Perth Tourist Traps

There are always specials, discounted rates available. Quite often international tourists are quoted the rack rate(highest price).

Always enquire, check out websites.

Perth offers winter discounts and quite often you are looking up to 40% off price.

There is a peak season, off peak, low season, winter season. The prices vary.

Even if you are visiting at the end of summer there is discount.

There are also packages.

It happens everywhere, but sometimes we get caught up in the whole excitement it is so easy not to check. I live in Perth and it even happened to me. When staying in hotels/appartments always remember to receive a reciept for all the money you have paid. MAKE SURE YOU GET ONE FOR YOUR BOND DEPOSIT. I had booked into a 5 star hotel, paid, left a bond, i received a recipt when i paid prior but realised it only recognised the deposit paid but not the bond paid, but at the time did not think anything of it. However when i booked in they said that i had not paid for bond and with no reciept it was my word agaisnt theres. They said they would check overnight, which left myself rather up set and even questioning did i really pay it after an unsettling night, Fortunely they did take my word. i don't know why this happened because i always check my reciepts, i guess i thought it was a five star top of the range hotel, they would look after me and there would be no problems. Think Again.

Unique Suggestions: Number one lesson i have learnt. Always check you have got a receipt for all monies paid.

While travelling along the West Coast you will find wonderful Bays and inlets... be sure to have your camera ready, you never know what lies beyond the bend!

Unique Suggestions: Capture beautiful scenes like this one to take home. Or if you find yourself at Meelup Bay... a quiet secluded beach with pure white sand ... you can stay there all day soaking up the sun. Drop in a line and relax while doing some fishing or just lay back and thank God you're alive!

Fun Alternatives: An alternative to the above mentioned tourist trap would be working out how many days holiday you have left so you really chill out in these awesome surroundings.

Spa's in resorts and hotels are big tourist traps. Spa's may be advertised as heated however they are only thermal heated which in other words is the same temperature as the pool. So make sure you check. I won't say the resort that claimed to have a 'heated' spa.
Also some hotels claim to have a double spa but really it turns out to be a bath with a spa system. There is a big difference between the two.

Unique Suggestions: Enquire before you book.

Wave Rock: Although it's really cool to see a big rock in the shape of a wave i'm not sure if it's worth an almost 400 KM busride (one way). If you happen to be around there you defenately should take a look, but we had a guided tour of just half an hour.
To make the long trip justable they also brought us to Hippo's Yawn, a big stone that looks like a yawning hippo, and Mulka's cave, a small cave with a few aboriginal paintings which are hard to see in the dark. I found out what i've been staring at when i was back home and looked at the pictures taken with a flash light. For more pictures see my wave rock travelogue

I have to preface this by saying i've never been on one before but, going on anecdotal evidence, avoid the Pinnacles tour. 'the Pinnacles' are basically several groups of limestone jutting out from the sands in the beach north of Lancelin. Apparently it's breath-taking at night but most tours are run during the day.

Go to the Pinnacles and go to Monkey Mia ! But take your time : spend one week on such a trip, not 2 days with a organized tour where you will spend 12 hours on the bus, and 1 hour in the pinnacles and 2 in Monkey Mia. Respect the magic, take your time, stay 2 days in Monkey Mia you will remember those days all your life!

Money changers. They're not very easy to find in perth. The bank I went to will NOT exchange 100.00 US Dollar bills unless you have an account with them. You also will NOT get the rate advertised on business TV such as CNBC. Thomas Cook will exchange money for you with no problems but the rate is rather low. Oh, don't forget that they charge you a fee (5.00 to 7.00)for every exchange!