Western Australia: Perth, the Coral Coast and Ningaloo Reef

1. Day 1: Arrive in Perth

   Perth Airport to your hotel in central Perth, then Elizabeth Quay and Kings Park

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Perth
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Perth Airport (PER), where a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive of about 20 minutes to a central hotel. Plan to land by about 2 pm to join the afternoon walk; later arrivals still make the welcome dinner. The city spreads along the Swan River, broad as a lake between the towers and Fremantle, on Whadjuk Noongar country; your guide starts the trip with the Noongar story of the river. At about 4 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group and we walk down to Elizabeth Quay on the riverfront, then drive up to Kings Park, bushland, lawns and a botanic garden on Mount Eliza above the city. From the terrace by the State War Memorial the river and the towers lie below you, and the light is best in the hour before sunset. Your guide runs through the days ahead: the long coastal drives and how we break them, what to pack for the reef and how the snorkelling works. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner in the city.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Perth Airport (PER)
   • Welcome walk to Elizabeth Quay with your guide
   • Kings Park and the State War Memorial lookout before sunset
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the afternoon walk

   

2. Day 2: Rottnest Island and the quokkas

   Perth to Fremantle, the ferry to Rottnest Island (Wadjemup) and back

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Perth
   Day 2 details

   After breakfast we drive about 30 minutes to Fremantle and take the ferry across to Rottnest Island, about half an hour on the water. Private cars are not allowed on the island, so the group gets around by bike or on the island's hop-on bus. Quokkas, small wallabies that live here in large numbers, doze under the trees around Thomson Bay and along the paths: photograph them, but do not touch or feed them. Your guide takes the group out to the West End, to Cathedral Rocks, where fur seals haul out on the reef, and Cape Vlamingh at the tip. Lunch is your choice from the cafés and bakery at Thomson Bay. In the afternoon swim or snorkel at The Basin or Little Salmon Bay, where reef fish move over rock and weed in clear, shallow water a few strokes from the sand. The Noongar name for the island is Wadjemup, and for almost a century it held a prison for Aboriginal men and boys; your guide tells that history at the Quod. We take a late-afternoon ferry back, and the evening is yours in Perth or Fremantle.

   Included

   • Return ferry from Fremantle to Rottnest Island, with the island admission fee
   • Bike hire or a hop-on bus pass on the island
   • The West End with your guide: Cathedral Rocks and Cape Vlamingh
   • Snorkel gear for The Basin or Little Salmon Bay
   • The Quod and the island's Aboriginal history with your guide

   Easier option: Ride the island's hop-on bus to the West End and the bays instead of cycling.

   More active option: Cycle the full loop of the island, about 22 km on sealed roads with short hills, with the guide.

   Free time: Lunch on your own in Thomson Bay; evening free in Perth or Fremantle

   Activity: Bring swimmers, a towel and a hat; there is little shade on the West End roads.

3. Day 3: North to the Pinnacles in the late light

   Perth to Yanchep National Park, Indian Ocean Drive to Cervantes, then the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cervantes
   Day 3 details

   A relaxed start: we leave Perth at 9 am and drive about 50 minutes north to Yanchep National Park, where a boardwalk runs through the gum trees past a colony of koalas, and kangaroos graze the lawns by Loch McNess. From there Indian Ocean Drive runs up the coast between white dunes and low heath. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Cervantes, a small crayfishing town where Western rock lobster is the local catch. Just outside town, a short boardwalk at Lake Thetis crosses salty shallows lined with living stromatolites, rocky mounds built up by microbes over thousands of years. We check in and rest through the warm part of the afternoon. At about 4:30 pm we drive 20 minutes into Nambung National Park for the Pinnacles: thousands of limestone pillars, some taller than a person, standing in yellow sand. The Perth day tours have gone by now. Walk among them with your guide, who explains how they formed, as the shadows lengthen; where the park allows it, we stay for sunset, and we confirm the access hours at booking. About three hours of driving today.

