Prevelly (also known as Prevelly Park) is a coastal town located at the mouth of Margaret River, roughly 10kms from the town of Margaret River and 286km south-west of Perth in Western Australia.
The area was originally used as farming land, however, in the 1950's Geoff Edwards bought a large piece of land along the coast. Mr Edwards named his property Prevelly after the Greek Monastery, Preveli, which is located on the island of Crete.
The Preveli monastery had become an important part of Mr Edward's life during World War II . During the "Battle of Crete, he and many other allied soldiers were hidden from the Nazis by the island's locals and the monks of Preveli Monastery (led by Agathangelos Lagouvardos).
Mr Edward loved his little piece of paradise so much he decided to share it by building a caravan park and chalets. Once they were built he started a one man campaign to promote it. He hopped into his car and began by placing signs all over the State.
The signs, which he placed along the side of major roads would indicate to motorists how far they were from Prevelly. Curiosity killed the cat and eventually people began to investigate this strange place Prevelly. It didn't take long for people to realise how beautiful the coastal area was.
Mr Edwards also built the Chapel of St John the Theologian, on the hill overlooking the sea on Wallclffe Road in honour of Agathangelos Lagouvardos and the monks of Preveli Monastery.
In the 1960's Mr Edwards subdivided the area and the developers named it Prevelly Park. Following the subdivision Mr Edwards named several streets after the families and monks who saved him . So take note of the street signs next time you are in town and you will notice names such as Vatos Way and Papadakis Road.
During the 70's the shire of Augusta-Margaret River requested that the new development be declared a townsite and in 1978 it was gazetted.
Today the area is famous for swimming and surfing with some of the biggest and dangerous surf breaks in the State.
The Bombie is the most infamous of the surf breaks followed closely by the Boatramps and Surfers Point. Each year the area hosts the International Margaret River Masters at Surfers Point attracting surfers from around the world. The event is held around Easter when the surf is usually at its best.
Another popular surfing area is at the mouth of the river where you will often find both boogie borders and surfers vying for the perfect wave.
Hey where abouts is the prevelly cave?
Hi Kristie, the Prevelly Cave is behind the Caravan Park. You can access it via the road coming into Prevelly, on the left hand side. It isn't marked but isn't too hard to find.