Exmouth is best known for the Cape Range National Park and Ningaloo Reef and Coral Bay. The city itself is absolutely not worth seeing. If you come from Karijini National Park you should do the grocery shopping in Tom Price.
Exmouth
The IGA supermarket in Exmouth is relatively more expensive. The beaches east of Exmouth are not impressive, e.g. Town Beach (at the city entrance on the right side of the street). Here, however, there are public toilets with showers.
Visitor Center
If you have just arrived in the city, you should get a map at the visitor center. The Exmouth Visitor Center is on the main road, just straight towards the city center. It is on the right side of the street – you can’t miss it. In the city map, all public toilets are marked and other important places.
Tip: Whale watching, swim with whale sharks and sea turtles
In the north of Exmouth you can find the lighthouse on a hill. Here, as in so many places in Australia, the sunset is spectacular to watch. During the whale season you can also see plenty of whales passing by along the coast – an absolute priceless and free happening. This event takes place between July and October.
In the Australian autumn (March to June) you can swim in Exmouth with the largest species of fish, the whale shark. In the summer months you can watch the sea turtles laying eggs on the beach.
Near the lighthouse you can see a shipwreck. This looks very cool at low tide. From the lighthouse you can also see a satellite station of NASA.
Emu-Familie in Exmouth
Wale Watching in Exmouth
Schiffswrack in Exmouth
Leuchtturm von Exmouth bei Sonnenuntergang
NASA Station und Wale im Hintergrund
Whale Watching vom Land aus bei Exmouth
In the city map of the Visitor Center, these things are all marked.
Cheap refueling and gas stations
The fuel prices in this part of Australia are around $1.7. Gasoline on the West Coast, like many other things, is more expensive than on the East Coast. The get the cheapest gas at the gast station by the caravan park, right next to the lighthouse.
Cape Range National Park
On the west coast of Exmouth is the Cape Range National Park. Admission is $11 as for all National Parks in Western Australia. The entrance fee must be paid as you will be stopped at the park entrance.
Camping in Cape Range
There are some campsites in the park. The payment for these campsites is a chapter in itself: When entering the park, you will be asked if you want to stay in the park for the night (or more) or not. Whether you say yes or no does not change anything at first. However, the stuff at the entrance can give hints, which camping spot could be free and which not.
So, should you have any possible intention to sleep there, in any case, answer with “yes”. You will be told by the stuff, that in case the camping spot really is free, to leave something there, camping chairs for example. This is how you reserve the spot. Once you have done that, you are supposed to drive back to the visitor center of the park, which is at the entrance of the park, to pay the 7 dollars per person per night fee.
You can cheat with the number of people when you pay the overstay fee. Furthermore, the park expects that someone who found a campsite in the national park drives all the way back to pay the fee and come back. Depending on your camp spot, you can easily make an extra 50 kilometers just to pay the fee.
This is relatively little if you travel Australia by car, but relatively much just to pay this camping fee. In short: You can pay the fee or even not! If caught, just say you didn’t know.
Our Experience
Kristallklares Wasser an der Coral Bay in Cape Range
Turquois Bay – Cape Range Nationalpark
Schutz im einzigen Baum weit und breit im Cape Range Park
Kängurus in Cape Range
Campingplatz in Cape Range Nationalpark
In any case, during our stay at the Cape Range we didn’t go through all this effort: The next day we were woken up by the park ranger at 9 o’clock in the morning. He only asked us if we would stay another night (the following night we could have paid directly to him), otherwise, we would have to leave the pitch until 10 o’clock.
He wished us a good trip and nothing else happened. We believe that nobody in the park knows exactly who paid for what and what not.
In any case, here it works the other way around as in the Karijini National Park: You pay the parking fee of $11, but waived $7 per person per night.
ATTENTION: If you leave the park at night and want to come back, you will have to pay the $11 entry fee again. If you do not find a campsite, you can easily get in a proper campsite or on its access road. In that case, you should get up early – about 7 o’clock in the morning to avoid problems.
What to do in Cape Range?
