Best Things to Do in Margaret River: Wine, Waves and Wilderness in WA’s South-West
Margaret River is one of those places that gets under your skin. I first visited on a spontaneous detour from Perth — I’d heard good things about the wine — and ended up staying for nearly a week, completely bewitched by the combination of world-class food and drink, dramatic surf coastline, ancient caves, and towering karri forest. Years on, it remains one of my favourite places in Australia, and every time I mention it to someone who hasn’t been, I watch their face shift when I describe it. It’s that kind of destination.
The Margaret River region covers a cape of land in Western Australia’s south-west, roughly 270km south of Perth, and it packs an extraordinary variety of experiences into a relatively compact area. You could spend a week here doing wine tastings, surfing, cave exploring, hiking through old-growth forest, and eating exceptionally well — and still leave with a list of things you didn’t get to. This guide covers the best of it.
📋 TL;DR – Best Things to Do in Margaret River
- ✅ Wine tasting is the main event: Over 200 cellar doors in the region — Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the standouts, but Riesling and Semillon are also brilliant.
- 🌊 The surf is world-class: Surfers Point at Prevelly hosts international surfing competitions; the beaches around the cape are consistently excellent.
- 🦎 The caves are extraordinary: Jewel Cave, Lake Cave, and Mammoth Cave are among the most spectacular cave systems in the world.
- 🌲 The karri forests are awe-inspiring: Boranup Forest is one of the most beautiful drives in Australia.
- 🍽️ The food scene is exceptional: Margaret River town has excellent restaurants, a great farmers’ market, and some outstanding brewery restaurants.
- 🏕️ Book ahead in summer: December to February gets very busy — accommodation fills up quickly and cellar doors can be crowded.
- 🐳 Whale season runs April to December: Humpback and southern right whales migrate past the cape in huge numbers.
🍷 The Margaret River wine region
Margaret River produces less than three percent of Australia’s total wine output, but accounts for around twenty percent of its premium wine sales. This tells you everything you need to know about the quality level. The region’s Mediterranean climate — warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters — is perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and the best examples from here compete comfortably with the finest from Bordeaux and Burgundy.
With over 200 cellar doors in the region, the challenge isn’t finding somewhere to taste — it’s choosing where to focus your time. My advice: pick four or five for each day and don’t rush. The experience of sitting on a verandah with a glass of outstanding Cabernet, looking out over vines and native bush, is something to be savoured rather than ticked off.
🏆 Must-visit cellar doors in Margaret River
- Leeuwin Estate. The grande dame of Margaret River wine, Leeuwin’s Art Series Chardonnay is one of Australia’s greatest white wines. The cellar door is stunning, the restaurant is excellent, and the summer concert series (featuring major international acts performing on the estate lawn) is one of the great annual events in Australian wine culture. Book the concert tickets and winery lunch if you can — it’s a superb combination.
- Cullen Wines. One of the founding estates of the Margaret River wine industry, Cullen is now certified biodynamic and produces wines of extraordinary depth and complexity. The Diana Madeline — a Cabernet Sauvignon blend — is among Australia’s finest reds. The cellar door is relaxed and the staff are knowledgeable without being intimidating.
- Cape Mentelle. Founded in 1970 and now part of the LVMH portfolio, Cape Mentelle makes reliably excellent wines across a wide range, from an entry-level Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon to top-tier Cabernet. The cellar door has a lovely outdoor area and the wines represent excellent value across the range.
- Vasse Felix. The oldest estate in the region, Vasse Felix was established in 1967 and has maintained extraordinary quality ever since. The cellar door and restaurant are architecturally impressive, the art collection is significant, and the wine quality — particularly the Heytesbury Cabernet — is consistently high.
- Voyager Estate. One of the most beautiful properties in the region, Voyager Estate has a rose garden surrounding the cellar door that’s spectacular in spring. The wines lean toward the powerful and rich end of the spectrum — the Cabernet Merlot blend is excellent — and the restaurant is one of the finest in the region.
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🌊 Surfing and beaches
The Margaret River region has a coastline of extraordinary variety — from sheltered family beaches to world-class surf breaks that regularly host international competitions. Whether you’re a seasoned surfer or someone who just wants to dip their toes in the Indian Ocean, you’ll find what you’re looking for here.
🏄 Surfers Point (Prevelly)
Surfers Point at Prevelly is the most famous surf break in WA and regularly ranked among the best right-hand breaks in the world. The Margaret River Pro — a World Surf League Championship Tour event — is held here each year, attracting the world’s best surfers. If you’re an experienced surfer, this is a bucket-list wave; if you’re a beginner, watch from the headland rather than paddling out. The rips and power here are not forgiving for novices.
🏖️ Meelup Beach and Eagle Bay
At the northern end of the region, Meelup Regional Park protects a stunning stretch of coastline near Dunsborough with several sheltered, family-friendly beaches. Eagle Bay is the standout: a sweeping crescent of pale sand and gin-clear water backed by native bush, with a small boat ramp and excellent snorkelling around the rocky headlands. It’s one of those beaches that makes you stop and stare when you round the corner and see it for the first time.
