Two Rocks history: a marina, a marine park and a ten-metre King Neptune

Two Rocks is named for two rocks offshore, but most of its story belongs to the 1970s, when a private company planned a satellite city here with a yachting marina at its centre. A marine park followed in 1981, and a ten-metre statue is still standing.

How Two Rocks got its name

Landgate records that the suburb is named after two prominent rocks offshore from Wreck Point. It says Two Rocks became known when a yachting marina was built, that streets in the suburb are named after yachts from America’s Cup challenges, and that the suburb name was approved in 1982.

Yanchep Sun City and the marina

The City of Wanneroo’s heritage page dates the launch of the Yanchep Sun City development to 1972, and says the Two Rocks marina was built as the training base for the 1974 America’s Cup challenge. The State’s heritage record for Sun City gives 1973 for the marina (the Two Rocks Marina record gives construction as 1973 to 1974) and 1975 for the Two Rocks Shopping Centre and Tavern. It records that Alan Bond bought the Yanchep Estate in 1969.

Atlantis Marine Park

The State’s heritage records say the Atlantis Marine Park opened on 26 December 1981 and closed in 1990. The record for the King Neptune sculpture gives the closure reason as fewer visitors and the need for larger pools for the dolphins. The same record describes the statue as about ten metres tall, made of limestone and concrete over a steel frame, and designed by local artist Mark Le Buse.

Heritage status

The State’s inHerit record for the Sun City Precinct, Two Rocks, shows it was registered on the State Register of Heritage Places on 28 December 2022, and the WA Government announced the listing on 11 January 2023. It covers the marina, the shopping centre and the former Atlantis Marine Park site, and the government’s statement includes the King Neptune statue. Older inHerit records for the marina and the statue show a Heritage Council decision of 11 September 2020 that those places did not warrant assessment, which came before the precinct listing.

Two Rocks today

The 2021 Census counted 3,822 people in Two Rocks, with a median age of 39. Of occupied private dwellings, 99.3 per cent were separate houses. 53.6 per cent were owned with a mortgage, 27.0 per cent were owned outright and 16.4 per cent were rented.

More about Two Rocks

For what Two Rocks is like to live in now, read our Two Rocks suburb profile. If you own a property in Two Rocks and are thinking about selling, start with buyers for your property.

Sources

• Landgate: Perth and surrounds suburb names (archived 2022)
• City of Wanneroo: Heritage sites
• inHerit: Sun City Precinct, Two Rocks (place 26470)
• inHerit: Sun City Satellite Development (place 27744)
• inHerit: King Neptune Sculpture (place 17935)
• inHerit: Two Rocks Marina (place 17942)
• WA Government: King Neptune statue given heritage recognition within Sun City Precinct (11 January 2023)
• ABS 2021 Census QuickStats: Two Rocks

Dates and names are drawn from the sources above. Where sources differ, we have said so or given an approximate date.

By Key Performance Real Estate, 338 Beaufort Street, Perth