Sealed roads and gentle gravel. No 4WDing.

01What "sealed road" means here

A sealed road in Western Australia is a road with a bitumen or asphalt surface, including the National Highway, all State and Regional Highways, every signposted tourist drive in the south-west, and the Coral Coast run as far as Exmouth. That's where these campers are designed to live: highways, tourist drives, and the short, well-graded gravel access roads that get you into a campsite at the end of the day.

Anything beyond that, corrugated outback tracks, named 4WD routes, deep sand, river crossings, beach driving, is not what the fleet is built for and not what its insurance covers. The line is drawn the same way for every vehicle and every booking. The detail below is the same policy you'll see referenced on each vehicle page and inside the hire agreement, gathered in one place so it's easy to read before you commit.

02Where these campers can go

Inside the policy, drive freely, fully insured, no approval needed:

• All sealed highways and sealed coastal touring routes across Western Australia, south-west to Albany, across to Esperance, and the Coral Coast to Exmouth.
• Up to 10 km of well-graded gravel access to a campsite, at a maximum 60 km/h.
• Sealed roads and the main maintained gravel routes inside national parks.
• Lucky Bay and Wharton Beach in Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance, the only beach driving permitted, because the sand there is firm and well-trafficked.

Some vehicles publish stricter limits than the fleet-wide policy (for example, a particular van may cap gravel access at 5 km, or rule out a specific gravel section). Where a vehicle page sets a tighter limit, the vehicle page wins. The fleet-wide policy is the maximum, never the minimum.

03Where they cannot go, not insured

These are sealed-road touring campers, not expedition 4WDs. The following are strictly off-limits and not covered by insurance. Taking a vehicle into any of them means any damage, recovery and consequential cost is entirely yours.

Surface and terrain, never

• Sand dunes of any kind.
• Beach driving, except Lucky Bay and Wharton Beach in Esperance.
• Beach driving anywhere in the Bremer Bay area, the popular Boat Harbour, Dillon Bay and Foul Bay tracks are soft-sand and not permitted on any vehicle in the fleet.
• River crossings and any standing water you can't see the bottom of.
• Corrugated unsealed roads and soft-sand roads.
• Any off-road area that requires medium-to-advanced 4WD skill.

Named tracks and parks, never, no exceptions

• Gibb River Road.
• Canning Stock Route.
• Gunbarrel Highway.
• Holland Track.
• Nyinggulu (Ningaloo) Coastal Reserve.
• François Peron National Park, most of the park is off-limits. The sealed road to Denham and Monkey Mia is fine, but the tracks heading west into the park (Big Lagoon, Bottle Bay, Cape Peron) are heavily corrugated soft sand and not permitted on any vehicle in the fleet.

If a road isn't on this list but you're not sure it's sealed or well-graded, treat it as off-limits until you've asked. Written approval is free; a recovery from the middle of nowhere is not.

04Unsealed-road policy & speed limit

Sealed highways and well-graded gravel access roads to campsites are fine. Beyond that single, simple rule:

• Maximum speed on any gravel road is 60 km/h, including the access roads that are inside policy.
• Gravel access to a campsite is permitted up to 10 km from the sealed road, on well-graded surfaces only.
• Any unsealed driving beyond that, longer gravel runs, station tracks, scenic detours, needs written pre-approval before you go. Approval is free, takes minutes, and protects your insurance.

Pre-approval is requested by message at hello@campervanhireperth.net.au or 0422 428 584. Send the road name and the approximate distance and we'll come back with a yes, a no, or a condition (a speed cap, a daylight-only window, a specific vehicle restriction).

05Fees that apply if the policy is broken

These fees exist to cover the cost of restoring the camper to a state where the next customer can take it. They are charged in addition to any insurance excess or repair cost if the breach causes damage.

• $150 undercarriage inspection, applied when the camper has been driven off-road without prior written approval, on unsealed gravel beyond 10 km, or on extremely corrugated roads. The inspection is needed because hidden damage to bushings, sumps and exhausts is common after that kind of driving, and the next hirer has the right to a vehicle that's been checked.
• $250 red-dust cleaning fee, applied when the camper is returned coated in the iron-rich red dust of inland and northern WA. Red dust gets into seals, electronics and upholstery; a normal wash doesn't move it, so the clean is a separate service.

These are the only off-policy fees. They're the same on every vehicle, the same as what's printed in the hire agreement, and the same as what's stated on terms & services. There are no quiet exceptions and no surprise add-ons after the fact.

06Why the policy is drawn this way

The fleet is configured for the trips most travellers actually take in Western Australia: the south-west loop, the Albany–Esperance coast, and the long sealed Coral Coast drive. Those routes are sealed almost end-to-end, the campsites that matter are reachable on short gravel access, and a Hiace-based touring camper handles all of it comfortably.

The places the policy excludes, the Gibb, the Canning, deep sand, river crossings, require expedition-grade vehicles, recovery equipment and a different insurance product. Pretending a touring camper can do that work ends in stranded customers, written-off bodywork and ruined holidays. Saying "no" to those routes up front is how we keep saying "yes" to everything else.

07Ask first, written approval is free

If you're planning a trip and you're unsure whether a particular road, lookout, campsite or station detour is inside policy, ask before you book. Most questions are answered the same day. We're happy to look at a route on a map, suggest an alternative if a section is borderline, and confirm in writing so you have something to point at if anything is ever questioned later.

• Email hello@campervanhireperth.net.au with the road name and approximate distance.
• Or call 0422 428 584, Dorian answers his own phone.
• For trip-specific routing, see contact.

A confirmed yes in writing is the same as the policy itself, it's the cheapest insurance there is.