Beaches WA 603 is a curving, south-facing 29.6 km long, continuous stretch of sand between the low White Point in the east and low sandy Frederick Point at the mouth of the Hardy Inlet. The beach includes Ledge Point, a cuspate foreland formed in lee of offshore reefs, and the area between the foreland and the estuary called Flinders Bay. The beach represents the northwestern section of the near continuous 90 km long beach system that commences at Black Point. The dunes system continues the length of the beach, with Pleistocene dunes extending up to 4 km inland, while the Holocene dunes average about 1 km in width. There are several access tracks via the backing farmland to the shore. Some pass through private property and are not open to the public. The beach is exposed to variable breaker wave conditions along its length and can the divided into four sections. The first 5 km receive lower waves averaging about 1 m owing to offshore reefs. The waves maintain a steep reflective beach, with increasing intertidal beachrock outcrops to the west. The beach is backed by a series of active blowouts extending a few hundred metres inland. Some of the large deflation basins and blowouts have been fenced to assist dune stablisiation and revegetation. This is to prevent the dunes blowing onto the backing farmland, which extends to within 1 km of the shore. Between 5-12 km the waves average about 1.7 m and break over two parallel discontinuous beachrock reefs. The inner reef outcrops along the shore, while the outer lies 200-300 m out in the surf. The result is a more crenulate shoreline and a series of about 10 reef-controlled feeder currents and strong permanent rips flowing out the gaps in the reef. Active blowouts averaging up to 500 m in length continue along this section. The next section from 12-21 km receives the highest waves averaging about 2 m, which maintain a 300 m wide double bar system (Fig. 4.124). The inner bar is cut by beach rips, as well as occasional reef-controlled rips, while the outer bar remains more shore parallel. Active blowouts, including a few large blowouts back the first few kilometers, decreasing to the west. The final section (21-30 km) commences 2 km east of Ledge Point and extends for 9 km to Frederick Point. Waves are lowered slightly by the Ledge Point reef, and to the west by Cape Leeuwin and the Saint Alouran Islands, which combined extend 12 km to the south. The result is a single bar 150 m wide surf zone dominated by strong beach rips spaced every few hundred metres. Generally stable 200-500 m wide dunes back the beach. The final 1.5 km is part of a narrow recurved spit that forms the eastern entrance to the Hardy Inlet into which flows the Blackwood River. The town of Augusta is located on the western shores of the inlet. read more

Beach Length: 0.029km