Whale watching in Western Australia: Perth, Augusta, Albany and Ningaloo

Whale watching in Western Australia is a question of where, not whether. The state has roughly 12,000 km (about 7,500 miles) of coastline facing two oceans, three large whale species use it at different times, and the season stretches from May to December — one of the longest anywhere in the world. Prices on this page start at $55.28 for a Hillarys cruise and are checked regularly.

That length is also the trap. There is no single WA whale season, and a trip booked in Perth in June will feel thin while Augusta, four hours south, is having its best fortnight. The state rewards people who match the month to the port.

• New South WalesMay–Nov
• New ZealandYear-round
• QueenslandJun–Nov
• Victoria & South AustraliaJun–Oct
• Western AustraliaMay–Dec

Which whales you can meet, and when

Three big whales, one orca aggregation and a Kimberley dolphin that exists nowhere else on this site.

1. Humpback (Perth)
2. Humpback (south-west)
3. Southern right
4. Blue whale (Perth Canyon)
5. Orca (Bremer Bay)

PeakGoodPossibleOff

Explore Parks WA gives the migration as May to December, from the south-west up to the Kimberley. The state's value is that its separate populations arrive at different times in different places.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Humpback (Perth)	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Possible	Good	Peak	Peak	Possible
Humpback (south-west)	Off	Off	Off	Off	Possible	Good	Peak	Peak	Good	Possible	Off	Off
Southern right	Off	Off	Off	Off	Possible	Good	Peak	Peak	Peak	Good	Possible	Off
Blue whale (Perth Canyon)	Off	Off	Possible	Good	Peak	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off
Orca (Bremer Bay)	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off

Explore Parks WA describes the migration simply: humpback, southern right and blue whales traveling between May and December, from the south-west up to the Kimberley. The detail underneath that is what makes the state unusual. Northbound humpbacks pass the capes first and Perth later; southbound animals with calves come back down the Perth coast from September. Southern rights do not migrate past at all — they stop and calve on the south coast. And the Bremer Bay orcas run from January to April, outside everyone else's season entirely.

Region by region

Perth and Fremantle. The easy option. Boats leave Fremantle and Hillarys Boat Harbour, the train from the city takes half an hour, and the trips are short. Tourism Western Australia gives the Perth humpback window as September to November — the southbound leg, with calves. Rottnest Island's western end is a free alternative on the same water.

The Perth Canyon. About 50 km offshore, deep enough to hold feeding blue whales in autumn, and the basis of what Tourism Western Australia calls the only dedicated blue whale tour in Australia. Around March to May, long days, and a genuine rarity.

Augusta and Flinders Bay. The first whale port of the season. Tours run from about May to August, and the bay catches both humpbacks and southern rights early. Three and a half hours from Perth, at the bottom corner of the Margaret River region.

Dunsborough, Busselton and Geographe Bay. The same capes, the other side. Tours here run September to early December, catching the southbound animals, and the bay is sheltered from the prevailing swell.

Albany and King George Sound. The south coast's whale town, with a whaling station turned museum to explain why. Humpbacks and southern rights from June to October, with the southern rights most reliable from August, and some of the best land-based watching in Australia.

Bremer Bay. Orcas over the Bremer Canyon from January to April. A serious offshore day, priced accordingly.

Exmouth and the Ningaloo Coast. Humpback swims from August to October, with whale sharks earlier in the year and sunset cruises through the season. The only place in Australia with a licensed in-water humpback program.

Broome and the Kimberley. Whale-watching cruises from about July to September, plus the snubfin dolphin trips that exist nowhere else.

The boats, and the difference between them

Perth's cruisers are built for a two-hour Indian Ocean run and nothing more: shade, seats, a bar, back by lunchtime. The south-west catamarans work sheltered bays and can sit still for longer, which matters with southern rights that are not going anywhere. Ningaloo and Kimberley boats are smaller, faster and usually part of a bigger day out — reef, whale sharks, sunset — rather than a dedicated whale product.

