Cottesloe Parking: Free 3-Hour Beach Car Parks and the $2 an Hour Town Centre Meters Starting 11 January 2027 (Perth, WA)

Parking at Cottesloe Beach is free, but the two main beach car parks have a strict three-hour limit, and you cannot beat it by moving to another bay in the same car park. The Town of Cottesloe is also bringing in paid parking for the town centre from Monday 11 January 2027, at $2 an hour, but says it has no current plan to charge at the beaches.

This guide uses the Town of Cottesloe’s parking pages, checked on Saturday 7 November 2026. Perth uses Australian Western Standard Time (UTC+8), with no daylight saving.

Where can I park near the beach, and for how long?

Place	Bays	Cost	Limit
Car Park One, centrally on Marine Parade	About 150	Free	Strict three hours
Car Park Two, corner of Marine Parade and Napier Street	About 350	Free	Strict three hours
Western end of Napier Street	About 130, plus verge areas	Free, if parked legally	Check the signs
Western end of Forrest Street	About 130	Free, if parked legally	Some areas are time limited and signposted
Along Marine Parade	About 600	Free, if parked legally	Some areas are time limited and signposted

The Town says the three-hour limit in the two car parks is there so the roughly 500 bays are shared fairly. All of the bays are free, so the only way to lose money is to overstay or park illegally.

Can I move my car to get another three hours?

Only to a different car park. The Town says you may move your car to another car park after your time has expired. Moving your car to a different bay in the same car park is an infringeable offence, which means a ranger can fine it. In practice, that means if you parked in Car Park Two at 10am, a move to Car Park One at 1pm is allowed, but a move to the next row in Car Park Two is not.

The Town also says it is an offence to remove chalk marks made by a ranger from your tyres, so leave them alone.

What is changing in the town centre?

The Town says it is introducing paid parking in the Town Centre to encourage turnover, so more people can use the same space during the day. The key details:

Item	What the Town says
Start date	Monday 11 January 2027; the Town plans for the meters to go live that day
Rate	$2 per hour, charged for the exact time you park as a share of the hour
Hours	8:00am to 6:00pm every day, including public holidays
How to pay	The EasyPark app, or at the meter with a credit or debit card
Beaches	No; the Town does not currently plan paid parking at any Cottesloe beach

The Town’s page does not give a map in text, so check the signs for which streets are in the paid zone. It says only that “high-demand areas” in the Town Centre will be paid.

What happens to the streets behind the shops?

The Town recognises that some long-term visitors might park in the surrounding residential streets to avoid the fees. To protect residents, it says it will bring in two-hour parking limits from 8:00am to 6:00pm every day in Vera Street, Albion Street and Dalgety Street, and free residential parking permits so residents are not caught by the two-hour limit. Rangers have assessed other nearby streets and say there are enough empty bays for the extra demand. The Town says it will keep monitoring and may add further measures if needed.

There is a community information session on Saturday 21 November, drop in any time between 10:00am and 12:00pm, at Memorial Hall, Cottesloe Civic Centre, 109 Broome Street.

What are the most common parking mistakes?

The Town lists these as the mistakes it sees most often:

• Stopping in a no stopping area, which is marked by signs or solid yellow lines; you may not stop for any length of time.
• Parking in a no parking area; you may stop only to set down or pick up passengers or goods, and the driver must stay with the vehicle.
• Parking in a loading zone, bus stop, ACROD bay, taxi rank or motorcycle bay.
• Parking on a verge where signs prohibit it, or without the permission of the owner or occupier.
• Parking on the median strip, or blocking a footpath, right of way or private driveway.
• Parking facing against the traffic flow.
• Parking within three metres of a double barrier white line, ten metres of an intersection or nine metres of a traffic island.
• Parking in a restricted area during an event without the right permit.

How much is a fine, and what if I disagree?

The Town says the fine is the “modified penalty” listed in Schedule Two of its Parking and Parking Facilities Local Law. The Town is split into two sectors, Sector A and Sector B, and the two incur different penalties. Sector B is the part of the district west of the line formed by the northern boundary of Grant Street, the eastern boundary of Marmion Street to Curtin Avenue, and the southern boundary of Pearse Street; Sector A is everything else. The maximum penalty a magistrate could impose is $5,000. You can instead pay the modified penalty to avoid going before a magistrate. This guide does not quote the fine amounts because the local law’s schedule was not read.

If you disagree with a fine, the Town says all appeals must be in writing on its Infringement Appeal Form. If you want to see photos of your vehicle at the time of the infringement, you need your infringement number and registration number.

Can I reach Cottesloe without a car?

Cottesloe has its own railway station on the Fremantle Line. Our guides to Transperth fares and Go Anywhere tickets and free Sunday travel cover what a trip costs and when it is free.

Who do I contact?

The Town of Cottesloe’s number is 9285 5000 and its email is town@cottesloe.wa.gov.au. The office is at 109 Broome Street, Cottesloe, open 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Sources

• Town of Cottesloe — Parking in Cottesloe (checked 7 November 2026)
• Town of Cottesloe — Introducing Paid Parking in Town Centre
• Town of Cottesloe — Parking Offences and Penalties

Featured image: Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia (photo: Calistemon / CC BY-SA 4.0) (text added)

OZ Local Updates is an independent local guide and is not affiliated with the Town of Cottesloe, EasyPark or Transperth. Rules, rates and start dates can change; check the Town’s pages and the signs on the day.