We LOVE Busselton, or as we locals and West Aussies like to call it, Busso. We come often enough that we like to think we are locals even though we definitely aren’t, maybe one day. There’s nothing better than jumping in the car on a Friday arvo and heading douth (down south) to Busso.

There are so many things to do in Busselton, with Margaret River on your doorstep and Dunsborough just around the corner. We love to base ourselves in Busselton because it’s such a lovely town with everything you need, including two indie bookstores! The fact we have family there who give us free accommodation definitely helps too! Given that we visit so much, we thought we’d share our top ten things to do around here. Hopefully, it helps you plan your trip and gives you a few new places to check out!

Be sure to check out our Instagram to see all of our favourite places down south!

There are plenty to choose from and all of them are beautiful. If it’s a calm beach you’re after, stick within Geographe bay as it is very sheltered, perfect for kids or those of us who aren’t great with waves, *cough* Tiff *cough*. For the boogie boarders and surfers among us, don’t worry. The region is renowned for its swell. You just need to head out of Geographe bay and you’ll find nothing but wavy beaches!

Check out our top 5 beaches post to get started. Or, if you don’t have time to visit a lot of beaches, we’d say Meelup is our number one must-do beach in the area. It’s perfect for swimming. It’s very sheltered, with BBQs and shaded grass areas to sit in. To satisfy the more adventurous beachgoers, there are kayaks and stand up paddle boards for hire as well.

Definitely our favorite brunch spot in Busselton; Hummingbird cafe is the perfect way to start any day.

The cafe is huge, with well-spaced out tables and lush plants dotted around the modern space. It is such a bright happy cafe, with room to breathe and relax, whilst enjoying a delicious plate of food. We love the quirky names they give to some of their dishes along with the less conventional breakfast options. Trust us when we say you need to get the gnocchi. It wouldn’t normally be our first choice for breakfast, but OH. MY. It is incredible! Oh, and did we mention they do cocktails?! Yup, this place has everything to make the start of your day brilliant.

If brunch isn’t your thing, they also do lunch and have a delicious array of baked goodies in a glass casing at the counter. We have been on multiple banana smoothie and cake outings with our young nephews here and they adore it. The smoothies are pretty healthy and get the tick of approval from Mum and Dad, too. So you really can not go wrong at Hummingbird.

There is an abundance of caves in the area. Check out our blog post on our favourite ones if you can’t decide which you’d like to visit. They are all incredibly unique and all worth a visit. However, they can get a bit pricey and time-consuming if you’re trying to do it all in one trip. Here are two great but very different caves for you to choose from if you are short on time or money.

Lake Cave is a showstopper. You descend into a timeless, lush green valley before entering a small but picturesque cave. The reflections off the lake are stunning with spectacular stalactites hanging over it. This is a guided tour but don’t worry, they give you plenty of time to take photos and even back light the stalactites for a light show whilst you sit in the cave. It is a rather small but spectacular cave, so it’s perfect if you’re short on time or for those of us who get a little uneasy being underground for too long.

If you are more interested in exploring a cave than seeing an abundance of lit-up stalactites, then Giant’s cave is for you. This cave is a self-guided cave where you’re given a hard hat and torch and then sent on your way. We’ve done this multiple times, and it’s always been really quiet. We’ve even had the cave to ourselves. We loved turning our lights out and being plunged into darkness. We’d definitely recommend adding this to your list, as it’s still a bit of a hidden gem compared to other caves in the region.

However, we definitely recommend the scallops. We get them every time, without fail, and usually end up ordering another helping after we’ve finished our lunch. Why get dessert when you can just keep ordering scallops?! When you have finished eating your body weight in scallops head down to the beach, you’ve been admiring all lunch for a little walk or even a swim. It’s beautiful and one of the quieter beaches in the area.

This has to be on everyone’s list of things to do in Busselton. You can’t go douth without visiting a winery or two.

Everyone seems to have their own favourite winery in the region. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of them. Our all-time favourite is Gralyn Estate, as it’s the winery that got us to stop drinking only Moscato and start enjoying all kinds of whites. They even got us enjoying red wine with their light and refreshing Racy Red. Now we pretty much drink anything, but we still make sure to go back to Gralyns and stock up on their Racy Red every time we are in Busselton.

Another favourite of ours is Windows Estate. We fell in love with the artwork on their bottles. Then fell in love with their wine and the way they farm. A small family-run winery that farms consciously, producing beautiful organic wines. We especially love that they named different vineyards on the land after their children.

No really, they actually have mermaids here!

During the summer holidays, you can catch mermaids swimming amongst the beautiful coral in this underwater observatory. Check the Busselton jetty for dates and bookings as this fills up fast. Don’t worry if you’re not there when the mermaids are because the fish and coral of the jetty make this a magical experience any time of year.

It’s amazing being under the waves staying completely dry and not having to come up for air every ten seconds. The underwater observatory is below the water at the end of the Busselton jetty. You can either walk out to it or catch a gorgeous little train that runs the length of the jetty. We say why not do both and save a little money by only taking the train one way? Or if you are like us and on a budget, walk both ways and cross that off your bucket list. After all, it is the longest wooden piled jetty in the southern hemisphere.

There are so many amazing spots to go hiking in this region. The cape-to-cape track is the best place to start for stunning coastal cliffs and pristine beaches. Don’t worry, you don’t need to walk all 130kms. There are some great spots you can park at to do part of the walk. We recommend starting it at the very beginning as it’s a very good place to start!

