Choose the town first, then the bed

The region's biggest town (27,233 at the 2021 census), a beach city on the sheltered, north-facing shore of Geographe Bay with the 1.8 km timber jetty at its centre. Calm, warm water, a redeveloped foreshore and a town centre on Queen Street for shopping and dining. Busselton Airport is only a ten-minute drive away.

Walkable: From the foreshore you can walk to the jetty, two playgrounds, a skate park, cafes, restaurants and the Shelter brewery; Queen Street shops and eateries and the Cultural Precinct are a short walk inland.

Close to: Gateway to the wine region; Dunsborough, Meelup and Cape Naturaliste beaches are about 25-35 minutes west.

Downside: It is the furthest base from the southern surf coast and the caves around Margaret River, and the Geographe Bay beaches are calm rather than surf beaches.

A holiday town of about 7,200 people on the western end of Geographe Bay, 24 km west of Busselton. The foreshore has very calm, sandbank-protected water with a seasonal swimming enclosure and pontoon, and the town is known for its beaches, restaurants, cafes and boutique shops.

Walkable: The foreshore beach, grassed picnic areas and the old boat ramp swimming enclosure; restaurants, cafes and boutiques in town.

Close to: Meelup Beach, Eagle Bay and Cape Naturaliste lighthouse are minutes away; Yallingup surf beaches and the northern wineries are a short drive; Margaret River is 37 km south.

Downside: Popular with school leavers for the annual end-of-year celebrations, so avoid late November if you want quiet.

Two sheltered bays at the tip of Cape Naturaliste, about 8 km from Dunsborough. Eagle Bay is a hamlet of luxury holiday homes (only 120 residents, most homes empty on census night) with a wide, shallow, north-facing swimming beach; Bunker Bay is a long calm beach with a cafe, showers and toilets at the car park and the region's only large beachfront resort.

Walkable: The beach and, at Bunker Bay, the car-park cafe; there are no shops in either bay.

Close to: Dunsborough for shops and restaurants, Meelup Beach, Cape Naturaliste lighthouse and the HMAS Swan dive wreck.

Downside: No town centre or supermarket, so you drive to Dunsborough for everything; holiday-home rentals dominate.

A quirky inland village of about 2,100 people on Bussell Highway, 13 km north of Margaret River and 36 km from Busselton, famous for its 42 life-size fibreglass cows. It sits roughly in the middle of the wine region and is the closest townsite to wineries such as Vasse Felix and Howard Park.

Walkable: A general store, bakery, fruit and veg shop, liquor store, cafes, a fudge shop and gourmet produce stores along the main street.

Close to: The Wilyabrup wineries and breweries all around; Gracetown beach 13 km west; Margaret River 13 km south.

Downside: Inland with no beach of its own; the nearest surf and swimming is Gracetown, a 15-minute drive.

A tiny coastal hamlet (238 residents) on the curve of Cowaramup Bay, 13 km west of Cowaramup and 21 km north-west of Margaret River. The bay is framed by the North Point and South Point surf breaks, with a quieter family swimming beach in the middle, and the Cape to Cape Track crosses the beach.

Walkable: The beach and the Gracetown General Store up the hill (known for pies that sell out early); accommodation is holiday houses, chalets and a caravan park.

Close to: Cowaramup village and the Wilyabrup wineries and breweries are a short drive inland.

Downside: One general store and no other shops or pubs; supplies mean a drive to Cowaramup or Margaret River.

The main town of the southern half of the region (about 7,400 people), set inland about 9 km from the coast among tall trees and vineyards, roughly halfway between the two capes. It is the hub for wineries, provenance-driven dining, galleries, street art, the Farmers Market and mountain-bike trails, and the base for the caves to the south.

Walkable: The main street (Bussell Highway) with the heritage Margaret River Hotel, cafes, galleries and shops, plus the visitor centre; the hostel is a few hundred metres from the centre.

Close to: Prevelly and Gnarabup beaches about 9 km west; Cowaramup wineries 13 km north; Mammoth Cave 21 km south.

Downside: Not on the beach; every swim or surf is a drive west.

A quaint timber-town village of about 480 people on Bussell Highway, 9 km south of Margaret River, with early-settlement buildings and gift stores. Redgate Beach and the Georgette shipwreck site lie to the west.

Walkable: A few gift stores and historic buildings along the highway; no beach.

Close to: Redgate Beach, the caves and Boranup Forest to the south, Margaret River 9 km north.

Downside: Very small with no beach or supermarket; it suits people who want a cheaper, quieter spot between the town and the caves.

A quiet, old-fashioned holiday and retirement town (1,211 residents) at the southern tip of the region where the Blackwood River meets Flinders Bay, 322 km south of Perth. It is the closest town to Cape Leeuwin, where the Southern and Indian oceans meet, and whales pass by on their migration.

Walkable: The Augusta Hotel bars and bistro on the river, the Flinders Bay lagoon with its small jetty, picnic tables and barbecues, and the two Shire holiday parks.

Close to: Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, Hamelin Bay stingrays, Jewel Cave and the Boranup karri forest.

Downside: About 40 km south of Margaret River and 50 km or more from the Cowaramup wineries, and 78 minutes from Busselton Airport.