The South West does not close for winter. The crowds thin, the air sharpens, the cattle steam in the morning paddocks, and the region quietly becomes one of the best places in Western Australia to spend a fortnight with children. The caves stay a constant temperature underground whatever the sky is doing. The farms still have animals to feed. The chocolate factory still has its viewing window and its free samples. And the long flat jetty is just as good walked under a grey sky as a blue one. This is a guide to filling the WA winter school holidays with kids in tow, built around the things that work when it is cold, when it is wet, and when the sun comes back out.
The Western Australian winter break runs from Saturday 4 July to Sunday 19 July 2026, with Term 3 starting on Monday 20 July. Two weeks is enough to settle in, find a rhythm, and not have to rush. Everything below is mapped by drive time from Abbey Beach Resort, so a day takes shape around the weather rather than against it.
There is no bad weather, only the wrong jacket. Pack the gumboots, book the caves, and let the South West do the rest.
No. 01 · UndergroundThe Caves: Weatherproof and Unforgettable
If you do one thing on a wet day, go underground. The Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge is riddled with limestone caves, and four of them are set up for visitors. They sit at a steady temperature year round, which means a howling winter morning outside has no bearing on the experience below. For most children, the first cave is the highlight of the trip.
The closest cave to the resort and the best starting point for younger families. Ngilgi is semi-guided, so you can move at your own pace through chambers of stalactites, shawls and helictites, with guides stationed to bring the formations to life. There are around 350 steps in total, so it suits walkers rather than prams, but the sense of descending into the earth lands hard with kids. Allow ninety minutes and a hot chocolate after.
Semi-guided · Best for first-timers · Cafe on site
Further south, three more caves reward the longer drive. Mammoth Cave is self-guided with an audio tour and the most relaxed for small children, with fossil remains set into the walls. Lake Cave, reached down a dramatic sinkhole staircase, has an underground lake that mirrors the formations. Jewel Cave is the largest show cave in the state and a fully guided experience that suits older kids who can hold their attention for an hour. Pick one per day, not all three.
Mammoth self-guided · Lake & Jewel guided · Check tour times ahead
No. 02 · AnimalsFarms, Feeding and Birds of Prey
Young children and animals are a reliable equation, and the region runs long on both. Winter mornings are feeding time, which is exactly when kids want to be there.
A working hobby farm built for little hands. Bottle-feed the lambs and goat kids, meet the alpacas, ponies, pigs and chickens, and let toddlers run themselves out in a setting that asks nothing more of them than enthusiasm. Sessions are timed around animal feeds, so check the day's schedule before you set out. One of the most reliably joyful mornings on this list for the under-eights.
Timed feed sessions · Best for toddlers and young kids
Beside the Margaret River Chocolate Company at Metricup, the Capes Raptor Centre runs a Birds of Prey Encounter that is equal parts theatre and education. Meet owls, falcons, kites and eagles up close, watch them fly to the glove, and learn how each bird hunts. The flying displays are scheduled, so time your visit, and pair it with the chocolate factory next door for an easy half-day that handles any weather.
Scheduled flying displays · Pairs with the Chocolate Company
Almost every farm and wildlife encounter in the region runs to a timed feeding or flying schedule rather than all-day access. A two-minute check of opening times the night before turns a closed gate into a front-row seat. Winter hours are often shorter, so phone ahead for the smaller operators.
No. 03 · The JettyBusselton Jetty and the Foreshore
The jetty is the resort's local landmark and it does not need summer to work. At 1.8 kilometres it is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, and walking out over Geographe Bay with the wind up is its own kind of adventure for kids. The foreshore beside it is the easy default for a free hour outdoors.
Walking the full length costs only a few dollars per adult, with young children free, but on a cold day the little red train that runs to the end is worth every cent. At the tip, the Underwater Observatory descends eight metres below the surface to windows full of coral, sponges and fish — an aquarium you walk down into, entirely weatherproof, and one of the most memorable hours a child will have on the trip. Book the observatory tour ahead in school holidays.
Jetty walk approx $4 adult · Train & observatory ticketed · Book ahead
Right beside the jetty, the foreshore has a large free playground, open lawns and a flat path made for scooters and balance bikes. It is the no-plan, no-cost release valve of the trip: half an hour here between bigger outings resets everyone. Grab a bakery treat and let them run.
Free · Playground, lawns and scooter paths
Self-Contained Apartments Built for Family Holidays.
Abbey Beach Resort sits at 595 Bussell Highway, five minutes from the jetty. One, two and three-bedroom apartments with full kitchens, a heated indoor pool for the cold days, a children's playground, and the beach at the front door. Book your South West family accommodation and base the whole fortnight here.