   Included

   • Yanchep National Park and its koala boardwalk
   • Sit-down lunch in Cervantes
   • The Lake Thetis stromatolites boardwalk
   • The Pinnacles in Nambung National Park, in the late afternoon, staying for sunset where the park allows it, with park entry

   Free time: Early afternoon free in Cervantes

   Activity: Walking among the Pinnacles is on firm sand; go as far as you like from the vehicle.

   

4. Day 4: Geraldton, the pink lake and the Kalbarri cliffs

   Cervantes to Dongara and Geraldton, Hutt Lagoon at Port Gregory, then the coastal cliffs into Kalbarri

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kalbarri
   Day 4 details

   We leave at 8 am for the day that gets us properly up the coast: about 410 km and four and a half hours of driving, a little over our usual cap because this is the only road north, and we chose two nights in Kalbarri over a night in Geraldton. No stretch runs much past an hour and three-quarters. Coffee is in Dongara, then on to Geraldton, where the HMAS Sydney II Memorial stands on the hill above town: a dome of 645 metal gulls, one for each sailor lost when the cruiser sank off this coast in November 1941. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Geraldton. In the afternoon we turn off at Port Gregory for Hutt Lagoon, a salt lake coloured by algae in the water, from bubblegum to a pale rose, deepest in strong sun. The last stretch follows the clifftops of Kalbarri National Park, with short walks to Natural Bridge and Island Rock as the light warms, and we reach Kalbarri, at the mouth of the Murchison River, around 5 pm.

   Included

   • The HMAS Sydney II Memorial in Geraldton with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Geraldton
   • Hutt Lagoon at Port Gregory
   • Natural Bridge and Island Rock on the Kalbarri coast

   Free time: Evening free in Kalbarri

   Activity: The lagoon's colour changes with the season, the time of day and the cloud; on a grey day it can look pale.

   

5. Day 5: Kalbarri National Park: the Skywalk and the gorge

   Kalbarri to the Skywalk, Nature's Window and Z Bend, then Red Bluff for sunset

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kalbarri
   Day 5 details

   We are on the road at 7 am, because Kalbarri's gorge country gets hot by late morning and rangers close the longer trails on very hot days. The Murchison River has cut a deep, winding gorge through banded red and white sandstone here. First the Kalbarri Skywalk, two platforms that reach out over the gorge about 100 m above the river, with the bends running away below you. Then Nature's Window, a wind-carved arch in the sandstone that frames the river; it is about 1 km return over uneven rock. Z Bend lookout follows, at the edge of a sharp turn in the gorge. We are back in town for a sit-down lunch by noon, and the afternoon is free: swim, read by the river mouth, or book a river cruise or a scenic flight over the gorges and coast. In the late afternoon your guide drives the group a few minutes south to Red Bluff for sunset over the Indian Ocean; from about June, look out for humpback whales passing offshore. From about July, wildflowers line the roadsides.

   Included

   • Kalbarri National Park entry
   • The Kalbarri Skywalk with your guide
   • Nature's Window and Z Bend lookout
   • Sit-down lunch in Kalbarri
   • Sunset at Red Bluff

   Optional experiences

   • Murchison River cruise or kayak hire, priced at booking
   • Scenic flight over the gorges and coast, priced at booking

   Easier option: See the Skywalk and the Z Bend lookout from the paved paths and skip the rocky walk to Nature's Window.

   More active option: Walk The Loop from Nature's Window, about 8 km round the river bend and back in 3 to 4 hours, when the rangers have it open, and rejoin the group for lunch.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Kalbarri

   Activity: Carry at least 2 litres of water in the gorge, even early.

