Stay in Perth vs. Fremantle?

I've been reading this forum for hours trying to glean tips on how our family of four (kids 17 & 19) will divide our 2-3 weeks in WA (my husband and son will have 2 weeks & my daughter & I may tac on 1 more week). We have decided to fly to Perth mid March, having heard from friends that it's a great city, & it's also closer to home (currently Taipei). After hours on VRBO & AirkB&B, I liked the idea of basing ourselves in Fremantle, since we might enjoy a smaller home base with a beachey, arty vibe. Then we have a week, possibly 2, to explore environs north or south.

Would love to hear people's ideas if 7 nights is too much for Perth/Fremantle -- kids love beaches, nature, hikes, kayaking, more than shopping & fine dining. I thought if we did stay 7 nights in Fremantle we could do trips into Perth as well as south towards Margaret River. Then we might head north along the coast towards Coral Bay for 1-2 weeks. Have heard both rave & luke warm reviews of places like Monkey-Mia. Also heard cyclones possible? Being from the western US we are used to long drives and I did see a post that the drive from Perth to Coral Bay can be done in a day...but, any tips on places not to miss on this drive & ideal length of time to do it in?

Thanks for your feedback!

Mid March can still be pretty warm up north and perhaps too hot for Coral Bay (Exmouth, the nearest town has a dgree Celsius range of 23-36 at that time of the year but has been known to hit the mid 40s) . It can be done in a (long) day but most people break in Carnarvon which you'd get to about 5ish if you leave Perth early and then take another half day to get to Coral Bay. You don't really want to be driving at night as the risk of hitting roos, goats or cattle, all of which abound on the roads up there, is pretty high. A cyclone would be unlucky but possible at that time of year. A good stop on the way is Northampton which has some nice historic buildings and would be attainable by lunch time.
Personally I'd head south as distances are shorter and the weather will certainly be better. Apart from vineyards and good dining there is some good timber country and short through to multi day walks easily accessible. Try Pemberton for the world's tallest fire observation platform (located on top of a vast tree and not for the fainthearted - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloucester_Tree)
Freo has a pretty good train service into Perth so it probably doesn't matter much where you stay, suggest go for cost and quality of accommodation and closeness to public transport.

Great & helpful info about weather and north vs. south, stay in Fremantle vs. Perth. Thanks so much. Also, does cyclone mean lots of rain (like our hurricanes in U.S., typhoons in Taiwan) or just wind...not sure what sort of measures one takes for riding out a cyclone...bad to be in a car? Hot by the ocean sounds really nice to us right now being in grey, rainy Taipei, but maybe we'd melt in that heat!

A cyclone can be pretty variable and depends where you are in relation to where it crosses land. If near the epicentre you are talking about evacuation into a regional strongpoint of which there are quite a few so unlikely you'd have to ride it out in a car. Most towns up there are now cyclone worthy but I've been through one up there that wiped out 2/3 of the town. More likely though that you get an awful lot of rain and stuck in your hotel/tent with perhaps a fair bit of local flooding and roads closed for several days. If you had a choice I'd recommend leaving it to the WA winter and then heading north and you could then do Karajini as well as Ningaloo which makes a pretty good 10-14 day road trip.

It's a great time of year to explore the south west and south coast of WA. Margaret River, Pemberton, Denmark and Albany are all at their best.

Stay in Fremantle, no question as it is much nicer and more interesting than Perth city, with plenty to see and do within mostly walkable distances - you can pop over to Rottnest Island too, for a day or two.

Have you looked at a map to see how far Coral Bay is? Put it this way, most people who go there, probably fly unless you have plenty of time for slow travel. You can fly to Exmouth (Learmonth) and hire a car there and fly back - it's probably the best way to do it.....

Otherwise the south west as has been said above, is wonderful and the right time of the year to visit - and very different from Taipei.

Thanks for the cyclone information. Good to have a local's knowledge of weather and how to deal with it. Can't change our dates so we'll have to consider all those factors. Thanks so much!

This is why I love this forum -- the details a foreigner just doesn't get are made clear by folks in the know! Thanks so much. I'll check into Exmouth flights/car rentals...& Fremantle it is!