Where you sail from

Distances here are not Australian-large so much as continental. Perth to Exmouth is about 1,250 km (780 miles) and people fly it. Perth to Broome is roughly 2,200 km (1,370 miles). Only the south-west ports — Augusta, Dunsborough, Busselton and, at a stretch, Albany — work as a drive from the city, and those drives are between two and a half and four and a half hours.

Month by month

January to April. No whale migration, but the Bremer Canyon orcas are in. Charters run long days offshore from Bremer Bay, and nothing else on the coast is happening.

March to May. Blue whales feed over the Perth Canyon. A small number of dedicated tours run and the days are long, because the canyon is 50 km out.

May and June. The season opens in the south-west. Augusta's Flinders Bay tours start, northbound humpbacks come past the capes, and the first southern rights settle on the south coast.

July and August. Peak in the south and the far north at once. Albany and Augusta are at their best, Broome's Kimberley cruises run, and the Ningaloo humpback swim season opens in August.

September and October. The turn. Southbound humpbacks with calves reach Perth, Geographe Bay's tours start, Albany's southern rights are at their most reliable, and Ningaloo swims continue.

November and December. The tail. Perth and Geographe Bay keep running into early December as the last animals head south, and by January the coast is quiet again.

Read that list next to the season wheel above and the state's real shape appears: two whale-watching regions, a thousand kilometers apart, each with its own calendar, plus two specialist events — Bremer Bay's orcas and the Perth Canyon's blue whales — that sit outside both.

What the day costs

What the day costs

2-hour Fremantle cruiseGetYourGuide, per person	$77.96
Train to FremantleTransperth, return	$8
Seasickness tabletsTaken an hour before	$6
Lunch in FremantlePer person	$20–25
Total	≈ $110 per person

Perth is the cheap, easy version. A Ningaloo swim day or a Bremer Bay orca charter is a different order of cost, and both need flights.

Price check · GetYourGuide

Live prices, per person, checked regularly. Sorted from lowest.

Tour	Price	Duration	Rating
Perth: Dolphin, Sealion & Wildlife Cruise	$38.35 Lowest	1 h	★ 4.9 (17)	Check dates
Perth: Whale Watching Cruise from Hillarys Boat Harbour	$54.38	2 h	★ 4.4 (300)	Check dates
Whale Watching Cruise from Busselton, Augusta or Dunsborough	$66.23	2.5 h	★ 4.8 (382)	Check dates
Dunsborough: Whale Watching Tour	$73.21	2.5 h	★ 4.7 (127)	Check dates
From Fremantle: 2-Hour Luxury Whale-Watching Cruise	$76.69	2 h	★ 4.8 (493)	Check dates
Albany: 3-hour Whale Watching Tour	$90.64	3 h	★ 4.0 (3)	Check dates
Exmouth: Sunset Whale Watching Cruise	$96.91	3 h	★ 4.8 (47)	Check dates
Albany: Private Whale or Dolphin Boat Tour, up to 12 people	$488.04	4 h	—	Check dates

The table is a good picture of the state. The $39 Perth listing is a dolphin and sea-lion cruise rather than a whale trip; $55 to $78 buys a short Perth or south-west whale cruise. Around $98 to $138 buys an Exmouth sunset trip or a Broome day with gourmet platters attached. At the top, Perth's swim-with-dolphins day and Broome's fishing-and-wildlife charters are full days, not whale trips. A Ningaloo humpback swim sits outside this table entirely and is booked with the licensed operators direct.

Who should pick what

The rules, and the one legal swim

Western Australia's guidelines are set out on a single sheet, and they are more specific than most.

