The Surfing Bean

The Surfing Bean is a coffee trailer parked on the Middleton Beach foreshore in Albany, right where the sand meets Flinders Parade and a short shuffle from the dog-friendly stretch of beach. It has become the unofficial clubrooms for local dog owners who time their beach laps around a coffee, and it earns its following with a small, well-executed menu rather than a big setup.

The dog setup

Dogs are genuinely welcomed rather than merely tolerated: the trailer keeps water bowls out and hands out treats for canine customers, and the whole operation is outdoors, so there is no indoor area to negotiate. Order at the window and settle on the sand or foreshore with your dog on a lead while the queue flows past. Regulars often bring their own travel bowl, which is worth doing on busy weekend mornings.

Worth knowing

The menu covers specialty coffee and hot drinks, toasties and sweet snacks, which is all you need before or after a swim. Trading is seasonal and weather-dependent: the trailer closes over the winter months and fires up again for spring and summer, generally following morning beach traffic. Check the Surfing Bean Instagram before you drive out, particularly early in the season, because days and hours shift with the weather.

Getting there and parking

The trailer sits on the Middleton Beach foreshore off Flinders Parade, about ten minutes' drive from Albany's town centre. Free public parking is available along Flinders Parade, and from the car park it is a short walk onto the sand to the window.

Close by with the dogs

The beach right at the trailer allows off-lead exercise in the designated section, so check the City of Albany signage at the beach entry paths for current boundaries before unclipping. In town, Dome Cafe Albany and Gourmandise & Co are other dog-friendly coffee stops, and BIG4 Middleton Beach Holiday Park puts you walking distance from the trailer if you are staying over.

More options are on the Western Australia dog friendly cafes guide and the Middleton Beach destination page.

Pepsi: swim first, then queue at the window while I dry off on the sand. The treats are real, I checked twice.