Esperance sits on the southern coast of Western Australia, a long way from anywhere — about 700 km southeast of Perth. The reward for getting here is some of the most beautiful coastline in the country. The beaches along the Great Ocean Drive are startlingly white, the water an intense, almost unreal turquoise, and in the right season you will have long stretches entirely to yourself.
The town itself is a quiet, friendly place that serves as a base for exploring the coast and the national parks nearby. Cape Le Grand National Park, about 50km east, has the famous Lucky Bay — regularly cited as Australia's whitest beach, where kangaroos lounge on the sand. Nearby Thistle Cove and Hellfire Bay are equally stunning and quieter.
In town, the Esperance Museum displays a collection of Skylab debris — the US space station fell over Western Australia in 1979 and Esperance sent NASA a $400 littering fine. The Esperance Stonehenge, a full-scale granite replica built from local stone by a determined local farmer, is the kind of eccentric landmark that only the Australian bush produces.
The drive to Esperance from Perth is long but spectacular. Many visitors combine it with a trip to the pink waters of Lake Hillier on Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago — best seen by scenic flight from Esperance Airport.