Do you hold any family holiday memories close to your heart? If you do, you’ll know how important it is to make time to unwind, relax and have some fun with the ones you love. If you don’t have any special family memories, Busselton is a great place to make some.

I recently met the Kik family from Perth who stay at Siesta Park Holiday Resort every year. It’s a family tradition that’s cherished and anticipated. Here’s why.

Mark Kik’s family have been holidaying in Busselton since before he was born. It all started in the mid-60s when Mark’s parents stayed at Siesta Holiday Park Resort with family friends.

“My parents always travelled with a group of friends. They started the tradition of staying here,” says the 42-year-old plumber. “And us kids loved it so when we had our own families, we just kept coming back.”

Mark, his wife Jasmine and their three kids: Bella, 13, Louis, 12 and Owen, 10 stay at the beachfront holiday park every January. Together with his three sisters and their families, the Kik’s are keeping a much-loved holiday tradition alive and flourishing.

Siesta Park Holiday Resort says that 90 per cent of their clientele return year after year.

“Most of our business is from return customers,” says Jane Tickle, who’s husband, Greg grew up at the park with his parents, Phil and Marg.

Greg’s grandparents, Ivan and Dulchie Tickle bought the property in 1946. Over several years, the family worked hard to build and establish the seaside grounds as one of the area’s top family-centric, environment-friendly holiday resorts.

Summer camp can conjure up mixed feelings: some kids love it, some kids don’t want to be away from home. So what better way to give your kids the best of both worlds then a trip to a holiday resort that is like a mini summer camp for the entire family. Kids love the freedom to run amuck through the park grounds and beach and parents love the safe, community feel.

“Growing up as teenagers, it was always a safe environment. Kids congregate at the adventure park and they all look out for each other. And that’s the beauty about it. We know that our kids our being watched by other families and that’s a unique holiday situation,” says Mark.

The adventure park includes a Tarzan swing, flying fox, and a playground for older kids as well as two other playgrounds with climbing and swinging options for littler kids set amongst the peppermint trees.

The tennis courts and indoor table tennis offers competitive family fun and let’s not forget the beach. Who needs a swimming pool when you have 400 metres of sandy shores and a private 50-metre jetty? These are the back-to-basics features that offer big benefits to modern families.

“I love fishing. Being able to anchor my boat out the front is fantastic,” says Mark. “Park the boat; walk to the unit; time with family – that’s a holiday.”

Jane says working and living at the park is like welcoming friends to her home.

“For us, it’s our lifestyle. And being able to see these families coming back and still enjoying and appreciating our nature-based, eco-friendly park is very rewarding,” she says. “You become good friends with your customers when they return year after year. We get to see these people grow up.”

Mark bans the kids’ electronics on these trips so they can build connections with nature, like he did when he was a child.

“Having our family time here creates a lot of memories. It created a lot for me growing up and I want my kids to have the same experience that I had – away from the electronics and computers – to show them what being in the outdoors is all about. And this place offers that.”

That’s exactly what the Tickle family had in mind when designing the park: traditional, eco-friendly memory-making family holidays.

“We may not have 5-star accommodation and we don’t offer camping – we come in the middle. We enjoy a simple way of living and that’s the kind of clientele who make the journey to Busselton every year to keep up family holiday traditions,” says Jane.

• Situated between Busselton and Dunsborough
• Variety of 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom self-contained chalets and villas
• Beachfront, private jetty, boat mooring, kids’ playgrounds, tennis courts