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Australia · Cape Le Grand, Western Australia · #2 of Australia's ten by fame

Lucky Bay

White sand, turquoise water, and the locals are kangaroos.

How we rated it: up one for second place on the fame list (three lists name it), up one for a sourced find (kangaroos on the sand). Nothing on record takes it down. Photo: Stan Feldman · CC BY-SA 4.0

The hang

Lonely Planet says most visitors don't believe it until they see it: kangaroos bounding down a white sand beach. Lucky Bay is in Cape Le Grand National Park, 60 km from Esperance on Western Australia's south coast, known for bright white sand and turquoise water. There are basic toilets at the car park and a 56-site bush camping ground; a per-vehicle park entry fee and a camping fee apply. The park agency says the beaches are notoriously treacherous for vehicles, and it is easy to get bogged. It gets busy in summer. We measured 2,207 metres of sand, 117 metres wide on average.

The real intel

Best months · warmest sea: March (21.5 °C), then January and February. Coolest: August (16.1 °C). One year of data, 2025.
Best months · emptiest: Outside summer, when it gets busy.
Getting there: A 60 km drive from Esperance; by road, or by 4WD along the beach from just out of Esperance.
Cost reality: A per-vehicle park entry fee and a per-person camping fee (amounts not stated on the page we read).
The catch nobody tells you: Driving on the sand: notoriously treacherous, and easy to get bogged.

The year at Lucky Bay

Warmest sea in March. Fewest wet days in January and December. Pick your fight.

Sea (°C)

20.9

21.5

20.8

19.7

18.7

17.3

16.1

16.2

17.6

18.3

19.6

Air (°C)

21.8

21.4

21.5

18.6

17.1

15.6

13.1

14.1

14.8

16.8

16.5

19.6

Sun (h/day)

12.6

10.8

10.6

8.4

8.6

7.9

8.5

10.2

11.6

10.7

13.1

Rain (days)

One year of data, 2025, from Open-Meteo at this beach's coordinates. A rain day is 1 mm or more. The red bar is the month to aim for in each row.

The neighbours

4 beaches within 6 km, as the gull flies.

2.9 kmMississippi Hill Beach570 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
3.2 kmThistle Cove Beach894 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
4.1 kmMississippi Point Beach367 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
5.7 kmLittle Hellfire Bay Beach161 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.

Straight-line distances from the mapped beach shapes (OpenStreetMap). Roads are longer, and in Bali they are much longer.

The crowd

Busy in summer, kangaroos included.

The receipts

Basic toilets at the car park and a 56-site bush camping ground.

The facts · we measured

Length: 2,207 m
Mean width: 116.8 m
Area: 257,719 m²
Warmest sea (2025): 21.5 °C in Mar
Coldest sea (2025): 16.1 °C in Aug
Sea by month, °C: Jan 21.0 · Feb 20.9 · Mar 21.5 · Apr 20.8 · May 19.7 · Jun 18.7 · Jul 17.3 · Aug 16.1 · Sep 16.2 · Oct 17.6 · Nov 18.3 · Dec 19.6