What is it about Secret Harbour and Mandurah, i hear nothing but good reports about these places, i hope to be in WA once the house has sold so it could be longer than i thought!!!, i have looked on the web about Secret Harbour and it looks lovely but i really need to here from people who live there, Mandurah looks nice but i have been put off Halls Head as there have been some discussions about traffic due to one road in and out

Thanks for any advise

I live in Port Kennedy and I think Secret Harbour is nicer than Halls Head but thats my choice!

It depends what you want from your suburb. Where will you be working? Do you have school age kids? Do you want to be near the ocean? etc etc. I live in Secret Harbour and like it, although there are easily another 20 suburbs that I would be just as happy living in.

It's a little like living in a sand pit - the northern suburbs (with a few exceptions) are more established, but in 5 -10 years, Secret Harbour will be just as lovely.

Tell us a little more about yourself and what you want from your suburb - we'll help if we can.

Jules x

Where do you plan to work?
We lived in Golden Bay, next to Secret Harbour and I commuted to Redcliffe, next to the domestic terminal. It was about an hours drive each way and after 3 months we moved to the hills and now only have a 20 min commute.
SH is a nice area but a long way from the CBD.

There are other places in and around Mandurah that are much nicer than Halls Head. If you can go a bit further south to Falcon, Port Bouvard, Dawesville etc it is lovely down there and there are some fantastic beaches. You have good access to the estuary and canals which is great if you are into boating and fishing as we are, there are plenty of shops and there are some very good primary schools too.

Thanks for the reply, our concern is that any further south would still mean the one road in/out, we have even looked at builders and some are saying an additional charge for areas, any advise on which builders to avoid, we would like to have a 2 storey as sending the children to bed would be far easier on a different level from the T.V, Jules how long have you lived in Secret Harbour and did you build, we have 2 children both at primary school, we like the sound of Mandurah Baptist for a secondary school.

Hi

We have been in secret harbour for 10 days and so far we love it everyone is so friendly the primary school is great, not quite sure about the high school yet though the children love it and have settled in well, the beach is lovely and plenty of good shops not too far away. We are renting for six months and then plan to build, lots of choice in house styles and locations to suit all budgets, like i say we love it here though i know it's early days

sue pete and children

I wouldn't say this was a necessity as the houses here are very large. Even if you're in a single storey, chances are the kids rooms are a long way from the parent's bedroom or the TV!

My little lad went to Kindy at Mandurah Baptist. Lovely school, but still growing and developing and one of the more expensive private schools locally. Recently started mine at Living Waters (so far so good )

We built (probably one of the worst times EVER to have done so in terms of completion times and customer service), but you do get what you want when you design and build - don't know if I could cope with the stress again though . We've been in Secret Harbour for 3 years now; it's changed a lot in that time. We've now got a shopping centre, swimming pool, two primary schools and a high school and there's a police station, tavern and loads more coming in the near future.

Any more questions, just give me a shout.

Jules x

Yeay!! Welcome.

Glad you're settling in so well.

Jules x

Thanks Jules

Its a great place to live isn't it, so very easy to feel settled maybe the home sickness will start kicking in later but i really don't think so though

Sue

We currently rent in Meadow Springs which is nice, but we are building on Lakelands, which is just in Mandurah. I agree with the poster who mentioned the stress of building. I wouldn't do it again, though I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end. Our build is a single storey and we're building with Homebuyers who, so far have proved to be good. There is also plans to eventually build a train station on Lakelands, so that would make travel to the city easier. Also, Meadow Springs and Lakelands is right on the main road in/out of Mandurah.

I live in port kennedy (3mins in car to S.H.) and would like to say that secret harbour is lovely, in a good location- not too far to get around. meadow springs and Lakelands are lovely places too- my daughter is at the senior school there,she catches the bus in the morning its all nice an' easy here!
you can drive from PK to SH then LKL and MS in 15 mins no trouble- none of these places are far from each other

The single road in and out of Mandurah can get clogged up at times but no where near as bad as my journey form Southend to London or even the local school run.

I have heard that Mandurah Baptist primary is quite good; I have heard that the high school isn't that great but it is too soon to make a conclusive judgement with the high school. Frederick Irwin Anglican School has a fantastic reputation and is considered to be the best school around. It is heavily over subscribed but worth putting your name down ASAP if you are interested.

http://www.frederickirwin.wa.edu.au/ Quite a few kids commute from Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Rockingham and even Dwellingup, Waroona, Wagerup and Serpentine.

I would like to say that my daughter attends Mandurah Baptist College and I cant praise it highly enough.

I have one in Mandurah Baptist primary and one in Mandurah Baptist High .Both are excellent and agree cant praise them highly enough