About Mindarie
Mindarie we hear you say, never heard of it. Nor had we!
Mindarie began as a coastal development north of Perth in the late 20th century, designed around a purpose-built marina (sounds like an Australian Vilamoura). Unlike older Australian settlements, it doesn’t have gold rush roots or colonial drama — its story is more about modern coastal planning and lifestyle ambition.
Today, Mindarie is all about sea breezes, marina views, and that easy Western Australian pace. Boats bob in the harbour, cafés line the waterfront, and sunsets over the Indian Ocean are taken very seriously. It’s relaxed, polished, and feels purpose-built for unwinding by the water.
Credit: chatGPT
Marina Hotel, Mindarie
We hadn’t originally intended to fly into Perth, and had actually booked Melbourne, but at the last minute we switched to 3 nights in Perth so Nikki could meet up with some family, which is also why we chose Mindarie, as it was just down the road from Yanchep where we needed to go.
We were slightly worried on arrival on Wednesday to find that the 4-star Marine Hotel’s reception closed at 6pm and the bars around 9.30, and it reminded Nikki that when she went travelling to Australia in the late 1980’s Perth had a bit of a reputation for being boring and full of English retirees, which was the reason she had never been before.
We did manage to get into our room (after Nikki searched down one of the security guards to let us in) and we had a lovely room right on the harbour – Hamish certainly liked the view.
The hotel was part of a complex, with 2 cracking bars, a pub, called The Boat, and also the Indian Ocean Brewing Company (IOBC), along with a pool and ‘Cabana’ as well as coffee shops, breakfast places, and even an Indian Restaurant, Shakira, (which served Vindaloo, Steve was very happy) and, no, our hips didn’t lie. The bars were sleepy on Wednesday and Thursday evening, but day time was buzzing, and from Friday night so too the evenings with the bars staying open until ‘late’, although I have to say that Steve and I somewhat raised the average age !! Western Australian youngsters seem to be tanned, firm and full of life; never seen so many halter necks (girls) and vests (boys).
Thursday was a family day, so the day was spent chilling, chatting, and catching up.
On the Friday we headed to Perth which was very hot, so beers were in order when we got back to Mindarie, and also an early night as we were still feeling the effects of the time zones heading east.
Saturday we went over to Yanchep for lunch at the Yanchep Inn, part of the Yanchep National Park, which apparently also has a large ‘mob’ of Kangaroos. We didn’t see any, it was too hot apparently, although we did manage to pick up some useful advice on what to do if a Kangaroo approaches you, walk away !
Our brief visit was now at an end, finishing on the same day as the Mindarie Lunar Year celebrations, so we chilled by the pool before heading off.
Hamish says....
Mindarie is a little gem that we had no idea about, and which we are grateful we stumbled upon. Other than the bizarre reception hours, the hotel had everything we needed and the small man made harbour/marina is beautiful and surrounded by multi A$million properties, all very contemporary and right up our street. We may well go back one day, and highly recommend.
Next stop
Bit of a shocker after Emirates business class to return to economy for a ‘night flight’ to Sydney (our upgrade bid was declined LOL). We say night flight, it was only actually 3.5 hours in the air, but with the 3 hours timezone change it meant we were due to miss a nights sleep. The Perth airport domestic terminal is also the quietest Airport that Steve and Nikki have ever travelled through … the last person to leave we assume switches the lights off !
2 Responses
What a great find looks lovely albeit a bit sleepy .. hope the family meet went well
Thanks and it was interesting!