Exmouth
Located on the North West Cape, Exmouth is a small coastal town of around 3000 permanent residents, swelling to 10,000–20,000 people in peak tourist season thanks to its position as the gateway to the world-famous Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range National Park. Exmouth is a rare place where a rugged national park meets a world‑class fringing coral reef just metres from shore.
Exmouth offers strong amenities for visitors: supermarkets, cafés, restaurants, a hospital, schools, an airport at nearby Learmonth, and the modern Ningaloo Centre, which includes an aquarium, visitor information, and community facilities.
Ningaloo Reef is home to whale sharks, manta rays, turtles, dugongs, humpbacks, and hundreds of coral species.
North West Cape
North West Cape is the entire peninsula jutting into the Indian Ocean on WA’s mid‑north coast, where Exmouth town, Mildura Wreck coastline, Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, and Cape Range National Park are located.
Pebble Beach is a long shoreline, just south of Exmouth town, where the usual white sand of Exmouth gives way to smooth pebbles and rounded stones. This creates a uniquely different feel and visually striking look from Ningaloo’s other white sand beaches. The water is typically clear and inviting, and people do swim here. 2WD car access is possible, although the access road is unsealed.
Bundegi Beach offers calm and shallow water ideal for swimming, kayaking, and stand‑up paddleboarding. The beach is also a popular launch point for fishing and boating. Bundegi’s peaceful atmosphere and easy access make it a favourite for locals, especially at sunrise when the water glows pink and gold.
Mildura Wreck and Nearby Dunes Beach – Mildura Wreck is the remains of a cattle ship that wrecked during a cyclone in 1907. Today, only fragments of the hull remain, jutting from shallow water like rusted ribs. The long and quiet stretch of beach with golden sand, calm water, and excellent sunset views is the real highlight. Dunes Beach sits just south of the Mildura Wreck and shares the same coastline. It’s a quiet, undeveloped beach known for its soft sand, gentle surf, and wide-open views across the Ningaloo Coast.
Vlamingh Head Lighthouse stands on a windswept hill overlooking the Ningaloo Coast, offering panoramic views of the reef, the range, and the Indian Ocean. It’s one of the best places in Exmouth for sunrise, sunset, and seasonal whale watching. Built in 1912, the lighthouse survived cyclones and wartime activity, and today it provides a window into the region’s maritime history. This is a favourite spot for travellers and locals alike.
Cape Range National Park
Cape Range National Park occupies the western side of North West Cape and has deep canyons, limestone ranges, wildlife, and pristine beaches such as Charles Knife Canyon, Turquoise Bay, and Yardie Creek Gorge.
Charles Knife Canyon cuts dramatically through the Cape Range, revealing layered limestone cliffs and sweeping desert vistas. A winding road climbs along the canyon rim, offering lookouts such as Charles Knife Canyon Lookout and Thomas Carter Lookout that showcase the rugged interior of the peninsula. Walking trails lead to panoramic viewpoints where the range stretches toward the sea. Sunrise and early morning light bring out the canyon’s deep reds and golds, making it a favourite for photographers and nature lovers. A standard 2WD car can enter via Charles Knife Road to reach Charles Knife Canyon Lookout and Thomas Carter Lookout, although some parts of the roads leading to the lookouts are gravel.
Turquoise Bay is Exmouth’s most iconic beach, famous for its crystal‑clear water and the Ningaloo Reef lying just metres from shore. Soft white sand and calm conditions make it ideal for swimming, though currents can be strong in some areas. It’s consistently ranked among Australia’s best beaches. Visitors come for snorkelling, photography, and the feeling of floating in an untouched, postcard‑perfect lagoon framed by Cape Range National Park.
Yardie Creek Gorge is one of Cape Range National Park’s most striking inland attractions, where deep red limestone cliffs rise above a permanent waterhole. Boat tours glide through the gorge, offering views of nesting ospreys, black‑flanked rock wallabies, and dramatic geological formations. Walking trails along the cliff tops reveal sweeping views of the creek, the range, the dramatic geological formations, and the coastline beyond. The contrast between the vivid blue water, orange rock walls, and desert vegetation creates a uniquely Exmouth landscape. Yardie Creek is also the end of the sealed road, making it a natural turning point for exploring the peninsula.
Swim with Whale sharks and Humpback whales – The “Once‑in‑a‑Lifetime” Experience.
Exmouth is one of the few places in the world where you can legally and safely enter the water with whale sharks and humpback whales. Swimming with a whale shark or a humpback whale is described by Exmouth tour operators as a once‑in‑a‑lifetime wildlife interaction, and it truly is for many people. The tour operators emphasise safety and respectful distance to make the experience calm, non‑intrusive, and safe. The confident swimmers in the open sea will get the most out of the experience. However, everyone can join as observers in the tours. Whale sharks are reliably seen off Exmouth from March to August, with a shoulder season from mid‑July to November where sightings still occur, though less predictably. For humpback whales, from August to October is the prime season, coinciding with the peak migration. It may be possible to swim with both whale sharks and humpbacks on the same tour, but only in August–October and only if the tour operator’s spotter plane or lookout crew can sight them.
Western Australia’s Wildflower Country Route
Western Australia’s wildflower season is from June to November, starting in June in the north in Pilbara and Coral Coast and moving south through the state to Perth & South-West from September to November.
The best time to view wildflowers around the region, from the north between Geraldton and Wongan Hills in the south, is August–September. Visitors may not need to go to a park; wildflowers often grow along highways and rural roads, where visitors are often amazed by massive “carpets” of colour of pink, white, and yellow everlastings. This region is often called “Wildflower Country”.
For Coral Coast visitors travelling from Exmouth back to Perth in the months of August and September, there is an opportunity to take an inland route from Geraldton, through towns such as Mullewa, Mingenew, Three Springs, Dalwallinu, and Wongan Hills. This is one of the state’s richest botanical corridors and is one of the best places in WA to see mass wildflower displays.
Popular wildflower sites include Chapman Valley, Coalseam Conservation Park, and the region around the town of Mullewa. Other than the commonly found pink/white/yellow everlastings, other popular wildflowers include different varieties of orchids, wattles (acacias), purple/blue dampiera, and the amazing Wreath Flowers.
Wreath Flowers
The area near the town of Pindar, close to Mullewa, is one of the few places in Western Australia where the amazing wreath flowers grow. Wreath flowers, so-called because they grow in a circular “wreath” shape on the ground, with flowers forming a ring around the edge of the plant, not in the centre. They look like a man-made floral wreath placed on the ground. The flowers are multi-coloured in white and pink and can change colour from year to year.
See the amazing wreath flowers near Pindar Instagram Post 1.
See the amazing wreath flowers near Pindar Instagram Post 2.
Back to Western Australia Coral Coast Road Trip from Perth to Exmouth Part 1 of 3.
For Coral Coast visitors travelling from Exmouth back to Perth in the months of August and September, there is an opportunity to take an inland route from Geraldton, through towns such as Mullewa, Mingenew, Three Springs, Dalwallinu, and Wongan Hills. This is one of the state’s richest botanical corridors and is one of the best places in WA to see mass wildflower displays.