Cervantes is a town in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

located off of Indian Ocean Drive about north-north-west of the state capital,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

in the Shire of Dandaragan local government area. At the 2016 census, Cervantes had a population of 527. The town was named after a ship that was wrecked nearby. The ship, in turn, was named after

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...

, author of ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

''. The principal industry in the town is

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

. The Pinnacles are nearby in

Nambung National Park Nambung National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 200 km northwest of Perth, Australia and 17 km south of the small coastal town of Cervantes, Western Australia, Cervan ...

which makes for a small industry from tourism. The saline Lake Thetis, which contains

stromatolite Stromatolites () or stromatoliths () are layered sedimentary formations ( microbialite) that are created mainly by photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and Pseudomonadota (formerly proteobacteria). T ...

s, is nearby. An arts festival is held every year in the town, usually on the last weekend of October. Cervantes lies on the shore of the Jurien Bay Marine Park.Department of Fisheries site on Jurien Bay Marine Park
Most of the streets are named after cities, regions and rivers in Spain.

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Coastal towns in Western Australia Shire of Dandaragan {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub