Me and my wife was in Perth for 9 days and had signed up for a number of day trips covering all the major points of interests, including Pinnacles, Margaret River, Wave Rock etc. Then, we had one free day, which we decided to fill by taking this full day Yanchep tour with cave and visit to Hillarys. We were a bit apprehensive at first because the price was quite hefty, AUD$200+, that doesn't include any meals, or expensive entry tickets. Nonetheless, since we had time to kill, we went for it, hoping for the best.
The tour didn't start well. I tried to call and confirm the pick up time and location, and also inform Aussie Perth Tours about a potential road closure at my hotel. Nobody bothered to reply to my message and calls were engaged all the time.
The driver came to pick us up at 9am. We were shocked to learn that we were the only 2 customers. That didn't bode well ......
As it turned out, this is the most over-sold, and over-priced tours I had in Perth.
Along the way, commentary was minimal, almost non existent. The places we visited were anything but interesting. The cave tour was boring, very badly lit, and the guide was basically talking to himself most of the time. Then, the driver dropped us at a spot in Yanchep Park, telling us to roam around for 15 min, without telling us anything else -- eg the significance of the place, or what to see or do. So we wondered off, trying to spend the 15 minutes meaningfully. Basically there is nothing to see or do. We went back to the van, and the driver wasn't even there. 8 minutes later, he returned to the van, with his breakfast. I guess the spot was chosen so that he can get his breakfast?
Then, a short distance drive later, we arrived at the Koala place. All the koalas were all high up in the trees. Nothing to see there. Then, the driver said to drive us to another place, without saying what is there. I thought we were supposed to have some kind of bushwalk or something or see some kangaroos in the wild, like what the tour description said .... but no.
We arrived at this park. Again, he dropped us off, and told us to roam around for 30 mins, again, without offering more information about the significance of the place, what to do, what to see. Again, we had to try to spend 30 minutes of our time meaningfully at this park, which we failed.
After the agonizing 30 minutes passed, he drove us to the Hillarys. After telling us there are food places in the mall, and there is this Aqua place we can visit (tickets not included), he again dropped us off, without any further information. He then said another van will pick us up and return us to the hotel at 3:30pm. If we ended up earlier, we can call them to send a driver early.
The marina was nice, but the mall was very run-down. Nothing to shop there and nothing much to eat. Again, we had to somehow stretch our time to fill up the 2.5 hours we have. Again, we failed because there is simply nothing to do there. (The Aqua tickets were expensive. We are not doing to spend more $$ after spending $200+ each pax for this useless tour).
After lunch, we couldn't stand it any longer and called them to pick us up at 3:15pm.
In summary, this tour is the worst !!!!! DO NOT sign up for this tour. This is the MOST OVERSOLD and OVERPRICED tour. Considering the fact that a full day Wave Rock tour (by another agency) costs $200+ person, covered 10+ hours of driving (this tour only covers 2+ hours of driving), and included lunch (this tour doesn't include any meals. The only entry was to Yanchep which is just A$17 per vehicle).
Driver came to Pick me up at the hotel, got a very informative quick guided Tour of Perth, drove with other guest to Hillary with the aquarium. Visit of aquarium is worthwhile, also strolling on the Marina. Then with the bus to Yanchep, Graham is a very friendly and competent guide and driver, professional and customer oriented, gives interesting additional information. The Crystal Cave is an interesting site with good guides. Had a nice lunch at the Yanchep Inn, then a pleasant ride back to the hotel. All around very satisfied with Tour Operator.