observatory, where windows eight metres below the surface look straight into the coral and fish life growing on the jetty piles.

Beaches and the foreshore

Geographe Bay faces north, so Busselton's beaches are calm, shallow and superb for families — a very different character from the surf coast further south. The redeveloped foreshore precinct beside the jetty has swimming areas, playgrounds, cafes and grassed picnic spots, and it hosts festivals and events through the warmer months.

Gateway to the capes

Busselton is also the turn-off point for the Margaret River wine region and the capes coast. If you're following the coast onwards, Dunsborough and Cape Naturaliste are another 20 minutes west — an easy add-on to make a full South West day loop from Bunbury.