Official information

Western Australian whale-watching rules

Vessels

100 m separation from any whale — approach from the side only

The 300 m arcs

No waiting or approaching within 300 m ahead of or behind a whale, inside 60-degree arcs

If a whale approaches

Put the motor in neutral or move away at less than six knots

Swimming

Illegal within 100 m of a whale unless you are on a licensed tour

Drones

60 m from any marine animal — stricter than the eastern states

The law

Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016; penalties of up to $500,000 may apply

Source: DBCA / Parks and Wildlife Service — whale watching guidelines. From the official source; double-check before you go.

The 300-meter arcs are the part that surprises people. A boat may sit 100 meters abeam of a humpback quite legally, but may not wait 250 meters ahead of it inside a 60-degree cone — because that is how you block an animal that is traveling. WA's drone limit of 60 meters is also the tightest of any Australian state on this site.

The swim rule is the headline. Under state law it is illegal for an individual to swim within 100 meters of a whale, and if a whale approaches, a person in the water must try to maintain that distance. The single exception is the Ningaloo program: DBCA licenses a small group of established whale shark operators to run in-water humpback interactions in the state waters of Ningaloo Marine Park and the Muiron Islands Marine Management Area, under a management program that puts the animal's behavior ahead of the booking. It is the only legal way to be in the water with a humpback anywhere in Australia, and it is weather-dependent, expensive, and called off without argument when conditions are wrong.

Watching from land, for nothing

Albany is the state's free whale destination. The Ellen Cove boardwalk, the Marine Drive lookouts, Discovery Bay, the Blowholes, Bald Head, the wind farm, Gull Rock and Little Beach all overlook King George Sound, and Tourism Western Australia notes that on many days the whales are visible clearly from land, no binoculars required. Cape Naturaliste at the top of the capes and Rottnest Island's west end do the same job further north.

What land will not give you is the Ningaloo experience, or a blue whale. Those need a boat, a licence and, in one case, 50 km of open water.

What "guaranteed" actually buys

Sighting guarantee

WA sells length of season rather than guarantees. The honest promise here is eight months of whales somewhere, not a sighting on your date.

Why guarantees are rarer here

The state's whale product is spread over thousands of kilometers and several species. Operators tend to publish seasons and sighting records rather than blanket guarantees.

Ningaloo swims

An in-water encounter is never guaranteed and is conditional on the weather and on the whale's behavior. Licensed operators call it off when conditions are not right for the animal.

Bremer Bay orcas

The aggregation runs January to April and charters are long, expensive day trips well offshore. Read the operator's own sighting record before you book.

What the rules override

No WA guarantee can buy a closer approach. The 100 m separation and the 300 m arcs apply to a licensed tour boat exactly as they apply to a private runabout.

Sightings are never guaranteed by anyone. Where an operator offers a repeat trip, read whether it is a free re-ride or a refund — it is almost always the first.

Operators on this water

There are no operator reviews for Western Australia on the site yet. The state's fleet is regional and fragmented: Perth's short-cruise companies out of Fremantle and Hillarys, the Augusta and Geographe Bay catamarans across the capes, Albany's King George Sound charters, the Bremer Bay orca boats, and at Ningaloo a small licensed group whose primary business is whale sharks.

That fragmentation is worth knowing when you book. In WA the sensible question is not which brand but which bay and which month — and, at Ningaloo, whether the operator actually holds a DBCA in-water licence rather than simply advertising whales.

The same humpback species turns up on the other side of the continent on a different calendar; Queensland and New South Wales cover the east Australian population. For the southern rights, Victoria and South Australia hold the other great calving coast, and the right whale page sets all of them beside Hermanus and Península Valdés.

Our call

Augusta in June, or Fremantle in October

Flinders Bay gives you humpbacks and southern rights in the same sheltered water early in the season; Perth gives you southbound mothers and calves late in it.

Skip it if Booking Perth in June expecting numbers — the northbound run hugs the coast further south at that point in the season.

Check Fremantle dates from $76.69

Western Australia is the widest choice in the country and the easiest to get wrong. Pick the bay first, the month second and the boat last. If you want the decision made for you, the best places worldwide ranks this coast against the rest, and the season calendar shows what else is running in the month you have free.