23/12/2025
πΎ πΏππΏ πππ ππππ ? β πΎππππΌππππ
Before Cervantes became a holiday town and the southern gateway to the Pinnacles, it began as a small ππ’π¬π‘π’π§π π¬ππππ₯ππ¦ππ§π β a handful of camps and shacks built by crayfishermen who worked the Turquoise Coast long before sealed roads and tourism signs arrived.
Named after the ship Cervantes, which wrecked just offshore in 1844, the area remained remote for more than a century. By the 1950s and β60s, fishers began setting up makeshift huts near the beach β rough and ready, but perfectly placed for hauling in pots and sheltering from coastal storms.
Over time, those early shacks gave way to more permanent structures as the fishing industry grew and land was formalised into town lots. By the late 1960s, Cervantes had become a gazetted townsite β one of the first along this stretch of coast to move from informal camp to thriving community.
Even today, Cervantes still carries traces of its early roots β weathered jetties, old boats, and the friendly, down-to-earth spirit shared by those who built WAβs shack settlements from scratch.
πΈ Do you have early photos or family memories from Cervantesβ fishing or shack days?
Weβd love to feature them as part of this series β share below or send us a message.
As we follow the coast further north, weβll reach Jurien Bay, where the shack story became a cornerstone for one of the Turquoise Coastβs most iconic seaside towns.
