Gracetown Accommodation

Gracetown is a small coastal settlement on Cowaramup Bay, about 20 minutes north of Margaret River township. Holidays Margaret River manages privately owned holiday houses in the village, most within a short walk of the sheltered swimming beach. The bay is one of the few genuinely protected swimming spots on this stretch of coast.

We currently manage 4 houses in Gracetown, ranging from 3 to 4 bedrooms and sleeping up to 8 guests.

Gracetown is small, and that is the point of it. Fewer than 250 people live here permanently, and on census night roughly two thirds of the houses in the village are empty — it is a settlement of holiday homes and beach shacks rather than a resort town. There is one shop, no pub, no supermarket and no service station. What there is instead is a bay you can swim in, a car park two minutes from the sand, and a village small enough that you can walk the whole thing before breakfast.

The village sits on Cowaramup Bay, roughly 20 minutes north of Margaret River township. The bay faces north-west and is enclosed by two headlands, which shelters it from the prevailing swell and makes it one of the few places on this coast where the water is reliably calm enough for young children. Everything else on the Margaret River coast — Prevelly, Gnarabup, the surf breaks south of town — faces open ocean.

The beach and the bay

Cowaramup Bay works as a natural harbour. The swimming beach is signposted Swimmers Beach, and the community association maintains a swimming pontoon a short way offshore during the warmer months. There is a large car park close to the sand, public toilets and showers, and a public boat ramp. The bay is not patrolled by surf lifesavers — the nearest patrolled beaches are well to the north near Dunsborough — so keep an eye on children and on conditions.

The headlands at either end of the bay both have lookouts. They are the best place in the village to watch the surf, and during the whale season from late May to early December they are worth a walk at dawn or late afternoon.

Surfing at Gracetown

Gracetown is one of the more concentrated surf zones in Western Australia, with waves ranging from manageable to genuinely dangerous within a couple of kilometres.

• South Point — on the southern headland, and the most forgiving of the local breaks. Works left and right, and unusually for this coast it holds up in a south-west wind.
• Huzzas — mid-bay, and easier going than North Point, though it is still a reef break and not a learners’ wave.
• North Point — on the northern headland, off Cowaramup Bay Road. One of the heaviest and most crowded waves on the coast when it is on. Experienced surfers only.
• Cowaramup Bombora — the “Cow Bombie”, two kilometres straight out to sea. A big-wave break that has produced waves well over 12 metres. A spectacle, not a session.
• Lefthanders — about a kilometre south via Salter Street, with a sealed car park, toilet and beach stairs. Reliable wave, but strong rips — not a swimming beach.
• Gallows and Guillotines — reached off Juniper Road. Not beginner waves, but not the heaviest in the region either.

If you are learning, the sensible move is a lesson with a Margaret River surf school. Redgate, south of the river mouth, is the region’s recognised beginner beach.

Walking the Cape to Cape

The Cape to Cape Track runs about 125 kilometres between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, and Gracetown is one of very few settlements directly on it. Staying here lets you walk a full day section and sleep in a house rather than a tent. The stage north towards Moses Rock passes the granite Wilyabrup Cliffs; the stage south towards Ellensbrook crosses exposed limestone platforms and ends near Ellensbrook Homestead and Meekadarabee Falls.

Wine, food and the drive inland

Gracetown has no cellar doors of its own, but it is on the doorstep of Wilyabrup, the stretch of Caves Road with the highest concentration of premium wineries in the Margaret River region. Vasse Felix, Cullen, Moss Wood, Pierro, Woodlands and Fraser Gallop are all within a short drive inland, and Cheeky Monkey Brewing Co is on Caves Road in Wilyabrup if beer is more your thing. Cowaramup, about 15 minutes away, has a proper grocery, cafes and the Margaret River Chocolate Company nearby at Metricup.

If you are staying in Gracetown, plan on doing your main shop before you arrive. See our Wilyabrup page for more on the wine district, or The Region for the wider area.

A little history

The area is Wadandi country, and Cowaramup Bay was traditionally used for camping, fishing and watching whales. The townsite was surveyed in 1961 and gazetted in 1963, and is named after Grace Bussell, a Western Australian heroine of the colonial era. It has never grown much beyond a village, largely by choice — the local progress association is explicit about wanting to keep the place small and undeveloped.

Getting to Gracetown

Distances are approximate and measured to the village. Published figures for Gracetown to Margaret River vary between about 18 and 21 kilometres depending on the source and the route.

Gracetown holiday accommodation: common questions

Other places to stay in the Margaret River region

Margaret River  ·  Prevelly  ·  Gnarabup  ·  Wilyabrup

Not sure which suits you? The properties map shows every house we manage, and The Region covers the wider Margaret River area.