Worth adding to your itinerary: Things to Do in Fremantle.
🌅 Hamelin Bay
About 30 minutes south of Margaret River town, Hamelin Bay has calm, crystal-clear water and — extraordinarily — large stingrays that swim in the shallows and have become completely habituated to humans. You can literally wade into the shallows and have a stingray swim between your legs. It sounds terrifying and is, in fact, one of the most enchanting wildlife encounters I’ve experienced in Australia. The bay is protected and the rays are wild — they come and go as they please — but they’re there most days, especially in the early morning.
🕳️ The caves
Beneath the limestone landscape of the Margaret River region lies one of the world’s most extensive cave systems, with over 100 known caves along a 100km stretch of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge. Four caves are open to the public, each with a different character and appeal.
💎 Jewel Cave
Jewel Cave, near Augusta at the southern tip of the cape, is the showpiece — the largest and most spectacular of the tourist caves. A 45-minute guided tour takes you through enormous chambers dripping with stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, and the extraordinary helictites — delicate, twisted formations that seem to defy gravity. The cave’s name comes from its brilliant colours and the gem-like quality of its formations when illuminated. It’s genuinely beautiful, and even if you’ve visited caves elsewhere in the world, this one stands apart.
🌊 Lake Cave
Lake Cave is the deepest of the tourist caves and contains a permanent underground lake — extraordinarily clear water in which the cave formations are perfectly reflected, creating a mirror-image that plays tricks on the eye. The cave is smaller and more intimate than Jewel Cave, but the centrepiece “suspended table” — a massive stalactite formation that appears to float above the lake — is one of the most striking things I’ve seen underground anywhere in the world.
👉 Book Margaret River Cave Tours on GetYourGuide →
🌲 Boranup Forest and the karri trees
The drive through Boranup Forest, in the southern section of Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, is one of the most beautiful stretches of road in Australia. Karri trees — ancient eucalypts that grow to 80 metres or more, with smooth, pale silver-grey bark — line both sides of the road, creating a cathedral-like effect of arching canopy and dappled light. The forest has a timeless, primeval quality that’s very hard to describe; you simply have to experience it.
Walking trails through the forest include the Boranup Lookout Walk (rewarding views over the forest and ocean), and several longer trails that connect with the Cape to Cape Track — a 135km coastal walk from Cape Naturaliste in the north to Cape Leeuwin in the south that’s one of Australia’s great multi-day hikes. Even a short section of the Cape to Cape Track — say the two-hour stretch between Hamelin Bay and Boranup Beach — gives you a taste of the extraordinary coastal scenery without needing to commit to the full route.
🍺 Breweries and beyond wine
Margaret River has an excellent craft beer scene that’s worth exploring even if wine is your primary interest. The Bootleg Brewery in Wilyabrup is one of the oldest craft breweries in WA and has a brilliant outdoor setting with a large lawn, play equipment for kids, and good food. Eagle Bay Brewing Co, at the northern end of the region, has a similarly relaxed outdoor setting with superb views and excellent pizza. Black Brewing Co in Dunsborough is slicker and more urban in feel, but the beer is outstanding — particularly the Japanese-style lager and the fruited sour range.
🌊 Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
At the southernmost tip of the Margaret River region, Cape Leeuwin marks the point where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet — and the lighthouse here, built in 1895, is one of the most dramatic positions in Australia. The walking tracks around the cape allow you to stand at the very tip of the continent, watching two vast oceans collide in a churning mess of white water. Whale watching from the cape is excellent from July to September, when southern right and humpback whales pass close to shore. The lighthouse itself can be climbed on a guided tour, and the views from the top — across the meeting oceans on one side and back over the forested cape on the other — are extraordinary.
💡 Practical tips for visiting Margaret River
- 🚗 A car is essential: The cellar doors, caves, and beaches are spread across a large area and public transport is minimal. Plan to hire a car, and designate a driver if you’re planning a full day of tastings.
- 📅 The Saturday farmers’ market is unmissable: The Margaret River Farmers Market, held on Saturdays from 8am to noon in the Rotary Park, is one of the best in Australia — fresh local produce, artisan bread, local cheeses, and excellent coffee.
- 🌧️ Winter is underrated: The region is at its most dramatic in winter — big surf, dramatic storms, fewer crowds, and the forest at its most lush. Many people prefer it to summer.
- 🍴 Book restaurants ahead: The best restaurants in the region fill up quickly in summer and on weekends. Reserve well in advance for dinner at the cellar door restaurants.
Margaret River repays the journey from Perth many times over. It’s one of those rare places that excels at almost everything it does — wine, food, beaches, nature — and delivers all of it in a setting of genuine natural beauty. If you’re visiting Western Australia and skipping the south-west, you’re missing the best of it.
Exploring more of Perth and Western Australia, read our guides to best wineries Margaret river, the best food in Perth, best restaurants in Perth, best day trips from Perth, luxury experiences Perth, and eco lodges in Perth.
