Mindarie and Clarkson swapped names in 1985. The area now called Mindarie was originally gazetted as “Clarkson” by the Shire of Wanneroo in 1979, while the name Mindarie was allocated to the locality directly east, today’s Clarkson. Smith Corporation, the developer building the Mindarie Keys marina, requested the two names be transposed to fit their marketing, and the council agreed. It’s a small, mostly forgotten piece of bureaucratic history behind one of Perth’s most recognisable marina suburbs, a place that took its own name from a Noongar word, first recorded by explorer Alexander Forrest in 1874, meaning either “stand by” or “green water.” Today Mindarie is a genuinely affluent coastal suburb of around 7,300 to 7,500 residents, its harbour, hotel and boardwalk still drawing visitors more than three decades after a project that very nearly collapsed before it opened.
Mindarie Suburb Map
Quick Facts
| Local Government Area | City of Wanneroo |
| Distance from Perth CBD | Approx. 36km |
| Postcode | 6030 |
| Population | 7,326 (2021 Census); 7,520 (REIWA, matching the 2016 figure) |
| Median House Price | $1,380,000 |
| Annual Growth | 14.0 percent (sales) |
| Known For | Mindarie Marina, one of WA’s largest man-made marina resorts; swapped names with Clarkson in 1985; historic lime kilns in Coopers Park |
| SEIFA Ranking | 95th percentile for relative socio-economic advantage (2006 index) |
Who Mindarie Suits
Mindarie suits buyers wanting a genuinely upmarket coastal lifestyle centred on a working marina, with real dining, boating and boardwalk amenity within the suburb itself. It’s a strong fit for buyers who value the suburb’s comparatively high socio-economic profile and don’t mind paying a premium for it. It’s a less natural fit for buyers wanting a train station within the suburb, since Mindarie relies on nearby Clarkson station via a solid but indirect bus network.
The Suburb That Swapped Names With Its Neighbour
Long before the marina, this stretch of coast had a working history rooted in sheep and lime. The first permanent European settler was sheep farmer Bernard Clarkson, who acquired a 13,000-acre pastoral lease in 1888 covering modern-day Mindarie, Clarkson, Quinns Rocks and Merriwa, run for generations as the Mindarie Pastoral Company. In 1932, settlers Henry Cooper and his brothers built two lime kilns at Mindarie after closing their Wembley quarries, producing treated limestone sold in Perth and Fremantle as the Quinns Rocks Lime Stone Company. The kilns employed up to thirty-two labourers who settled in makeshift jarrah shacks nearby, a genuine symbol of Depression-era industry diversification, until the operation closed in 1948 after exhausting good-quality limestone supplies. Restored in 2001, the kilns are preserved today in Coopers Park and regarded as sites of real architectural interest.
The land sat unpopulated after 1952 until Smith Corporation bought 316 hectares in 1981 for $5.5 million, announcing plans in 1984 for a $28 million marina and resort complex, “Mindarie Keys,” timed to be ready for the 1987 America’s Cup defence in Fremantle. Environmental and planning concerns delayed final state approval until 1986, too late for the America’s Cup deadline, and construction only began in February 1988. The project then ran into serious trouble: massive cost overruns, unrealistic land value estimates, and poor sales worsened by the late 1980s recession and cheaper competing developments in neighbouring Quinns Rocks. The marina finally opened in 1989 at a total cost of $34 million, but Smith Corporation had already lost control to its financiers, and the project eventually fell into receivership after the 1991 collapse of the State Bank of South Australia.
Mindarie Keys Joint Venture, led by Fini Group (now part of Mirvac), bought the stalled project in 1996 and devised a new structure plan for the suburb’s northern half, approved by the City of Wanneroo in 1998. That relaunch made Mindarie one of the highest-selling suburbs in Western Australia at the time, finally delivering the vision Smith Corporation had struggled for a decade to realise.
Attraction Highlights
Mindarie Marina remains the suburb’s clear centrepiece, its boardwalk home to a three-storey hotel overlooking the harbour, two restaurants, a microbrewery and The Boat, a pub and restaurant that provides most of the suburb’s entertainment and nightlife.
Claytons Beach, just south of the marina’s breakwater, is a small, unpatrolled beach popular with surfers. the adjacent Mindarie Beach is as yet undeveloped, offering pure, untouched beachfront (so enjoy it while you can!)
Coopers Park preserves the restored 1932 lime kilns as a genuine local heritage landmark, while Lighthouse Park and Bellport Park both feature large, functional lighthouses regarded as further local icons. Bellport Park also has tennis courts for everyday recreation.South Mindarie Beach has car access
Life in Mindarie Day to Day
Mindarie’s marina precinct is the suburb’s genuine social hub, with The Boat providing most of the local nightlife and the boardwalk’s restaurants a regular weekend destination for residents from well beyond the suburb itself. Claytons Beach, just south of the breakwater, is a locals’ surf spot rather than a tourist beach, small and unpatrolled but genuinely well regarded. And politically, locals know Mindarie is unusual among its neighbours for consistently voting Liberal at both federal and state elections, a pattern often attributed to the suburb’s more affluent coastal west contrasting with the more mortgage-belt character of its eastern half. Ocean Keys Shopping Centre, in nearby Clarckson, is a regional shopping destination offering Woolworths and big box retailers such as JB Hi-Fi and Bunnings.
Realty Market
REIWA data current to July 2026 puts Mindarie’s median house price at $1.38 million, up 14.0 percent over the past year. Three-bedroom houses carry a median of $1.2 million and four-bedroom homes $1.41 million, with an upper quartile of $1.82 million and a lower quartile of $1.2 million. Houses typically sell within 20 days and units within 21 days. Units carry a median of $1 million, and vacant land carries a median of $680,000, ranging from $435,000 for small blocks to $750,000 for larger ones. Rentals have moved even faster, up 20.8 percent over the year to a median of $1,075 a week; three-bedroom homes rent for a median of $995 a week and four-bedroom homes for $1,125, with houses taking a median of 18 days to lease and units 30 days.
