Cervantes Family Getaway

If you’ve never been it’s a must place to visit and if you’ve been,
I believe you have probably already returned if not more than once.

Cervantes is one of our favourite places to holiday as a family, we have been coming here together as a family for more than 10 years now.
I’m not sure why it’s taken me this long to write a blog about it but on one of our most recent trips, I decided it was time to share this amazing place with you all and our favourite things to do when we come to Cervantes.

Our top What To Do’s

Besides the obvious of just switching off from everyday life and being present with the kids, playing Uno, Guess Who or watching a movie.
I’ve put together our top list of favourites What To Do in Cervantes in no particular order.

Cervante Islands

Ensure you do your own research as some islands are protected as part of the Jurien Bay Marine Park. A lot of these islands are breeding grounds for numerus wildlife including the Australian Sea Lion.
If you do not have your own boat, the Lobster Shack do Sea Lion tours which I’ve heard are great too.

We did some snorkeling around the islands as the coral is beautiful with so many different types of fish to be seen, loads of fun for the kids to experience. Of course, if you are into scuba diving, I imagine that would be amazing too.

The Pinnacles

We love the Pinnacles, (also known as Nambung National Park) the kids also love it there, so we go most times when visiting Cervantes. It makes us feel like tourists in our own country because it is always busy with international travellers, there never seem to be many Western Australians there. The Pinnacles has a great feeling to it, the surrounding is unusual. Therefore, I think it feels like you are in a different world when there, it has a spiritual feeling too (if you are into that). It’s a similar feeling to me as when I visited Uluru (Eyers Rock) but on a much smaller scale, like you can feel the earth there has a lot of history.

The Pinnacles is only 15 mins drive from Cervantes South on Indian Ocean Drive. You pay $15 per vehicle and The Pinnacle Discovery Centre is open from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Our little tradition to do is grab a pizza from the local cafe in Cervantes or pack a picnic and have dinner at the Pinnacles and watch the sunset into the yellow sand. Take your time driving through, stopping exploring as there are a few lookouts but also plenty of animal footprints to discover, which the kids loved doing. We saw footprints from Kangaroos and Emus. Picture an Emu walking along on this land it would be incredible to witness, hopefully on our next visit.

Beach Days

Our absolute favourite days, well mine anyway 😉 There is no shortage of beach choices in Cervantes and if you are lucky with the wind, you can get some beautiful flat water. Thirsty Point is a great swimming beach if you like waves and is popular for windsurfing too. Mother nature has actually washed out half the carpark, which is restricting you from going to look at the view from the lookout.
Directly out the front of the RAC Cervantes Holiday Park in Ronsard Bay is a perfect beach for families with shallow water for the kids and they have even placed permanent shade on the beach for the public to use.
It’s a great spot to watch all the boats launch and retrieve on the beach in front with most locals using tractors to do this which I find quite unique to Cervantes.

Further North in Ronsard Bay past the jetty there is plenty of spots to set up for the day. The best part is you can drive onto the beach and find your perfect spot (a 4 wheel drive is a must though).
The only negative I have on the Cervantes beaches is the amount of seaweed on the beaches. When I first visited Cervantes many years ago, I don’t remember it being as bad as it is today. But if you can see past that it’s a beautiful part of the West Australian coastline.

Always keep your eyes open to spot the gorgeous dolphins and local stingrays which come in close in the shallows to show off to you. The excitement on the kids faces is priceless.

Sandboarding

Sandboarding is really popular in the Cervantes and Jurien Bay dunes and is great fun for both the kids and adults. Bring your sand board along and be weary of vehicles 4WDing through the dunes as that is popular too.

Where To Eat

For a little town there are plenty of eating choses. Firstly, you just can’t go past the Lobster Shack,
it’s open 7 days a week from 11am till 3pm. You can sit on the ocean side and enjoy the view or sit on the other side, where there’s a playground and enjoy some peace while the kids play.

Then there is the Tavern, Cervantes Bar and Bistro, which do great meals too in a relaxed environment, if you catch them on a particular day or night they may have a live band ready to play. They also have a sports bar attached with pool tables ect. Note they are closed Monday & Tuesdays.

The Cervantes Country Club also do delicious meals and are open to the public. There is plenty of lawn area for the kids to run around the back of the club, and around sunset the local kangaroos come out to say hi.

Seabreeze Cafe do some yummy pizzas.

Seashells Cafe which is part of the RAC Cervantes Holiday Park are open daily and you get to sit outside with a beautiful view of the ocean and park right in front of you. The staff are really friendly too. We came here quite a few times on our last trip as it’s an easy stop for lunch or an ice-cream on the way back from the beach.

Where To Stay

We are blessed with a family holiday shack in Cervantes, but we have stayed at some of the local accommodation too when the family home is already full or when we feel like a bit of a change. There is a wide range of accommodation to suit every budget and also depending on the size of your family.

The Pinnacles Edge Resort is in a great location and have a few different options available depending how much space you need. Ranging from a spa suite, a studio room or a two-bedroom apartment. The resort has a lovely pool and BBQ area too. Walking distance to everything you need the shops, beach and cafes.

Another popular place to stay is the newly revamped RAC Cervantes Holiday Park located on the beachfront and walking distance to everything too. Here you can camp out in your own tent or caravan, but you can also stay in their new villas 2-3 bedroom villas. The park has a brand new camp kitchen, a laundry room, a pool, a playground and even a recreational room for you to enjoy during your stay.

The Cervantes Lodge which is owned by the Lobster Shack is fairly new to town too. The accommodation looks stunning on their website but I myself have never stayed here. It is on the other side of town so therefore not as close walking distance to everywhere but then that depends what you are wanted to do. I do hear too that there is no air conditioner at this accommodation, so depending what time of year it is it may not be too comfortable, but as I said I have never stayed here myself.

Now this next one is definitely on my list to stay at some point when we visit again it’s called Bungalow Beach House it looks like absolute luxury and to be honest, I’m a little scared to bring my kids here so maybe I’ll save this for a luxury adult weekend away with some couples or just my girlfriends.