Perth to Exmouth
What you will see

NINGALOO REEF

The reef offers world class diving through to family snorkelling in sheltered lagoons crammed with coral gardens. Ningaloo is the largest fringing coral reef in Australia. It is the only large reef in the world found so close to a continental land mass; about 100 metres offshore at its nearest point and less than seven kilometres at its furthest. The park covers more than 4000 square kilometres and was declared in 1987.

Clownfish bathing in anemone tentacles, attractive lionfish or predatory moray eels are just some of hundreds of species of colourful tropical fish that can be seen. The coral reef fish of Ningaloo are among the most colourful and beautifully patterned of all living creatures. Even the novice snorkeller can swim in the shallows and witness an amazing variety of fish life. They live in and around more than 180 species of coral, ranging from the cabbage corals, brain corals, lavender corals, delicate colourful branching corals, which form gardens in the shallow lagoons.

From mid-March to mid-May each year visitors from all around the world converge on Ningaloo for the experience of a lifetime - diving with the awesome whale shark, the world's biggest species of fish. Ningaloo Reef is the only easily accessible place in the world where these giants appear in large numbers at predictable times of the year. Whale sharks reach more than 12 metres long and weigh more than eleven tonnes. You do not even have to be a scuba diver to swim with these massive animals, as they swim close to the surface

KALBARRI NATIONAL PARK

Kalbarri National Park covers 183,004 hectares. The park is located on the lower reaches of the Murchison River, which has cut magnificent red and white banded gorges for 80 kilometres, as it carves its way to the sea. The many and varied features of Kalbarri provide visitors with an array of things to see and do. Marvel at nature's ability to carve the landscape. Explore the depths and heights of the river gorges and sea cliffs. Admire the floral beauty of the vast, rolling sand-plains. Discover the intriguing cultural history of the area

CORAL BAY

It is Australia's only fringing reef. In contrast to other locations the coral starts right at the water's edge. The fish and the coral are easily accessible and can be experienced either snorkelling or on one of the Coral viewing boats.

Coral Bay is about 50 km to the North of the tropic of Capricorn, some 120 km south of Exmouth in Western Australia. The weather is mild, without the humidity that is often associated with tropical climates. It comprises a resort hotel, two caravan parks and about 20 houses. It is a holiday destination for both Western Australians and travellers from all over the world, who come to Coral Bay to experience such an ideal simplistic lifestyle

MONKEY MIA

Monkey Mia is one of the few places in the world wild Dolphins visit the shore to meet their human visitors. This beach is unique for it is here that you have the opportunity to hand-feed the local wild dolphins from the shore in Monkey Mia.

For almost 30 years, 3 generations of wild bottle-nosed dolphins have made a ritual of visiting a remote beach at the small settlement of 'Monkey Mia'. Most mornings between 7.00am and mid-day, small groups of dolphins, all well-known and identified by their distinctive dorsel fin markings, visit the beach to interact with visitors who can walk amongst the dolphins in the shallows and feed them under the supervision rangers.

The feeding of the Monkey Mia dolphins is very strictly controlled - only freshly caught local fish are fed to the animals and never more than one-third of each dolphin's daily food requirement is offered at the beach. This is to ensure that the animals do not become dependant on human handouts.

A separate section of the beach is set aside where visitors can swim with the dolphins and observe their antics and family interactions.

Monkey Mia is one of the most important dolphin research centres in the world, the clear shallow waters of the bay makes it easy to observe the animals in their natural environment

THE PINNACLES DESERT

Nambung National Park features beautiful beaches, coastal dune systems, shady groves of tuart trees and low heathland rich in flowering plants. The vegetation bursts into flower from August to October, creating a memorable spectacle for visitors.

In the midst of this diversity is one of Australia's most fascinating areas - the Pinnacles Desert, one of Australia's best known landscapes. Here, thousands of huge limestone pillars rise from the shifting yellow sands, resembling a landscape from a science fiction movie. The park is a comfortable day trip from Perth.

The first known European recording of the Nambung area dates back to 1658, when the North and South Hummocks first appeared on Dutch maps. The Hummocks were also mentioned in navigator Philip Parker King's journal in about 1820. Nambung is an Aboriginal word that means crooked or winding and it was from this river that the park was named.

The Pinnacles Desert remained relatively unknown until the late 1960s, when the Department of Lands and Surveys agreed to add the area to the already existing national park, which had been established in 1956. Today the park is visited by approximately 150,000 visitors, from all over the world, each year.

THE PINNACLES

In the Pinnacles Desert, right in the heart of Nambung National Park, thousands of huge limestone pillars rise out of a stark landscape of yellow sand. In places they reach up to three and a half metres tall. Some are jagged, sharp-edged columns, rising to a point; while others resemble tombstones.

The raw material for the limestone of the pinnacles came from sea shells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands which were brought ashore by waves and then carried inland by the wind to form high, mobile dunes. Three old systems of sand dunes run parallel to the WA coast, marking ancient shorelines.