Check AvailabilityNo. 04 · Mazes & TreatsMazes, Mini Golf and Ice Cream
When the sun does come out, the region's outdoor fun parks are made for burning off a morning. When it does not, the chocolate and ice cream stops happily carry a grey afternoon.
Two proper hedge-and-timber mazes, both with brain-teaser puzzles, giant games and shaded play areas to keep a range of ages busy. Yallingup Maze is the closer of the two; A Maze'n Margaret River adds the only hedge maze in the area along with mini golf. Either one is a good two-hour stop on a clear day, and both have a kiosk for when energy flags.
Hedge mazes, puzzles & mini golf · Best on a dry day
The bottomless bowl of chocolate buttons at the door has been winning children over for years. Free tastings, a viewing window onto the chocolatiers at work, a cafe doing fondue and hot chocolate, and a lawn to run on afterwards. It is the single most weatherproof crowd-pleaser in the region, and it sits right next to the raptor centre, so the two stack into an easy half-day.
Free tastings · Cafe & viewing window · Open daily
Sixty-odd flavours, a mini golf course, a playground and a maze of its own. Yes, it is ice cream in winter — and yes, the kids will still want it. Simmo's is an institution for a reason, and a rugged-up afternoon here is a Dunsborough rite of passage.
60+ flavours · Mini golf & playground on site
No. 05 · OutdoorsLighthouses, First Whales and a Ropes Course
For the families who would rather be moving, winter rewards a few rugged-up outdoor missions. The light is low and dramatic, the trails are quiet, and the whales are starting to arrive.
The short climb up Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse comes with a guide and a big payoff: from the headland and the nearby whale lookout, the winter migration is just beginning. Humpback and southern right whales move along this coast from around June, and a clear winter day from the cape can deliver the trip's best wildlife moment for free. Whale-watching cruises also run from Dunsborough and Augusta as the season builds.
Guided lighthouse climb · Whale season from June · Dress warm
A high-ropes and zipline course strung through the tuart canopy just east of Busselton, with graded courses for different ages and confidence levels. It runs in most weather, and there are few better ways to wear out an older child than an afternoon of harnessed climbing through the trees. Younger kids have their own lower courses. Book a session time in school holidays.
Graded courses by age · Runs in most weather · Book ahead
Do not write off the beach in winter. Geographe Bay is calm and shallow, and the stretch in front of the resort is perfect for a wrapped-up morning of shell-hunting and dolphin-spotting before the day's main event. A flask of something hot makes it a small adventure rather than a chore.
No. 06 · Wet DaysThe Rainy-Day Backups
Some days the weather simply wins, and that is fine. The trick is having the indoor options held in reserve rather than scrambling for them at 9am with restless kids.
Orana Cinemas, Busselton
The local cinema in the centre of town screens the school-holiday releases and is a five-minute drive from the resort. A mid-afternoon film is the reliable circuit-breaker on the wettest day of the trip.
ArtGeo Cultural Complex
Busselton's heritage gaol and gallery precinct runs hands-on activities and exhibitions through the holidays, often with a kids' program. A quiet, cheap, indoor hour with a bit of history folded in.
The Resort Itself
On the worst days, you do not have to leave. The heated indoor pool, the games on offer and the space of a self-contained apartment mean a rainy afternoon at Abbey Beach Resort is a feature, not a failure. Build a platter, put a film on, and let the weather pass.
No. 07 · A PlanTwo Sample Days
For families who want a shape to the day rather than a list, two easy plans, each starting and ending at the resort.
The Clear Day
Feed the animals at Sunflowers in the morning, drive to the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse and whale lookout, lunch in Dunsborough, then Simmo's for ice cream and mini golf on the way back. Finish with a beach walk in front of the resort as the light drops.
The Wet Day
Start underground at Ngilgi Cave, warm up with free tastings and a fondue at the Margaret River Chocolate Company, catch the Birds of Prey Encounter at the raptor centre next door, then home to the heated indoor pool. Not a drop of rain felt all day.
Two Weeks. One Base. Every Kind of Weather Covered.
Book direct at Abbey Beach Resort for the best rates on family-sized apartments these July school holidays. Beachfront on Geographe Bay, heated indoor pool, children's playground, two on-site restaurants, and minutes from the caves, farms and the jetty.
Check AvailabilityWinter is the South West's quiet secret for families. The crowds are gone, the rates are kinder, the caves and the chocolate and the animals do not care what the sky is doing, and a fortnight is just long enough for children to stop asking what is next and start simply being on holiday. Rug them up, point the car down Bussell Highway, and let the region do the work.
