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Life’s a beach at Scarborough

The nbn project | Published on 21 February 2020
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From the world-famous to the almost unknown, and little moments through to big events, we explore what puts nbn™ ready-to-connect towns, suburbs and cities on the map…

Rising like clockwork in the east and setting to the west, it makes sense that some of the most majestic sunsets in Australia can be found closest to where our brightest star calls it a day.

And one of the best places to watch as it dips over the Indian Ocean’s horizon? In sun-soaked Scarborough.


“There’s a lot to be excited about in Scarborough.”

Located 11 kilometres – or a 20-minute drive – northwest of Perth’s Central Business District, Scarborough boasts a rich mix of natural beauty and the kind of modern trappings you come to expect from a 21st century suburb.
Sunrise over Scarborough Beach, Scarborough, in Perth

Scarborough, get connected

Eligible premises in Scarborough are now ready to connect to the nbn™ broadband access network.

Research from Connecting Australia, commissioned by NBN Co, predicts up to 8560 additional businesses in Western Australia will be attributable to the nbn™ access network by 2021.

Marith is just one of Scarborough’s residents making the most of this connectivity.

For the last two years, self-employed Marith has used services over the nbn™ access network to help develop her business, maintain its website, and carry out social media activities.

“Being connected to the nbn™ [access network] means I can run my business from home.

“I require fast internet as I'm uploading and downloading a high volume of high definition images for my business.

“I also make international Wi-Fi calls regularly and it is as if I'm speaking to someone in Australia.”*^

And then there’s the opportunity it offers to unwind: “After a long day, we can just relax with Netflix.

“It’s been smooth sailing and I'm happy with the service provided.”

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Resorting to natural wonder

With its crystal-clear waters and white stretch of sand, it seems more than fitting that Scarborough in Perth shares its name with the English seaside resort town frequented by holidaymakers for more than 400 years.

Once dominated by holiday homes, today, the slice of Perth paradise has swelled in size to more than 15,000 residents.

And with Scarborough Beach part-way through a $30 million revitalisation project, more may soon be tempted to kick off their thongs at the beach-haven – for a holiday or a while.

Of course, the Traditional Custodians of the land have long known its charms – for tens of thousands of years, the Noongar people have called the Perth region home.

Today, Scarborough’s natural beauty and views from its popular beach are among the reasons why locals and visiting tourists alike continue to fall for the seaside locale.

The City of Stirling introduces you to Scarborough's popular beach:

Three things to do in Scarborough

Follow the Tjunta Trail

Starting at the Whale Playground, a great entertainment zone for kids, the Tjunta Trail is a sandblasted and painted telling of a Dreamtime story about lost children and how they are eventually discovered. From here, your next stop to continue the tale is the Snake Pit (more on that later). Follow this to the lower promenade near the amphitheatre, then to the lower promenade near the Scarborough Beach Pool, before reaching the story’s conclusion on the upper promenade in Scarborough Square. Take this storied trail during the summer months to happen upon the Thursday Night Markets offering delicious dining options, live music and market stalls, as well as pop-up stores and bars.

Make a splash in the Scarborough Beach Pool

With the beach within hot-footing-it-across-the-sand distance, you may well wonder why anyone would favour a pool over the Indian Ocean. For starters, it’s ideal for those who love an ocean view (and really, who doesn’t?) but prefer to take their dip poolside. And it’s the only beachside pool you’ll find in WA. Unlike the sea, this particular body of water is geothermally heated for year-round comfort with Olympic-length 50m lanes and stamina-friendly 25m lanes available in the 27-degree main pool. Or dangle your toes in the leisure pool’s 32-degree waters, particularly welcoming during the colder months. When you’re done getting wet, dry off to the calming sounds of those nearby breaking waves.

Get air in the Snake Pit

A bit farther up from Scarborough Beach Pool, you’ll find the sss-strangely named ‘Snake Pit’. While its name is taken from a 1950s-era rock ’n roll hotspot, the town’s modern-day Snake Pit is the place where you can watch or be part of the performance. At its heart, there’s a three-tier, international-level skate bowl, or less-inclined areas for those more inclined to skate, bike or scoot at a shallower pace. There’s also an expansive rope-free bouldering wall for casual (or more serious) clambering, with a soft-fall flooring ‘safety net’. Finally, you can grab a basketball (and some friends or family members) to test your shooting accuracy on the basketball half-court.

Connectivity and Scarborough according to nbn’s Jane

In a state that’s as impressively far, wide and geographically diverse as Western Australia, says nbn’s Jane McNamara, there are plenty of places available to count among one’s favourites.

Yet Scarborough regularly makes the cut, says the Head of Corporate and Community Affairs for WA and SA.

“It’s really not hard to see why Scarborough is described as having one of Perth’s most popular beaches,” says Jane.

“While it’s only a hop, skip and jump from the CBD, you could be a world away on that white sand and with those ocean views.”

Of course, there’s more to the suburb than purely its sand and sea, says Jane, but its beachside precinct – the jewel in Scarborough’s coastal crown – is hard to go past.

“Understandably, Scarborough is popular with tourists and locals alike, including for the world-class facilities on offer across sport, recreation and leisure, and all its laidback cafés and casual dining options.”

Jane McNamara, Head of Corporate and Community Affairs for WA and SA at nbn

So, what does connectivity mean for those living, working and visiting Scarborough?

“With access to services over the nbn™ access network available, the online world really is Scarborough’s oyster.

“Think: accommodation providers offering Wi-Fi to guests, businesses running their operations online; locals staying local by working remotely from home…

“There’s a lot to be excited about in Scarborough.”  

Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre

Scarborough by the numbers

3.6 – The depth in metres of the international-level competition skate bowl at the Snake Pit.
11 – The number of major sporting events that take place over 10 summer weekends in Scarborough.
20 – The number of minutes it takes to drive from Perth to Scarborough.
32 – The year-round temperature in degrees of Scarborough Beach’s leisure pool.
1350 – The total number of hand and footholds on the Snake Pit bouldering wall.
1892 – The year the current name for the area, Scarborough, was first used.
15,467 – The population of Scarborough, according to the 2016 Census.
35,000 – The number of years the Noongar people have lived in the region.
30,000,000 – The money recently invested in revitalising Scarborough Beach.

* An end user’s experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ broadband access network, depends on the nbn™ access network technology and configuration over which services are delivered to their premises, whether they are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside of nbn’s control (like their equipment quality, software, chosen broadband plan, signal reception, or how their provider designs its network). Speeds may also be impacted by the number of concurrent users on the nbn™ Fixed Wireless network, including during busy periods. Sky Muster™ satellite end users may also experience latency.

^nbn is very happy with Marith’s experiences with the nbn™ broadband access network. Of course, end user experiences may vary. An end user’s experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ broadband access network, depends on the configuration over which services are delivered to their premises, whether they are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside of nbn’s control (like their equipment quality, software and signal reception). Satellite end users may also experience latency.



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