Are Australia’s best beaches in Esperance?

Sometimes I forget how beautiful it is where I live at the moment. Living somewhere that my daily commute is a three-minute drive along the beach means (and I hate to admit it) I take the local coastline for granted sometimes. After a busy period at work, and while coming out of winter, I had sort of forgotten how spectacular Esperance can be. This weekend I rediscovered it. An article I read in a magazine last week said one of my local beaches was ‘stunning’. When great weather was forecast for the weekend I couldn’t resist heading to the beach to remind myself.

Despite winning its fair share of awards like ‘Australia’s best beach’ and ‘Australia’s whitest sand’ Esperance, in the south east corner of Western Australia also has some grey days, like most places. When it turns the magic on however, Esperance has some pretty remarkable scenery. Esperance is on Australia’s south west coast and the next stop is Antarctica. While this means the sea is bloody freezing it also makes the water crystal clear. The water turns from clear and sparkling to turquoise to a deep, rich blue, all in one glimpse at the sea. It is beautiful.

The sand on the beaches is some of the whitest you will see anywhere and crunches underfoot the way fresh snow does. It is incredibly fine and squeaky clean; children delight in rubbing their feet on it and making nails-on-a-blackboard-style screeches. Lucky bay in the Cape Le Grand National Park is also home to a gang of kangaroos that enjoy lazing on the sand and stealing from barbecues (you have been warned!)

Venture even slightly outside the town centre and you will meet wildlife. Esperance’s isolation leaves a lot of open space on the periphery, enabling wildlife to thrive. During a 30-minute drive yesterday my friend and I saw five kangaroos, four emus, a blue-tongued lizard, a hawk and magpies.

The weather was spectacular this weekend and exploring my favourite local beaches with friends reminded me how beautiful the local coastline is. Have you ever felt like you rediscovered your local area?