Why Not Bus Perth to Exmouth West Coast Trip

Map

DAY 1: PERTH TO JURIEN BAY

The bus leaves Billabong Backpackers in Highgate at 9:30am on Saturday, and the first stop is the supermarket for snacks and drinks. Then it's north up the coast to Lancelin, where white dunes rise straight behind the town and you sandboard down them. In Nambung National Park you walk among the Pinnacles, thousands of limestone pillars standing out of yellow sand, some of them taller than you. Tonight is a holiday park campsite at Jurien Bay, where a colony of Australian sea lions lives on the offshore islands. The guide shows first-timers how to pitch a tent, and everyone pitches in on the first group dinner. About 230 km.

Overnight: Jurien Bay (holiday park campsite)

DAY 2: JURIEN BAY TO KALBARRI

A morning at the beach, or, for an extra cost, a two-hour boat trip to swim with those sea lions. Lunch is in Geraldton, the biggest town on the coast north of Perth. Then the bus pulls up beside Hutt Lagoon near Port Gregory, a lake coloured pink to red by an alga that makes beta-carotene, the same pigment as in carrots. The colour changes with the light, the cloud and the time of year. In the afternoon you check in for two nights in Kalbarri, at the mouth of the Murchison River, and watch the sun go down from the beach before dinner. About 370 km.

Overnight: Kalbarri (Kalbarri Backpackers)

DAY 3: KALBARRI NATIONAL PARK

A full day in Kalbarri National Park, where the Murchison River has cut an 80 km gorge through red and white banded sandstone laid down more than 400 million years ago. The Kalbarri Skywalk juts out from the rim on two platforms, hanging high over the gorge. A short walk leads to Nature's Window, a wind-carved arch that frames the river bend below. Then you hike down into Z Bend gorge, with a swim if the pools have water, and eat lunch along the gorge. Back by the sea, the coastal cliffs are a lookout for humpback whales and their calves in season. Dinner tonight is the first of three pub nights.

Overnight: Kalbarri (Kalbarri Backpackers)

DAY 4: KALBARRI TO MONKEY MIA

Into the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, listed in 1991. At Shell Beach there's no sand at all: the shore is made of billions of tiny white cockle shells, piled metres deep, and the water is so salty you float with ease. From the boardwalk at Eagle Bluff you look down into clear shallows for sharks, turtles and dugongs; Shark Bay's seagrass feeds one of the largest dugong herds on earth. After Denham, the most westerly town in Australia, you reach the dolphin resort at Monkey Mia. The afternoon is for the beach, the pool or a paddleboard (extra cost), and after dark you can walk the jetty looking for dolphins and turtles. About 400 km.

Overnight: Monkey Mia (hostel dorms at RAC Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort)

DAY 5: MONKEY MIA TO WOORAMEL RIVER RETREAT

Early morning, walk down to the water as the wild bottlenose dolphins swim into the shallows. They have been coming in to this beach since the 1960s, and today rangers keep the feeding small and closely watched so the dolphins stay wild. There's more time by the beach and pool before the bus leaves Shark Bay and heads up the highway. Tonight is a working station stay at Wooramel River Retreat, with tents among the river gums. The best part is a soak in a tub filled by hot artesian water from deep underground, followed by dinner under a sky full of stars. About 240 km.

Overnight: Wooramel River Retreat (station campsite)

DAY 6: CARNARVON TO CORAL BAY

A restock stop in Carnarvon, the banana-growing town at the mouth of the Gascoyne River, then north to Coral Bay. Here Ningaloo Reef, World Heritage-listed in 2011 and one of the longest fringing reefs on earth, starts just metres from the sand, so you can snorkel straight off the beach. Snorkel gear can be borrowed from the dive shop for a deposit. If you want more, a glass-bottom boat, quad bikes or a paddleboard are there at extra cost. Dinner is at the pub, your second pub night, and you settle in for two nights. About 350 km.

Overnight: Coral Bay (Ningaloo Club Backpackers)

DAY 7: A FREE DAY IN CORAL BAY

No driving today. Coral Bay is a town of only a couple of hundred people, so everything is a short walk away. Snorkel the reef again, walk the coast or spend the whole day on the beach. This is the day for the manta ray swim (extra cost), the town's most popular trip; reef mantas live off Coral Bay all year and can measure several metres from wingtip to wingtip. After the group dinner there are bars, a pool and sometimes live music.

Overnight: Coral Bay (Ningaloo Club Backpackers)

DAY 8: CORAL BAY TO EXMOUTH

A last morning in Coral Bay, then up onto the North West Cape. At Charles Knife Canyon the road climbs along the edge of deep red gorges cut into the Cape Range, with views across Exmouth Gulf. The day ends at the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, built in 1912 on the tip of the cape, where you can watch the sun set over the Indian Ocean. Tonight you cook together, and you stay two nights in Exmouth. About 200 km.

Overnight: Exmouth (Potshot Hotel Resort, hostel rooms)

DAY 9: CAPE RANGE NATIONAL PARK

If you have booked a whale shark swim (March to September, extra cost), the boat collects you from the resort for the whole day. The whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea, and it gathers off Ningaloo each year to feed. Everyone else crosses the cape to Cape Range National Park to snorkel at Turquoise Bay, where a gentle current carries you along the reef edge over coral, turtles and reef fish. In the evening the group meets for the third pub dinner, at Whalebone Brewery.

Overnight: Exmouth (Potshot Hotel Resort, hostel rooms)

DAY 10: GOODBYE IN EXMOUTH

The trip finishes early, around 7am on Monday, at the Potshot Resort in Exmouth, a town built in 1967 to support the American naval communications station on the cape. You say goodbye to the group here, while travellers on the longer Karijini and Broome trips carry on inland. Plenty stay on in Exmouth for more of Ningaloo.

Map

• A small pillow
• Swimwear and a towel
• Sunscreen and a hat
• Insect repellent
• Warm clothes for cold nights, especially in winter
• Walking shoes
• A torch
• A refillable water bottle and a small daypack
• One bag up to about 15 kg, plus a small carry-on

• Transport from Perth to Exmouth in a modern air-conditioned bus with USB charging at every seat
• Driver-guide
• 9 nights' accommodation: 7 in hostel dorms, 1 in a holiday park campsite, 1 at an outback station campsite
• Camping gear: twin-share tents, mats and sleeping bags
• Park passes for Nambung (the Pinnacles), Kalbarri and Cape Range national parks and the Monkey Mia reserve
• Monkey Mia dolphin experience
• Daily activities, including sandboarding, gorge walks and snorkelling at Coral Bay and Turquoise Bay
• Trailer kitchen with fridge, cooking gear and eskies

Not included

• Shared food fund paid at the start of the trip, about A$80 to A$100 per person, which covers most breakfasts, lunches and group dinners
• Three pub dinners, roughly A$20 to A$40 each
• Snacks and alcohol
• Optional activities: sea lion swim, manta ray or whale shark swim, scuba diving, quad bikes, paddleboard and kayak hire
• Return travel from Exmouth

Preparing for the trip

Private tours and families

Booking the trip

Who travels with us

Cost and Fees

Whilst on tour