Two departures that reach the desert in daylight, which means the Discovery Centre is open, the wildlife is visible and the Lancelin dunes are drivable. They are the fuller day and the longer one. Pinnacles desert stargazing tours list every guided departure, daytime or evening.
A morning departure from Perth, a run north with stops, an hour or so among the limestone pillars in the middle of the day, and a return in the early evening. Both departures in this set bolt something substantial onto the desert — a wildlife park and a dune run on one, a small-group four-wheel drive and a coastal lunch on the other.
That is not filler. The desert takes one to two hours and Perth is 200 km away, so a day tour has eight hours to account for. What each operator chooses to fill them with is the actual difference between these two products.
It keeps 9:30 am – 4:30 pm, every day except Christmas Day, and it is the only place that explains what you are looking at. Half an hour in it turns the field from interesting rocks into a sequence you can read.
Kangaroos and emus are active early and late rather than in the dark, and one of these departures adds a wildlife park with koalas, wombats and hand-fed kangaroos on the way north.
Both departures include sandboarding at Lancelin and one adds a forty-five-minute four-wheel-drive run over the sand. Neither is an after-dark activity.
A day tour is home around half past six. An evening one finishes near midnight. If you are in Perth for a short stay, that is a real difference.
On both, at Cervantes, in a rock-lobster town. Neither evening departure includes lunch and two say so explicitly.
The honest comparison, because the Discovery Centre and the dark sky are five hours apart.
| Day departures | Evening departures | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaves Perth | 6:45 or 7:45 am | Early to mid afternoon |
| Discovery Centre | Open | Shut before you arrive |
| Light in the field | Overhead and flat | Low, shadows longer than the stones |
| Wildlife | Koalas, kangaroos and wombats on one of them | Whatever is out at dusk |
| Meal | Lunch at Cervantes | Dinner in the desert |
| Sandboarding | On both, with a 4WD dune run on one | On one of four |
| Fare | $186 - $197 | $127 - $182 |
| Home by | Early evening | Eleven at night or later |
If the light and the sky are what you want, the evening departures page makes that case. If you want the fuller day, stay here.
In the fare on both: return transport from Perth, a guide, lunch, the sandboarding at Lancelin, and time among the pillars while the visitor centre is open. The small-group departure adds every national park fee, morning tea and a drink at the dunes.
Not in the fare: gratuities and any food or drink outside the itinerary. The coach departure does not state national park fees inside its price, so treat that as payable; the small-group one does.
Price band: $186 to $197 per person, which is a narrow spread for two quite different days.
Duration: ten to eleven and a half hours. The coach departure is the longest single day in this set.
Group size: five travellers on the small-group four-wheel drive, forty-eight on the coach. That is the biggest difference between them after the itinerary.
Booking window: the small-group departure caps at five and fills first. Both refund in full at twenty-four hours’ notice.
If you are photographing, the middle of the day is the worst light this place offers. Take an evening departure, or drive yourself and stay for the last hour of sun.
If you are travelling in December or January, a midday arrival means standing on open sand with no shade at all, and one January traveller had their stop cut to quick photographs by the heat.
If you want the night sky, these are home before dark. Nothing about a day tour gets you a telescope.
If you want to set your own hours, both of these run to a timetable. A private departure is the format that does not.
Both, with what each fare covers and how long it keeps you out. Pinnacles Tours has the evening and private departures as well.
Koalas, wombats and hand-fed kangaroos, a fish and chips lunch, an hour among the pillars while the visitor centre is open, then a 4WD run and boards at Lancelin.
From $196 per person
Five travellers maximum, in a four-wheel drive that reaches tracks a coach cannot. Park fees, a coastal lunch, Lake Thetis and sandboarding all inside the fare.
From $186 per person