I first went to Cervantes early last summer. I drove up on a Tuesday morning with no real idea of what to expect. I went back three more times during the year, each time staying a few hours and then driving back to Perth. In between Cervantes and other places I traveled to during the year, there were several other trips up this way of approximately the same length of time as required to get to Cervantes sitting roughly two and a half hours north of Perth as I am, but for some reason this patch of coastline has drawn me back to it time and time again. There’s something about this place, an air about it that burrows itself into your skin. I’ve come to realize that this place doesn’t perform relaxation, it simply exists.
I returned to Cervantes the next three times of the year, because the seafood was obviously the best reason to go back to this sleepy little coastal town.
No Place Stays a Secret Forever!
Food from recently discovered ‘off the track’ locations generally become popular very quickly once the restaurant is located on every foodie’s ‘to do list’. The ‘backyard’ of this foodie seafood haven is the Western Rock Lobster fishery that operates right out of Cervantes. The ‘fresh to plate’ factor for seafood caught in the ocean that is literally visible from your restaurant table a few hours before, creates an experience that cannot be replicated even by the best of restaurants. The locations where the very best seafood restaurants are found are often in isolation, far from the bustling hub of activity in city’s, which can make for a poor dining experience. But not in Cervantes – located at the end of a long straight stretch of bitumen that runs north from Perth – recently a number of places that that ‘die hard’ fishing enthusiasts, and locals would head to on a weekend have recently become day tripper destinations from Perth.
Cervantes is located on the Turquoise Coast and the water really is this color! The Coast is a long way from Margaret River and the Swan Valley but a short day trip from Perth and recently Cervantes has become a destination in its own right. The Pinnacles Desert is a very popular day trip from Perth and many people traveling out to the Pinnacles stop off in Cervantes for lunch and to stock up on supplies for the return journey. But there are now many people making Cervantes the actual destination of their trip instead of just passing through.
Why seafood? Why here?
I know of no other fishery which is as close to a restaurant plate as the Western Rock Lobster. The fishery is based from Cervantes and most lobsters are caught and eaten within hours. Freshness of seafood is what differentiates it from frozen and when experienced by those who have eaten lobsters from other states (which have been frozen for weeks) then the difference is staggering. It’s like no other comparison – rocks, mud, heat, cold, drought – none affect a fire as much as another and similarly none affect the eating of fresh seafood as much as another.
Behind the seafood restaurant at Cervantes there is a place where you can participate in cooking seafood. The Lobster Shack offers seafood cooking tours as well as tours of the factory where Lobster Shack processes their rock lobsters.
On another level everything tastes better when you have pulled it out of the ocean off Cervantes. In fact I have just returned from a trip to this part of the coast and I am salivating as I write this.
Why it’s drawing Perth food lovers up here
The reason that food lovers from Perth are traveling to Cervantes is not for the fresh seafood alone, there is a bigger shift in how people are looking at day trips and the way they want to spend their time while traveling from Perth. The growing popularity of destinations like Cervantes also highlights how regional business growth continues to support local restaurants, accommodation providers, and tourism operators. There are a lot of great wineries and restaurants within a couple of hours of Perth but most of them are busy with crowds of people, car parks full of Audis and expensive food and wine. There is so much over priced cheese and bread being sold in restaurants around Perth and that is not what most people are looking for. What most people are looking for is a local and authentic experience while traveling and Cervantes is able to fulfill all of these criteria for a great day trip destination from Perth.
I ate in Cervantes and it’s the town’s seafood that anchors the local food experience. In order to give readers a sense of this experience that I felt was important to give.
- The drive itself along Indian Ocean Drive ranks among the better coastal roads in the state, with enough unbroken scenery to make the distance feel earned rather than endured
- Pinnacles Desert sits close enough to fold into the same day without the whole thing feeling frantically rushed
- The town is small enough that you’re not competing with tour buses for a table, or a parking spot, or a moment of quiet
- Fresh local produce — fish beyond just lobster, seafood that actually reflects the season — appears on menus in ways that feel genuinely seasonal rather than decorative
A quick comparison: day trip food destinations from Perth
| Destination | Drive from Perth | Food focus | Crowd level (weekends) |
| Cervantes | ~2.5 hours | Fresh seafood, rock lobster | Low to moderate |
| Swan Valley | ~30 minutes | Wine, cheese, chocolate | High |
| Fremantle | ~30 minutes | Markets, cafes, fish and chips | Very high |
| Mandurah | ~1 hour | Blue swimmer crabs, estuary dining | Moderate to high |
There is something to be said for a place that is a long way from home and well worth the long trip. And while there are many places within the metropolitan area of Perth that can be visited by car within a couple of hours, there is something to be said for actually going on a trip. Leaving the metropolitan area and visiting a place that is unique and full of its own charm.
The part that surprises most first-timers
They turn up thinking that they will experience a quaint little fishing town and be greeted by empty restaurants but the opposite is the case. It’s the simple quality of the food, its simplicity often enhanced by fresh seafood that is local to the area, that brings repeat visitors to this hidden gem. As in every country, simple fare cooked by locals in informal setting, serves up some of the most memorable food experiences that one can have. A very simple meal that one has in Cervantes stays with you just as long as that lobster in the Lisbon restaurant, or the night markets in Chiang Mai, stayed with me.
(And I find this rather fascinating. Most meals have a lot of attributes. The place one has a meal can be a big one. Removing most of these attributes and letting a single great ingredient be the focus of a simple meal, made close to where it was caught or raised and served in a spot with a view of the water it came from, can be far more affecting than almost any restaurant meal. But maybe that’s obvious to everyone and I’m just slow.)
The town isn’t competing with anywhere; no matter how you slice it lobsters caught and brought ashore in Cervantes are fresh to an extent that doesn’t compare to any other restaurants regardless of location. Reputations are slowly, and often invisibly, built and then suddenly thrust to the fore. Right now Cervantes is at that point of transition. Go there soon.
Go now, probably. Before the Audis find it.
