Busselton Jetty Train and Underwater Observatory

If you visit Busselton, you can’t miss the jetty, which stretches 1.8km across Geographe Bay, the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s been through a lot over the years, including being severely damaged in 1978 by Cyclone Alby, the worst cyclone in the history of South West WA, and a fire in 1999 that forced staff to chainsaw the burning section of jetty into the Geographe Bay waters in a desperate bid to control the flames. Read the full history of Busselton Jetty.

This post doesn’t feature food, by the way. Well… it does, but it’s still alive and swimming! :)

After our Simmo’s ice cream, we headed to the jetty.

Juji had booked us Jetty Train/Underwater Observatory tour tickets online a week or so before our trip. We picked up them up at the Interpretive Centre, a blue building at the start of the jetty where there’s a museum and you can buy tickets, gifts and souvenirs.

Note: I didn’t use the loo while I was there but those who did told me you can listen to the sounds of the sea through the open window while you um, do your thing. :)

The train travels at a speed of 6km per hour and takes you all the way to the end of the jetty where the Underwater Observatory is. See Jetty Train ride and Underwater Observatory opening hours and prices – bookings are essential.

Before we went into the Underwater Observatory, I took some pictures of seagulls as they flew overhead.

Busselton Underwater Observatory descends to a depth of 8 metres with viewing windows at each level as you follow the stairs down. Our tour guide told us about the history of the jetty and observatory and talked about the marine life we could see through the windows.

I love aquariums, so I had a wonderful time gazing at the fish along all the levels. There were quite a few of us taking photos as we gawked at the fish.

Here’s the fish you keep catching on a bad fishing day: the blowfish, or as we call it, the blowie. No wonder they are so easy to catch – there were heaps of them swimming around.

I felt a rush of excitement when I spotted this school of tailor. My dad used to catch tailor which we’d eat for dinner. I love panfried whole tailor but haven’t eaten any in years. I think Jay was thrilled to see the tailor too, but from a fishing, not so much eating, perspective. :D

I could’ve watched the fish for hours but it was soon time to jump back on the train for the return journey.

The train ride is fun, but if you enjoy walking and the weather is good, it would be fun to walk the 1.8km all the way to the Underwater Observatory.

It was a little disconcerting as we rode the train just how close we were to the people fishing along the edge of the jetty. It felt like a little nudge would be all it took to push them into the water! Not that we’d ever do that, of course. I’ll be surprised if there have never been any mishaps.

More information about the jetty, train and underwater observatory
Visit The Busselton Jetty Experience

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. We went back to our holiday apartments for a rest before dinner. We’d be back at the jetty in a little while…

Busselton trip, April 2011

See the full list of posts from our Busselton trip in correct reading order.

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