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| Denham | ||
| State | Western Australia | |
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| Residents | 754 (2016) | |
| height | 9 m | |
| Tourist info web | https://www.sharkbayvisit.com.au | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
| location | ||
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Denham is the only city in the region Shark Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is the westernmost settlement on mainland Australia. Denham is on the west coast of the Péron Peninsula and is the administrative seat of the Shire of Shark Bay community in Western Australia.
background
getting there
By plane
The 1 Shark Bay Airport (MJK) is about 8 km outside the city direction Monkey Mia. There are regular connections through regional express airlines to Perth.
By train
By bus
In the street
mobility
The small town can easily be explored on foot.
Tourist Attractions
Buildings
In Denham there are still two buildings made from blocks of the mussel beds Shell Beach were built: that Old Pearler Restaurant in 71 Knight Terrace as well as the Anglican Church built in 1954 Saint Andrew by the Sea in the 35 Hughes Street. There were major financing problems during the construction of the latter, which is why it is an architecturally completely uninteresting church except for the building material.
Museums
activities
- Ocean Park, 1 Ocean Park Road. The aquarium shows the maritime world of Shark Bay, and shark feedings are also part of the show. Ocean Park is about 8 km from Denham.Open: 09: 00-17: 00.Price: 29 AUD.
shop
kitchen
The number of restaurants in Denham is very manageable, and there are also a few cafés, some with breakfast options, which often close at 1 p.m. on weekends in the off-season. All of them can be found along the beach road.
- Old Pearler, 71 Knight Terrace. Tel.: 61 8 9948 1373. Restaurant with a focus on fish (including oysters) in an unusual small building made of clam blocks. Only in the evening, table reservation makes sense. BYO, bottleshop directly opposite.Open: Mo-Su 17:00.
- Waterfront Hotel, 73-75 Knight Terrace. Tel.: 61 8 9948 1133. Typical pub (= hotel) that covers everything from the sports bar to the pool table to the restaurant and bottle shop. The Waterfront Hotel is part of the Heritage Resort and offers good food.
- Shark Bay Hotel, 43 Knight Terrace. Tel.: 61 8 9948 1203. Also a pub with an attached bottle shop, sports bar etc. The family business also runs a small motel with 11 rooms. The premises are a bit uncomfortable, when the weather is nice you sit outside with a view of the bay, but the locals come here, which should be a good sign.
- Western Woodfired Pizza, 89 Knight Terrace. Wood-fired pizza, take-away only.Open: Thu-Sun 5.30pm-8.30pm.
- BBQ - A good alternative to the manageable range of restaurants is a BBQ. Along the promenade there are a number of public BBQ stands with gas that can be used free of charge, just go there, press the button and off you go. Everything works and is amazingly clean. The local butcher (89 Knight Terrace, behind the bakery) is sure to be delighted with customers.
nightlife
accommodation
security
health
The Shark Bay Health Center Located at 53 Hughes Street, it is open Mon-Fri during the day, outside of these hours you will be referred to a higher-level center for advice.
Practical advice
There is no bank branch in Denham, individual ATMs can be found in buildings (e.g. in the Shark Bay Supermarket and in the Waterfront Hotel) and are only accessible when these facilities are open. However, card payment is possible everywhere.
trips
- Monkey Mia Reserve - The popular dolphin feeding is only 26 km away
- Francois Peron National Park - The access to the national park is only a few kilometers in the direction of Monkey Mia, the entrance fee has to be paid at the entrance, all roads are sandy slopes. Until Peron Heritage Precinct (6 km from the entrance) you can still get through with 2WD vehicles, there is also a small thermal pool with a good 40 ° C warm water (included in the NP fee). From this point the sand of the slope becomes significantly deeper, only high-clearance 4WD are permitted here, the tire pressure has to be reduced and can also be pumped up again when driving back. In some places the sand is very deep, inexperienced riders shouldn't try. Instead, we recommend guided 4WD tours offered by several providers (e.g. Sharky Bay Costal Tours) (8h tours around 200 AUD / person including admission and food). The guides know the best places and know the flora and fauna both on land and in the water, because from the coast you can watch manatees, rays, sharks and turtles in the water. Driving time to the top Cape Peron (40km) plan about 2 hours, also here you should wear seat belts, whoever is caught without a seat belt pays a lot (driver and person not wearing a seat belt). If you get stuck in the sand and have to be fetched out by a salvage company, you can quickly get 1500 AUD.
There are two worthwhile destinations on the over 100 km long cul-de-sac to Denham, which are best visited on the way there or on the way back:
- Shell Beach - About 45 km from Denham on the access road there is a short junction. Shell Beach is a total of over 100 km long white sandy beach - one might think - but if you look closely, it is not a sandy beach but tiny white shells that form the beach here. You can walk across the beach and then notice the difference, as it is much more compact than sand. So compact that in the past blocks were cut out of the mussel banks and used to build houses. In Denham there are still two buildings built like this.
- Hamelin pool with its stromatolites - About 27 km after the junction from the North West Coastal Highway towards Denham, follow the signs for an approx. 5 km long cul-de-sac, park and marvel at an ancient relic on the shore. Stomatolites are rock formations that arise from the coexistence of different types of bacteria over long periods of time that together form a kind of biofilm, even today. Actually similar to a coral reef, but with the simplest forms of life. That was probably the case on earth 3.5 billion years ago when there were no complex forms of life and the environment was rather hostile to life. In the Hamelin Pool, water temperatures of 50 degrees can arise and the salt content is very high.
