Tamala Station, Shark Bay

Sometimes things just fall together perfectly and we reckon we absolutely nailed the timing and campsite selection for our visit to Tamala Station in Shark Bay, WA.

We had broken up our trip north from Perth with a free overnight camp at Cliff Head before setting off for Tamala the following day. We checked in at the station itself, met Teresa and got the run down. To camp at Tamala Station you need to be fully self sufficient as there’s no power, drinking water or facilities. If required, you can also grab some firewood from the station (it’s around $5 for 10kg) and they had literally just installed some scales for the task during our week long visit. There’s a $50 refundable deposit for the gate key which gets you access to the different camping areas around the station. We scoped out almost all of them throughout our exploring during the week (excl the private ones *wink wink).

THREE BAYS

We chose to stay at Three Bays and were very happy with our decision. We arrived to discover that we had it all to ourselves and made the choice to spear off down to the far end. This scored us our very own private bay and at high tide, an island out the front. At low tide we could walk the entire way out to explore or fish from the rocky outcrop. We enjoyed a week of perfectly calm weather and the water out front was like glass. We spent plenty of time on the stand up paddle board – Suzie the staffy included.

We‘d heard reports that flies can be horrid at certain times so our prep included some newly purchased fly nets but we’re happy to report we had absolutely no need for them and they remain unopened in the camper. Thank goodness!

With mint weather and conditions, the other thing that made our stay pretty memorable was the two awesome families we met during our stay. Although they were staying at a different campsite we caught up several times during the week. The kids loved having a tribe of kids to play with and Suzie lapped up the extra attention. Ingo was a legend and took the kids for a spin in his boat and later took Willow out fishing. Don’t ask though… in the absence of fish, the rest of us back on shore enjoyed a culinary feast courtesy of Maz and chef Alex which had the kids calling a brief halt to their beach cricket match.

There was an abundance of wildlife and during our visit we spotted stingrays in the shallows from the shore, as well as emus, roos and an echidna whilst out and about on the tracks. We even had a stealthy fox visit our campsite. On the second last day we were treated to a pod of dolphins swimming right past ‘our bay’ which was a magical end to our stay.

IMPORTANT: Tamala Station is dog friendly as too are many of the beaches in Shark Bay. Please keep in mind however that a 1080 poison baiting program is underway to control feral cats and foxes. The baits are lethal to dogs if ingested so please be aware.