I think it sells out within a few hours of opening. Bike course is completely flat, as is the run. Usually windy, more likely to be hot as well. Road surface is reasoanably good in terms of no potholes etc, although most of the roads are a moderately coarse chip surface so certainly not a really fast road surface.

You should be able to pick up a TriTravel spot without too much worry.
From a BOP perspective:
Swim navigation is relatively easy, but the swell is deceptive - what looks dead flat from shore is a bit different a mile out.
Pretty good roads, flat & false flat all the way.
Try to beat the wind change.
Warm to hot and windy.
Looped run course is good for spectator interaction.
No cover on the run course, so plenty of sun cream.
Flies.
More flies.

I did IMWA in its first year, 2004, and combined it with a great 3 part holiday.

• 4 days of hiking on the 600 mile Bibbulmun Track - tall eucalypt forests, wildflowers, tiger snakes, rugged coastline with empty beaches (some sheltered, some with big surf), bird watching, more tiger snakes.........
• 5 days of playing tourist - wine, cheese and chocolate tasting at Margaret River, (gluttony highlight was marinating some venison in shiraz, rosemary and garlic, then cooked with blue cheese on a campground BBQ, washed down with the remaining red), meeting wild dolphins at Bunbury and wild stingrays at Hamelin Bay, limestone caves........
• Ironman!

As a race, I'm not sure that IMWA offers too much out of the ordinary among the IM franchise, (though the swim around the pier is novel and spectator friendly), however s-w WA is certainly an interesting area to explore for at least a couple of weeks.

IM WA is a great race, community gets fully behind it. As the others have said, dead flat ride and run, beautiful swim which is easy to navigate courtesy of the Jetty. A spectator could stay within 100m of a spot and see you 16 times.
Are you in the states or Australia yourself? Check out fcactivetravel.com , they do really good packages (The sports arm of Flight Centre). Some of the other tri travel companies add in loads of extra things like swim with a pro, breakfast with the pros etc which are nice, but really bump the cost up.

Also agreed - course is flat / fast. Run is looping along the beach. Watch the swells on the pier. Year I raced (still under IMG) pier was under construction so we weren't able to pre-swim, got touchy on the nav on the way back in. Community does get behind the course and it's a fun venue. Margaret River and area is amazing - esp if you can find housing there. Not sure on how the post race celebration is now that under Ironman but we had local seafood BBQ and dishes, following the award ceremony a huge dance party broke out when they brought the band in and cleared the tables under the tent.

Biggest point I'd make is the logistics. Best set-up seemed to be the package deals through companies as there is VERY little housing close-in (within walking) and most of the housing is spread down the road over quite a few k's so be aware. Most of the stuff that is convenient is gone far in advance (like Kona) but staying out of the town still works great if you have a car.

Wonderful race - have fun!

can be hot that time of year so prepare for that! But yep, flat and fast. Very flat. I have heard the nicname 'pb busso' for the 70.3 and full simply due to the nature of the course. Having said that though, as it has been mentioned, the wind can pick up and become more noticeable towards the back half of the bike leg. Run leg has good crowds towards one end which help you along. I live about an hour and a half out of busso

 
Has anyone mentioned the sharks yet?

safety in numbers ;)

The grey nurse sharks that live around the jetty are apparently quite friendly, nothing to worry about.

Sharks are only attracted to black wetsuits..I'm sure you'll be fine!
I'm doing Busso for the third time this year,1500 triathletes thrashing/swimming is infinitely more dangerous than any shark.
Flat, hot, hot, flat, bit windy, great community support, and yes, flies!

Fast flat hot. Awesome swim.
If it is a very hot and windy day like 09, it can be brutal.
If its not hot, plenty of PBs.

Awesome swim, the bike is like doing a 5hr trainer ride, and you don't need headphones for the run (hope you like AC/DC!). Also, the biggest elevation change on the entire course comes at the end of the swim when you stand up to get out of the water. The biting flies should provide excellent motivation for a run PR as well. The after party was great ... Aussies really know how to have fun!

It sounds like a good race, the heat is not scaring me, I did IM Texas this year and that was hot! :-) I will be travelling from northern Europe if I go for the race so it will be necessary to rent a car. As mentioned, it will be easier to find good accommodations in that case. The swim looks awesome, I don't think the sharks will affect my decision! ;-)

/CE

---

-------------------------
Next race: IRONMAN Florida

http://www.cetri.se/

It's not a bad race overall. Very well organized, good pasta dinner and after as MCs and entertainment were good. Something aussies do well!
Good local support!
Swim is choppy! Had my worst swim ever last year
Bike is flat with some false flat. It is a small race with 1500 people so drafting is an issue but you won;t get it like Florida but they do police it but in my opinion not well enough
Run is HOT and millions of flies! If you wear a black tri suit, you will be all salted up by the end of the race, and you have flies swamping all round you:)

Hotels around that area had no wifi in the rooms, it is almost like a precious commodity. That is something I noticed!!

It's a small town, not many things to do or see, the surrounding region is wine country!

You fly into perth and its a 3 hour drive. Not sure how else you can get there as well

I am doing it again this year. There is really not many races to choose from if you want to do a year end IM race. Done cozumel twice. No interest in doing Florida!

If you're in it for a Kona spot this is pretty much the first race in the calendar so it's more heavily populated with kona potentials than others. You can do this race and if you miss a Kona spot, still do Melbourne or Cairns mid-next year. Also, fewer roll down spots because of this.

The registration is still open so the race doesn't seem to sell out that fast. Without any details yet, the course is going to be changed for this year. Swim, bike, run-courses are subject to changes according to the website, does anyone know if it's major changes?

/CE

---

-------------------------
Next race: IRONMAN Florida

http://www.cetri.se/

Not sure about the course changes, but you're right, this is the first time that Busselton and Melbourne haven't sold out a year in advance (Melbourne still open for next March). If there are any course changes I wouldn't worry, the whole area is completely flat and the course has been run on the same roads since it started, so I don't think course changes will make it any harder. They may change the length of the bike laps and change the number of laps but it won't make any difference to the difficulty.

Don't want to mention it but... a few Aussie IM's are not immediate sell-outs this year which is the first time that I can recall over the last few years. I'm not knowledgable enough to really know if this is significant or not in the grand scheme of things.