'Stay in Fremantle, no question as it is much nicer and more interesting than Perth city' But what about Elizabeth Quay? (in Perth joke)

Thanks all for the input. Very curious about Elizabeth Quay joke...please explain. We decided to head up to Ningaloo because the idea of seeing marine critters there and in Shark's Bay too tempting to resist. Hours on hotel sites lead me to decide on first night stop in Port Denison-Dongara. Accomodations don't look so great in Shark Bay Area -- would you advise staying two days in Kalbarri where accomodations better & to visit national park, then visit Shark Bay Area just briefly, (many online reviews felt Monkey Mia, though personally would love to see those Dolphins!) with overnight in Coral Bay? Not sure how to divide our time here, seems to be dependent on available lodging, but if you have any suggestions on where would be better for renting kayaks, nice beach hikes, snorkeling, would love to hear your opinions...We are for sure spending two nights in Ningaloo/Exmouth before returning south.

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"joke" probably overstates it but Elizabeth Quay is a multi million dollar development in the heart of Perth that involves removal of a large park to be replaced by river and various public open spaces. It has been controversial as it's largely taxpayer funded at a time of budget stringency with the China downturn. It opened a couple of weeks ago and the general reaction has been that it's a bit underwhelming - I think it looks a bit Singapore but be sure to come and see it for yourself.
In terms of your suggestions, I personally think the dolphins are overrated but depends how keen you are on them (if you spend enough time near the Swan River you are pretty certain to see some) and Shark Bay is quite a hike off the North Coast Highway so it's not really a brief diversion. The scenery though is stunning - red earth, white beaches and acquamarine water and some interesting history plus the fun of visiting somewhere called "Useless Loop". The great thing about Ningaloo is how close the coral is to the shore, you swim off the beach and there it is. There are various kayak tours which take you out to the fringing reef where you'll probably see (small) reef sharks and turtles. Food though is expensive up there so if you are driving stock up in Perth if you have room and intend to self cater.

Good to know the background story of Elizabeth Quay.

Maybe we'll avoid the Monkey Mia area unless we feel like the extra driving. We will take your advice and bring food along. Do you know much about Kalbarri and Carnarvon. I thought to stay 2 days in Kalbarri because it's near the national park, but would mean laung haul to Ningaloo. Wondering about splitting up that drive with one night in Carnarvon. My guide book referred to Carnarvon's past reputation as a town with lots of bar brawls -- but wondering if it has some charm not to be missed?

I think two nights in Kalbarri and skipping Dongara and Monkey Mia is what I would suggest. An attraction I enjoyed at Kalbarri is the parrots at Rainbow Jungle, large walk in aviaries with one of the most extensive collections of parrots in Australia http://www.rainbowjunglekalbarri.com/ The national park has some nice orange sandstone gorges at Z Bend, Natures Window and Ross Graham.

If you really want to experience dolphins you can swim with them at Rockingham while staying in Fremantle http://dolphins.com.au/swim/index.php

March is the beginning of the whale shark season at Ningaloo and although it is expensive I thought it was worth it. The manta ray swims are equally amazing and a little cheaper. Turquoise bay and Oyster Stacks would be my two favourite spots for snorkeling in Ningaloo, very shallow and the corral starts from the beach. Wildlife seen included reef sharks, rays, turtles, octopus, cuttlefish, lobster, giant clams, starfish, barracuda and an amazing array of reef fish.

Carnarvan isn't as interesting as Kalbarri and Ningaloo IMHO, just an isolated town with agriculture and fishing as the main industries.

Havent done the whale shark thing so cant really comment but other than that aligns with my experience

We have and it was amazing - one of the best things I've ever done. But the season doesn't really start till April. We went on May 1st, which was very successful.

The coastal and river gorges at Kalbarri are awesome and well worth your time but the roads, especially to the river gorges are terrible, or they were last October when we were there. Also you will not have mobile 'phone coverage once you get a few kilometres from the town centre if that matters to you. First purchase when you hit town is fly veils. They look funny but, trust me, they are vital if you want to stay sane.

Definitely take two days to get there - we stopped overnight in Dongara. Too many visitors underestimate the distances and their own ability to drive at high speed for sustained periods and our road toll for this year is already high enough.

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