   

6. Day 6: Into Shark Bay: stromatolites, Shell Beach and Monkey Mia

   Kalbarri to the Overlander Roadhouse, Hamelin Pool, Shell Beach, Eagle Bluff and Denham, then Monkey Mia

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Monkey Mia
   Day 6 details

   We leave at 8 am for Shark Bay, a World Heritage Area since 1991: about 400 km and four and a half hours of driving, just over our usual cap because there is no town between Kalbarri and the bay to stop for the night. The first stretch, about two and a half hours, ends with coffee at the Overlander Roadhouse. From there the stops come every half hour or so. At Hamelin Pool a boardwalk crosses the shallows over stromatolites, mounds built by microbes in water about twice as salty as the open sea, one of the oldest forms of life on Earth. Shell Beach is not sand but tiny white cockle shells, piled metres deep. From the boardwalk at Eagle Bluff you look down into clear, shallow water where rays, sharks and sometimes turtles move over the seagrass. Lunch is a late sit-down meal in Denham, at about 1:15 pm, Australia's westernmost town. We reach Monkey Mia mid-afternoon, with time on the beach before dinner together, and the dolphins to look forward to in the morning.

   Included

   • The Hamelin Pool stromatolites boardwalk
   • Shell Beach
   • Eagle Bluff boardwalk
   • Sit-down lunch in Denham
   • Monkey Mia Reserve entry
   • Dinner together at Monkey Mia

   Free time: Late afternoon free on the beach at Monkey Mia

   

7. Day 7: Dolphins in the morning, then north to Coral Bay

   Monkey Mia to the Overlander Roadhouse and Carnarvon, then Minilya and Coral Bay

   • Drive about 6.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Coral Bay
   Day 7 details

   Wild bottlenose dolphins have come into the shallows at Monkey Mia for decades, and rangers run the morning sessions on the beach from about 7:45 am. We stand knee-deep in the water while they swim in; they are wild, so most mornings they come and some mornings they do not. Then the long day, about 590 km and six and a half hours of driving, the one day on this trip well over our cap. There is no place between Shark Bay and Ningaloo worth a night, and stopping in Carnarvon would cost a night in Coral Bay. We break it into three legs. We leave at 8:45 am, stop at the Overlander Roadhouse about 10:30, and reach Carnarvon, a river town of banana and vegetable farms, about 1 pm for a sit-down lunch. When it is open, we visit Gwoonwardu Mia, the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre, before leaving about 2:15. North of town we cross the Tropic of Capricorn, stop at the Minilya Roadhouse and reach Coral Bay about 5 pm, in daylight.

   Included

   • The morning dolphin session at Monkey Mia with the rangers
   • Sit-down lunch in Carnarvon
   • Gwoonwardu Mia, the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre, on the days it opens

   Free time: Evening free in Coral Bay

   Activity: The longest drive of the trip. Bring a book or download podcasts; mobile coverage drops out between towns. Private trips can add a night in Carnarvon.

8. Day 8: Ningaloo Reef from Coral Bay

   A morning on the reef by boat, then a free afternoon in Coral Bay

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Coral Bay
   Day 8 details

   Ningaloo, a World Heritage site since 2011, is a fringing reef: in Coral Bay the coral starts a short swim from the beach, and the outer reef is minutes away by boat. This morning, while the water is usually calmest, we go out on a half-day reef trip with a local operator. The boat has a glass-bottom viewing area for anyone who would rather stay dry, and the crew stop at two snorkel sites on the reef, where turtles feed and reef fish crowd the coral. Snorkel gear is provided and the crew watch from the boat. Manta rays are seen on some trips; nothing is promised. Back on shore, lunch is a sit-down meal in town. The afternoon is free, and there is plenty to do on foot: snorkel off the beach in Bills Bay, walk the dunes, or nap. If you booked the whale shark swim, from about March to July, today is that day: a full-day boat trip from Coral Bay instead of the reef trip, priced when you book.

   Included

   • Half-day reef trip with glass-bottom viewing and two snorkel stops on Ningaloo Reef
   • Snorkel gear
   • Sit-down lunch in Coral Bay

   Optional experiences

   • Swim with whale sharks, about March to July, a full-day trip in place of the reef trip, priced at booking
   • Manta ray snorkel tour, priced at booking
   • Humpback whale-watching cruise, about June to October, priced at booking

   Easier option: Stay aboard and watch the reef through the glass bottom; the crew point out turtles and fish from the boat.

