Dirk Hartog Island Eco Lodge — Hotel in Dirk Hartog Island

We’ve been locked in to our state during COVID so it has been a magic opportunity to explore WA. Dirk Hartog Island has been on my bucket list for years. On enquiring “what might suit 4-5 families” we were offered Jed’s Beach camp. Having just returned, this would be my pick of homestead camping in the future. We had the whole camp including kitchen, two showers and two flushing toilets all to ourselves. Each family had their own site which fronted the beach. It was perfect. A short stroll up the beach landed us at the bar for afternoon beverages. ||||None of us have been so far off the grid so there was a fair amount of planning involved. Five families worked perfectly to split recovery gear and camp kitchen items as well as food and refrigerator options. That we were travelling together made it far easier. ||||We had 10 children between us aged 9 through to 17 years. With almost no wifi they were kept busy fishing and tracking wildlife, card games, sitting fireside and enjoying adult conversation. During the day we enjoyed exploring just a small amount of what the island has to offer. Everyone, kids included, walked away feeling it was one of the best things we’ve ever done. ||||The trip took two days to get on to the island with a three hour 4WD just to get to the barge pick up. Stuck on the beach in a strong Northerly we waited 5 hours for the barge to arrive, but the captain committed to keep driving until we had all crossed. Another 45 minute 4WD to get to the homestead made for a late camp set up but where else did we have to be?||||Our welcome was warm. Our stay was blissful. A couple of tires blown (2 out of five cars and four trailers - one on the ill-fated boat trailer). Staff couldn’t have been more helpful in arranging repairs in Denham, welding assistance and at the end of a long day, generous pours of #inscriptiongin Sitting under the Milky Way made every day seem better than the last. ||||DHI may have been a bucket list item but I’d wager we will be back. ||Thank you...

My partner and I stayed at the Eco Lodge for 3 nights and had a fabulous time. We simply can’t recommend it highly enough. The hospitality and friendliness of the owners, Kieran and Tory Wardle, and their staff, was boundless. The eating and relaxing areas were kept tidy and spotless. The evening dinners were certainly worthy of a Michelin star or two, so well thought out, prepared, and served up they were. Facilities for breakfast, lunch, and refreshments during the day were excellent and made us feel at home. We availed ourselves of the romantic “most Western Australian sunset” tour and the Marine tour with plenty of land and marine wildlife to observe, including dugongs. Both tours were worth our time and our guides went out of their way to ensure we got as much out of them as we could. We also took the whole-day tour of 70km to Cape Inscription (and 70km back!) to visit the Hartog and Vlamingh plate sites, the lighthouse, and Dampier’s Landing. While this bone-rattling tour, on rough and often corrugated 4-wheel drive tracks, with soft sand in parts, is not for the faint hearted, we appreciated the unique chance to visit these locations with detailed commentary along the way. Of special note was that, in our case, that there had been vehicle breakdowns, potentially putting the Inscription tour off the agenda, but the Lodge arranged to a replacement vehicle to brought over to the island. A clear indication of the owners doing their very best for their visitors. How the Wardles manage to carry out their operation to such a high standard, with all the logistical issues of being self-sufficient on a wild, remote, and water-scarce island, is beyond us, but they do. And we commend...

Our holiday on DHI was a fantastic experience. We were invited by our friends from Queensland to join them on a 7 day camping trip around the Island. |This meant a lot of preparation of the 4wd to have it ready to tackle the tracks and sand dunes. We are in our senior years and haven't done any camping since our children were young.|Was a bit apprehensive prior to going but once we got there and started our camping holiday we started to settle into it after a few days.|The weather overall was great apart from a few wet days. We moved each day to a different camping spot and transversed the Island from top to bottom. Beautiful wild coastline, pristine beaches and no crowds of people, it felt like you were the only ones there.|Not being a experienced 4w driver my Mitsubishi pajero managed to tackle the tracks and sand with ease.The going is slow so its takes a bit of time to travel to most places.|The last day we camped back at the homestead and it was a picture perfect day. Sitting down and over looking the bay and having a lovely cold beer under a amazing sunset.|The only downside side was a delay getting back off the Island due to staff shortages with the barge.|All in all I would recommend a visit to this lovely island. If you love your comfort best to stay at the homestead accommodation but for the more adventurous just do your own thing and you...