Just a few years ago, we most likely wouldn’t have felt the need to write this blog. After all, who doesn’t know about Scarborough!? Most of us in Perth have lifelong memories even if we were never residents; getting the bus to the beach on school holidays as teenagers, dancing at the old Lookout till the sun came up, or perhaps treating the other half to a romantic staycation at Observation City. No matter what you were doing, you knew what you were in for. These days however, many people who remember Scarborough as nothing more than a bygone part of their youth, might be surprised at how the area has changed to cater their grown-up selves – not to mention to any potential new little humans they might now have with them!
Scarborough Beach Pool
In case you didn’t already realise how much WA’s suburban beaches have it over Bondi, we’ve now got the one thing they had but we didn’t! Overlooking the Indian Ocean is the only beachside pool in WA. On top of being geothermically heated so it can be used all year round, it also features both 25 and 50 metre lanes, a shallow leisure pool for kids and lessons, a café’, and an Italian restaurant with ocean views as perfect as the food.
Snake Pit/Whale Playground
Now these ones are for the new little humans we were talking about. Just above the beach lies options for kids of all ages that are sure to get them off the iPad; first up is a three-tier skate park catering to a whole range of skill levels, along with an international competition-level 3.6m bowl for the most daring of the lot. Right next to that is the challenging but fun climbing wall – almost 200sqm of climbable surface for all levels of ability. If you’ve only been blessed with parenthood for a few years however, then the Whale Playground is probably the most suitable place; a whale skeleton-inspired structure that doubles as an art piece based on Noongar culture and their connection to life and the environment.
All these options making your head spin already? Not to worry, the peaceful Sunset Hill grassed area lies in close proximity to all of the above, so you can keep one eye on the sunset and one on the little ones!
Scarborough Square
Adorned with a series of large red and yellow awnings, Scarborough square is made to host a wide range of events. It’s often home to various pop-up stalls and hosts the Thursday Night markets during summer. It also features the Tjunta Trail – a series of artworks which tell the Noongar tale of a group of missing children who are found by the spirit woman, Tjunta. You can find 5 chapters of this story sandblasted and painted all around the foreshore.