   More active option: A second snorkel off the beach in Bills Bay in the afternoon with the guide, in the sheltered water inside the reef.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Coral Bay

   Activity: Whale shark trips sell out early; book yours when you book the trip.

9. Day 9: Exmouth and Cape Range National Park

   Coral Bay to Exmouth, around the cape to Turquoise Bay, Oyster Stacks and Yardie Creek, then Vlamingh Head

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Exmouth
   Day 9 details

   We leave Coral Bay at 8:15 am, a little earlier than usual so we reach Turquoise Bay before the afternoon sea breeze, and drive about an hour and three-quarters north to Exmouth for coffee, then round the tip of the cape into Cape Range National Park, where red limestone ridges run down to the reef. Turquoise Bay comes first: your guide checks the current and, if it is safe, we drift snorkel, walking up the beach, floating back over the coral and climbing out before the gap. If the tide is high enough, we snorkel the Oyster Stacks too, rocky outcrops where fish crowd close to shore. There are no cafés in the park, so your guide sets out lunch in the shade at a day-use area. In the afternoon we walk the Yardie Creek trail along the rim of the gorge, about 2 km return, watching for black-footed rock-wallabies on the cliffs. On the way back to Exmouth we stop at Vlamingh Head Lighthouse for sunset over the ocean, then the farewell dinner in town. About four hours of driving in all, in stages.

   Included

   • Cape Range National Park entry
   • Turquoise Bay drift snorkel with your guide, conditions permitting
   • Oyster Stacks snorkel at high tide
   • Lunch set out in the park
   • Yardie Creek gorge walk
   • Sunset at Vlamingh Head Lighthouse
   • Farewell dinner in Exmouth

   Easier option: Swim or sit on the beach at Turquoise Bay, and see Yardie Creek from the first lookout, a few minutes from the car park.

   More active option: A longer drift at Turquoise Bay with the guide, then the full Yardie Creek trail to the end of the gorge rim.

   Activity: Turquoise Bay's current can be strong; we only drift snorkel when the guide judges it safe, and you can swim in the calm north end instead.

   

10. Day 10: Charles Knife Canyon and the flight to Perth

    Exmouth to Charles Knife Canyon, then Learmonth Airport and the flight to Perth

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    After an early breakfast we drive south out of Exmouth and up Charles Knife Road, which climbs steeply onto the Cape Range. From the lookouts at the top you see straight down into deep limestone canyons, red and ochre in the morning sun, and out across the flat blue water of Exmouth Gulf. There is a short walk along the rim for the views, and your guide talks about the range and its fossils, the bones of an old seabed lifted into hills. Back down on the coast road, it is about half an hour to Learmonth Airport (LEA), about 35 km south of Exmouth. Your guide checks the group in for the scheduled flight to Perth, about two hours, which is included in the price; the exact time depends on the airline's schedule and comes with your final itinerary. The trip ends at Perth Airport. Book an onward flight leaving Perth no earlier than the evening, or stay a night in Perth; we can book the hotel for you.

    Included

    • Charles Knife Canyon lookouts with your guide
    • Transfer to Learmonth Airport (LEA)
    • Scheduled flight from Learmonth to Perth, with checked bag

    Easier option: If the flight leaves before late morning, we go straight to the airport and see the canyon only if time allows.

    Activity: Book your onward flight from Perth for the evening at the earliest; flight times from Learmonth are confirmed with your final itinerary.

Wildlife and weather: April to October is the dry, milder season on the Coral Coast and Ningaloo: warm days in the north and cool nights, while Perth has its cooler, wetter winter from June to August. Whale sharks gather at Ningaloo from about March to July, humpback whales pass from about June to November, and Kalbarri's wildflowers bloom from about July to October. We do not run from November to March, when inland heat passes 40°C and the north is in cyclone season.

• Perth2 nights
• Cervantes1 night
• Kalbarri2 nights
• Monkey Mia1 night
• Coral Bay2 nights
• Exmouth1 night