The Cape Naturalist lighthouse in Yallingup is the start of the walk and it definitely eases you into it. If you aren’t an avid hiker, definitely do this section first. Ease into it by following the track for a couple of km before retracing your steps to the car park. Or you can jump right in and keep going to sugarloaf rock for a 7km round walk. This section is also wheelchair accessible with boardwalks and a lot of lovely viewing platforms on the way to stop and take in the views.

Our favourite brewery of all time is conveniently located in Busselton. There’s no need to worry about who the skipper will be.

Walking distance from a lot of the accommodation in Busso isn’t even the best part about Rocky Ridge. They have a beer for everyone and are constantly brewing up new and fabulous concoctions for you to try. They also have Margaret River Burger Co. on site to bring you delicious eats. Not a beer fan? Not to worry, they are partnered with LS Merchants and have plenty of wine on offer. If you’re super lucky, you may even get to say hi to one of the Rocky Ridge pups! It really doesn’t get any better than that. We never, and I mean NEVER, go to Busselton without stopping in here. If we don’t have time to sit for a drink, we stock up on their latest beers. But let’s be honest, we pretty much always make time to stop for a drink.

A relatively recent addition to the Busselton Scene. We ended up going twice in one week because Nathan absolutely LOVED the course! 18 holes are available and they increase in difficulty and imagination, ending on a hole with train tracks and ramps in the way of that elusive hole in one. There are even holes where you need to putt through a waterfall! We have never done such an exciting mini golf course in our lives.

Each hole has two difficulty levels as well, making this a great place for all skill levels or patience levels depending on how you want to spin that one! The course is very well shaded for the first half and a little lacking in the second. However, some trees have been planted to fix this in the future, they just have a little growing to do first. Oh, and did we mention that you can drink on the course?! There are tables at each hole to place your beverage down whilst concentrating on your putt. They have a good selection of drinks but if it’s a hot day we recommend their Frosè, a glass of frozen rosè, to keep you cool and refreshed.

Unleash your inner Katniss or Robin Hood with a round of archery at Primal Archery in Busselton.

There is something thrilling about using a bow and arrow, channeling some of your favourite medieval and modern-day fictional characters. The park has options of either a 5 or 10-target course of varying difficulties. Of course, we did the 10 and loved every moment of it. If shooting a target doesn’t sound exciting enough, why not get a bunch of friends together and shoot each other instead? No, seriously, the park has a very safe and very fun archery tag game. Don’t worry though, you shoot each other with foam-tipped arrows. Think of a mix between paintball, dodgeball, and, of course, archery.

High up in a Tuart Forest just 20 minutes out of Busselton is this adventure-packed high ropes and flying fox course. The park spans across eight acres of natural bushland with towering Tuart trees as the fixed points for these fun rope and wire obstacles. There are six different courses in total, with varying degrees of difficulty, and a total of 77 activities. One even involves riding a bike over a wooden slatted bridge high up between two trees! Don’t worry though, you have a helmet and a harness, so you can’t fall far.

After a safety briefing and a quick go of a course lower to the ground (just to make sure you were listening during the safety briefing) you are let loose to choose what parts of this amazing course you want to tackle first! There were kids and adults here from ages 7 and up, so if you are a little scared of heights or not the most agile among us, don’t fret as there is some fun for everyone here.

Course heights range from 3 to 19 meters off the ground and are color-coded based on height and difficulty, so you can pick the ones suited to the level of adventure you are looking for. They also have heaps of flying foxes, 11 to be precise, the longest of which is over 150 meters! We had a great time here. The main reason we hesitated to include it in the top 10 was the $44 per adult price tag. For what you get, it isn’t too badly priced, but it has stopped us going back time and time again, which we thought was something worth mentioning. Everything else on our list we have done multiple times and still loved it! We also didn’t have a great photo to share for this one as we forgot the GoPro when we went.

We recommend stopping in at Viva Bookstore and Barefoot books for a browse. If books aren’t your thing, Viva has you covered with gifts from around the region. Afterward, pick up a delicious pastry from Baked, the best bakery in town, and take it down to the Busselton foreshore to enjoy it along the beach.

Your time in Busso wouldn’t be complete without a walk on the iconic Busselton jetty. We love to go in the afternoon when it’s free to roam and enjoy the sunset. The jetty is 1841 metres long, making it the longest wooden piled jetty in the southern hemisphere and giving you a nice little workout after a day of drinking and eating your way around the area. This is exactly what we love to do after a day of stopping into different wineries, breweries, and, of course, the chocolate factory when exploring the region.

The perfect reward for walking the length of the jetty? A delicious cocktail and tapas-style food from the Fire Station in town. This cute little pub lives in an old restored fire station on the main strip of Busselton. They have nightly specials and happy hours and are always popular. We have never had to book a table, though. You simply walk in, find a spot to sit, and order at the bar. Their bao buns are delicious and go perfectly with a cocktail or beer, which you’ve earnt after walking the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere.

Remember when you are exploring these lands and waters that you are on Noongar Country. The Wadandi and Bibbulman people are the traditional owners of these lands, skies and waterways.

Please remember to be respectful of the Country you are on. Leave it as you found it, tread with care, and treat all you encounter with respect. In this way, the land can be enjoyed by generations to come.

We’d like to thank the Wadandi and Bibbulman people for welcoming people to their Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Acknowledging that this always was and always will be Indigenous land.