Nearby suburb growth confirms this stretch of coastline remains strong, if slightly less explosive than Mindarie’s own rental market: Clarkson grew 18.9 percent and Merriwa grew 17.9 percent over the past year, both ahead of Mindarie’s 14.0 percent sales growth, while Quinns Rocks grew a more modest 13.6 percent.
Hospitals and Healthcare Nearby
Mindarie Keys Medical Centre, in the suburb’s south, provides GP care, dental services and physiotherapy for residents. For anything beyond routine care, residents rely on nearby Clarkson or Joondalup Health Campus, the closest major public hospital, a reasonable drive south via Marmion Avenue or the Mitchell Freeway.
Schools and Education
Mindarie is home to Mindarie Primary School, a K-6 government school catering to the entire suburb. Quinns Rocks Primary School, also government, is 0.9 kilometres away, and Mindarie Senior College, a government school built in the suburb’s north in 2003, sits 1 kilometre away, though it caters for Years 11-12 only, chiefly taking on leaving students from nearby Kinross College’s Years 7-10. Senior Mindarie students are primarily in the Clarkson Community High School catchment. Peter Moyes Anglican Community School, a non-government school established in 2000, is 1.2 kilometres away, and Quinns Baptist College, established in 1996, adds a further private Christian option; both take students from Kindergarten to Year 12 and sit along Mindarie’s northern boundary alongside Mindarie Senior College.
Industry and Work Life
Mindarie’s economy leans heavily on tourism and hospitality via the marina, alongside two minor shopping precincts in the suburb’s north and south that include service stations, restaurants, takeaway franchises and Basil’s, an independent grocery store. Census data shows a notably higher share of Mindarie residents working as technicians and trades workers, 19.4 percent, compared to the regional average of 16.0 percent. The large Ocean Keys Shopping Centre in neighbouring Clarkson, just across Marmion Avenue, caters to most residents’ major commercial and public service needs beyond the suburb’s own smaller precincts.
Parks and Greenspaces
Large swathes of natural bushland and coastline are preserved throughout Mindarie, including Claytons Beach, Rosslare Park, Kinsale Park and the North and South Mindarie Foreshores, which contain significant Quindalup dunes and Swan Coastal Plain vegetation.
The South Mindarie Foreshore underwent coastal rehabilitation works in 2011 to protect its dunes and vegetation. Coopers Park preserves the restored 1932 lime kilns within its bushland setting, while Bellport Park and Lighthouse Park add further formal recreation space with their landmark lighthouses.
Transport
Mindarie has no train station of its own, relying instead on nearby Clarkson station for rail access into Joondalup and then the Perth CBD.
Transperth route 479 runs from Clarkson Station to Mindarie Marina via Portofino Promenade, Havana Way, Long Beach Promenade, Anchorage Drive and Ocean Falls Boulevard, and route 480 connects Clarkson Station to Quinns Rocks via Marmion Avenue, Rothesay Heights, Bellport Parade, Salerno Drive and Quinns Road. Routes 481 and 482 also serve Mindarie on their way between Clarkson and Butler stations, with a weekend deviation of route 481 running directly to the marina.
Hester Avenue and Neerabup Road both connect to the Mitchell Freeway and Wanneroo Road a short drive east, while Marmion Avenue runs parallel to the freeway along the suburb’s boundary, linking north to Yanchep.
Trade-Offs to Weigh
Mindarie’s strengths are its genuinely upmarket coastal lifestyle, its working marina with real dining and entertainment options, and a socio-economic profile well above the Perth metropolitan average. Its trade-off is price, with a median well above most of its northern-corridor neighbours, and the absence of a train station within its own boundaries, meaning residents rely on Clarkson station and a solid but indirect bus network. Buyers should also weigh the suburb’s turbulent development history, since the marina’s original developer collapsed into receivership before the project was rescued, a reminder that even now-thriving coastal precincts can have rocky origins. For buyers prioritising a genuine marina lifestyle and strong socio-economic standing over budget or rail proximity, Mindarie remains one of the standout coastal suburbs in the City of Wanneroo.
The Honest Verdict
Mindarie’s marina very nearly never opened, its original developer collapsing into receivership before a fresh consortium finally delivered the project a decade behind its original vision, and the suburb that resulted has become one of the more affluent, distinctive coastal addresses in the City of Wanneroo. With sales growth of 14.0 percent over the past year and a median of $1.38 million, Mindarie suits buyers who want genuine marina lifestyle amenity and are willing to pay a premium for it, provided they’re comfortable relying on nearby Clarkson station rather than a train stop within the suburb itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Mindarie and Clarkson swap names?
The area now called Mindarie was originally gazetted as “Clarkson” in 1979, with the neighbouring locality named Mindarie. Smith Corporation, developer of the Mindarie Keys marina, requested the names be transposed in 1985 to suit their marketing.
What is the median house price in Mindarie?
REIWA data current to July 2026 puts the median at $1.38 million, up 14.0 percent over the past year.
Does Mindarie have a train station?
No, but Clarkson station on the Yanchep line is accessible via several Transperth bus routes, including a direct weekend service to the marina.
What is Mindarie Marina known for?
It’s one of the largest man-made marina resorts in Western Australia, home to a three-storey hotel, two restaurants, a microbrewery and The Boat pub and restaurant along its boardwalk.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au) 2021 Census SAL data for Mindarie. Local government context confirmed via the City of Wanneroo website. For nearby suburb profiles in this series, see the Clarkson Profile and the Quinns Rocks Profile.