Things to Do

• Stunning carpets of world famous pink everlasting and pom-pom wildflowers at the Mingenew Coalseam from August to October (Tel: 9928 1460)
• Excellent fishing. Throw a line for succulent dhufish, snapper, mackerel & tailor
  (Tel: Denizen Charters 9927 1257 0429 939 108)
• Bring your dinghy and drop a couple of lobster pots. Alternatively try your luck catching a feed of blue manner crabs off the jetty. Guests are very welcome to borrow the Rockpool Beach House crab nets
• Soft, silky sand beaches
• Drive along South Beach and find your own piece of heaven. Set up a picnic for the morning, catch up on a good book, body board the waves or win a game of beach cricket!
• Awesome sand dunes/sand boarding
• Skateboard park and BMX trail. Incredible in the evening with the Indian Ocean as your backdrop
• Good surf break at the Point, located on the south end of the Marina. Bring your reef walkers or old sandshoes to walk across the reef to the break. Locals tie their shoes to a conveniently located buoy on the edge of the break. Ideal wind surfing conditions anywhere along the coast 
• Indulge with a little beauty therapy at The Manse Retreat 
  (Tel: 9927 1661 0428 231 272)
• Weekend markets in the peppermint ringed grounds of the Old Priory Lodge. First Saturday of every month. Arts & crafts, live music. 9.30am – 1.00pm
• Wine tasting and cellar sales at Irwin River Vineyard. The label won national gold with a beautiful design of our local red tail black cockatoo. Open Fri, Sat & Sun. 12.00 – 5.00pm. (Tel: 9927 5076)
• Olive tasting at Silverdale Olive Orchard
• Memorable alresco lunch in the gardens of the excellent Brentwood Olive Grove Cafe on the Greenough Flats. Approx 45.9km from Dongara on the Brand Highway towards Geraldton. Open weekends 10.00am – 5.00pm from early May to late December. (Tel: 9926 1196)
• Meet a dingo! Dongara couple Phil & Di Thurn are passionate educators to the public of their three pure bred dingoes. Call in to have a look and meet the dogs (Tel9927 1915). Or you could be lucky to see the dogs walk by on the Marina foreshore in front of Rockpool on their morning walks with their owners. On leads of course!
• The Barn Yard. A fun interactive day with the little farm yard animals. Drive  towards Mingenew on the Brand Highway. Turn left after the Railway Bridge onto Pettit Rd. (Steve & Anita 9927 1912)
• Spend a fascinating day on the ocean aboard a working professional rock lobster boat and observe ‘A Day in the Life of a Fisherman” (Tel: Icon Charters 0407 271 256)
• Western Rock Lobster fishing fleet working 15 November to 30 August. Meet the boats down the jetty and watch the days catch being unloaded. Our Western Australian Rock Lobster Fishery was awarded the inaugural World Marine Stewardship Certification for Sustainable Fishing in Brussels 2000
• Bird watching from the Irwin River Nature Trails and boardwalk. Pelicans, black swans and numerous water birds make their home in the sheltered estuary of the panoramic river mouth
• Drive-In Cinema. Unique – one of only three still operating in WA. Screening the latest films from September-May fortnightly. Grab your ute and fantails!
• Picturesque 18 hole golf course with grass greens, fairways and shady trees. A very popular course. 
  (Tel: 9927 2727) Irwin Recreation Centre
• Irwin Recreation Centre offers exercise classes, indoor soccor, gymnastics, netaball, squash, badminton, karate, indoor cricket & basketball for the active minded. For the tennis players, there is social tennis Sunday afternoons during the summer months. Or hire a court!
  (Tel: 9955 9200)
• Hiring of golf clubs & buggys, tennis rackets and pushbikes availables at Dongara Sport & Tackle. 25 Moreton Terrace. (Tel: 99271196)
• Walk the Heritage Trail. Take a leisurely 1.6km walk through the town and follow the map of 28 heritage listed buildings. Including Russ Cottage (1860), Wall of Remembrance for the Dominican Nuns and Old Police Station, now the Irwin District Museum
  (Tel: Dongara Denison Tourist Information Centre 9927 1404)
• Charter a boat or plane and head for the wild and remote Abrolhos Islands, site of the mutinous Dutch East India Batavia wreck and unique home to a working fishing fleet and their families for 3 months of the year
  (Tel: Denizen Charters 9927 1257 0429 939 108, Geraldton Air Charters 9923 3434, Prestige Helicopters 9923 3983 0427 062 124)
• Shine Aviation will give you a birds eye view of the spectacular Abrolhos Island archipelago of 122 islands, fringing reefs and atolls. The day tours are a nature lovers dream with abundant sea life, maritime history, tropical fish and colourful coral. Geraldton Airport
  (Tel: Shine Aviation 9923 3600)
• The historic Greenough Hamlet is situated 41 km north of Dongara on the Greenough Flats and has an impressive collection of 11 pioneer buildings built from 1862. Tearooms and tours
  (Tel: 9926 1084)
• Beautiful Ellendale Pool is a spectacular Gorge with a freshwater pool located at its base and fringed with picturesque rushes. An area to rival the Pilbara. The lovely drive through the local farm land is about 45 mins from Dongara and is a wonderful setting for a picnic. The cliff face is particularly beautiful at the closing of the day.  Drive north from Dongara on Brand Highway approx 37km to the little bridge. Turn right onto Hamersley Rd, then at the T junction turn right onto Evans Rd to Walkaway and drive approx 5kms into Walkaway town. Drive through Walkaway (it is very small!) and turn right at the T junction onto Nangetty West Rd. Drive approx 13 kms to the turn off to Ellendale Pool Rd on the left hand side of the road at the last windmill of the Wind Farm. Drive for approx 7km down a picturesque winding road to the Ellendale Pool which is situated on your right. (All in all, approx 62kms)
• Dongara Community Resource Centre provides all your internet requirements. 11 Moreton Tce. Mon – Thur 12.30am – 4.00pm, Fri 9.00am – 12.30pm (Tel:9927 2111)
• Easter Racing Carnival – Easter Sunday
  (Tel: 9927 1615)
• May Bowling Carnival
  (Tel: 9927 1168)
• Blessing of the Fleet – early November
  (Tel: Dongara/Denison Tourist Information Centre 9927 1404)

Scenic drive from Perth to Dongara- Take the newly opened Indian Ocean Drive which continues north from Wanneroo Road. Approximately 186km from Perth is the turnoff to the famous Pinnacles National Park (16km south of Cervantes). After exploring the unique sandstone rock formations drive on to the little fishing town of Cervantes. We recommend the Seashells Cafe to stop for refreshments or lunch.  Turn into Cervantes and continue heading right after the service station. Follow the road past the caravan park where you will arrive at the beach and a little playground. The Seashells Cafe is on your left and has a lovely alfresco area overlooking the ocean. Then drive another easy 157km to Dongara.