Cottesloe Beach

Cottesloe is the beach Perth thinks of as its own, a curve of white sand between Fremantle and the northern suburbs, with terraced lawns, Norfolk Island pines and the Indiana Teahouse, a pavilion of 1996 modelled on the Centenary Pavilion of 1929 and built on the site of earlier bathhouses. The water is clear, the swimming generally calm inside the groyne, and the beach faces due west, which makes sunset a daily event with people gathering on the grass and the hotel balcony. Each March, Sculpture by the Sea places dozens of works along the sand and lawns for a fortnight, free to walk through, and the beach hosts ocean swims and surf carnivals through summer.

History

The beach, Mudurup in Noongar, has been one of the most popular in Western Australia since the suburb was established in the 1880s, and refreshment stalls and bathing pavilions appeared in 1898; a jetty of 1904 was lost to storms the same year, and a sturdier pier of 100 metres followed four years later. The Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club, the first in Western Australia, opened in 1909, the first Indiana Tea House of 1910 was replaced by the Centenary Pavilion in 1929, and after that building became unstable a small pavilion of 1983 gave way to the present Indiana Tea House, designed by Lawrence Scanlan after the 1929 pavilion and finished in 1996 (Wikipedia, Cottesloe Beach).

What's there

• The pavilion and lawns - the Indiana teahouse above the terraced grass.
• The sunset - the beach facing due west over the Indian Ocean.
• Sculpture by the Sea - the free March exhibition along the sand.
• The pines - the Norfolk Island pine avenue behind the beach.

When to go

November to April for swimming, with water warmest from January to March; the Fremantle Doctor, a strong afternoon sea breeze, arrives most summer days and cools things sharply. Sculpture by the Sea runs in March and draws large crowds.

Practical notes

The afternoon sea breeze is strong enough to end a beach day. Parking is limited and metered, and difficult in summer and during Sculpture by the Sea. Sharks are present along this coast and beaches close occasionally.

Nearby

Fremantle lies south; Perth's centre is twenty minutes by train.

Key facts