What day trips can you do from Exmouth?
Whale sharksThe one day out that people fly across the world for.
Swimming with whale sharks, and it is the reason most people are there. A full day out of Exmouth Marina from $549, with a spotter plane overhead guiding the boat onto the sharks and multiple guided swims of five to seven minutes each. Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea are included. It runs roughly March to August. Beyond that, Ningaloo's great advantage is that the reef starts at the beach — Turquoise Bay you simply walk into, no boat needed.
Checked on 6 October 2026.
Exmouth is a small town at the top of a peninsula with a World Heritage reef on its doorstep. There is one organised day trip that matters, and then there is the reef itself, which needs no organising at all.
Swimming with whale sharks
| Trip | What you get | Group | Effort | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Day Whale Shark Snorkel Adventure | — | Max 21 | — | $549 |
Boarding at Exmouth Marina. Morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and cold drinks are included, plus a sparkling wine or beer to finish.
- A spotter plane flies overheadand guides the boat onto the sharks, which is why the success rate is what it is.
- You get multiple swimsfive to seven minutes each, rather than one long one.
- The season is roughly March to August.Outside it the sharks are not on the reef and the trip does not run.
- Effort is rated 3 out of 5.You need to be a confident snorkeller — you are entering open water from a moving boat.
- Groups cap at 21.
What you can do without booking anything
- Turquoise Bay.The drift snorkel — you walk in, let the current carry you along the coral, and walk out. No boat, no guide, no cost.
- Cape Range National Parkon the western side of the peninsula, with the gorges behind the beaches.
- Coral Bayabout 150km south, where the reef is again a few steps from the sand.
- The ningaloo reef itself runs 260kmwhich is why so much of it is reachable from the shore.
Exmouth is not a day trip from anywhere
Worth saying plainly: you cannot do Exmouth as a day trip from Perth. It is at the top of the state, and the trips that go there take six days one way with the stops that make the drive worth doing — the Pinnacles, Kalbarri, Shark Bay and Monkey Mia. There are flights into Learmonth if you would rather skip the road.
| Trip | Length | Starts and finishes | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Day Perth to Exmouth | 6 days, 5 nights | Perth / Exmouth | $1449 |
| 6 Day Perth to Exmouth | 6 days, 5 nights | Perth / Exmouth | $1549 |
| 7 Day Perth to Exmouth & Return | 7 days, 6 nights | Perth / Perth | $1699 |
| 7 Day Perth to Exmouth & Return | 7 days, 6 nights | Perth / Perth | $1799 |
| 8 Day Perth to Exmouth & Return | 8 days, 7 nights | Perth / Perth | $1699 |
The one-way trips finish in Exmouth and you fly back. The return trips bring you back to Perth by road.
Planning around the season
If the whale sharks are why you are going, build the dates around March to August first and work the rest of the trip around that. Humpbacks pass later, roughly August to October, and there are manta rays on the reef year round. There is a fuller breakdown of how long to give the west coast on our Perth itinerary page.
Where this comes from. What the whale shark trip includes, the group size, the effort rating and the prices are that trip's own details as held on its page here, and prices update on their own. The whale shark season and the length of Ningaloo Reef are the published figures for Ningaloo Marine Park.