Cape Range offers several different beaches. At Torquise Bay, you can snorkel and sunbathe on a sandy beach, while at the Oyster Stack there are small cliffs that invite you to snorkel.
Unlike the Great Barrier Reef, this reef is literally a few meters from the coast. Sometimes you really do not have to swim farther than 15 meters. Further out you can also see the waves as they built up on the reef – up to 2 meters.
On the beach itself, the waves are extremely quiet. Those who snorkel off the beaten track can not only find much colorful fish, but also more reef sharks and turtles. There is no danger from reef sharks. Turtles, in particular, feel annoyed by the crowds at the central points, such as Torquise Bay and Oyster Stack, they move to less crowded places.
Insider Tip
If you want to see turtles and reef sharks, we recommend snorkeling at the beach accesses from the campsites where there are hardly any people. With a little luck, you can see turtles and reef sharks right from the shore already.
Turtles can also be found, perhaps even easier, in the north of Cape Range, on the beaches around the lighthouse. Although these animals are relatively playful, one sometimes only sees an incredibly fast shadow passing by because they do not always feel like playing with humans.
Hiking in the Cape Range Park
The Cape Range National Park also offers a hike to a gorge – the Mandu Mandu Gorge. The gorge cannot be compared to Karijinis. But the main reason to visit Cape Range is to go snorkeling and the incredibly colorful underwater world.
In the Cape Range you can easily spend 2 pleasant days. Especially in the evening hours and at night the park becomes scattered with wallabies and kangaroos to watch and run around with. With a little luck, you will also see emus in the area.
Coral Bay
The bay of Coral Bay is beautiful. A few meters from the beach, the sea becomes relatively deep, so you can dive deeper or snorkel as in Cape Range National Park. However, or perhaps because of the depth, the underwater world is less colorful.
Coral Bay in Westaustralien
Coral Bay Western Australia
Hitzegewitter an der Coral Bay
Nach dem Hitzegewitter – Coral Bay, Australien
Backpacker Tip
Coral Bay is very expensive though. Backpackers should avoid shopping here. Essential supermarket products like bread or milk are 3-4 times more expensive. The seaside resort of Coral Bay cannot be missed. Just in front of it is a parking lot.
Just opposite the beach or parking lot is also a campsite where you can get in without control to use the local bathing facilities. Showers etc. are really excellent.
Shortly before the public beach are also public toilets (well signposted), but of course not in such a top condition as the private ones in the campsite. But showers and water are available.
The beach of Coral Bay invites you for a walk. However, apart from the beach, the village does not have much to offer. But brochures about the area can help. The village is known for the Manta Rays, which are relatively numerous here, but also for the Whale Sharks between March and June.
Camping in Coral Bay
If you want to spend a few pleasant days on the beach here, you can also camp here undisturbed and for free: Right at the junction of the highway in the direction of Coral Bay, a dirt road goes north. Right by the road sign, you can’t miss it.
Follow this dirt road for about only 200 meters to get to an undisturbed place where a sign “no camping” stands. As absurd as it sounds, but here no ranger comes by to control. So if you want to sleep for free, here is the spot. Otherwise, excuses like “we arrived late at night” will always work.
This is the spot (zoom out):
Tip: refueling on the highways on the west coast
It may happen that road houses offer cheaper fuel than one would find in tourist locations, such as in Denham or Exmouth, as these places are relatively remote. So you should keep your eyes open and drive to these cheap gas stations. Especially if they are gas stations of large oil companies, e.g. Caltex, BP or Shell. Avoid refueling in Exmouth or Denham.
From Geraldton southwards, the fuel reaches normal prices again. This is also where proper vegetation starts again, so trees and meadows that thrive and not just red sand, where only a few bushes survive.
Read more: The full Australia Guide for Backpackers.
Carnavon
There is not really much to see in Carnavon. Even though Australians always find a reason why they should stay in a village. But fuel here is relatively cheap and right on the main road, there is a Woolworths where you can stock up your groceries.
Any questions? Leave a comment below!
Exmouth | Coral Bay | Cape Range | Ningaloo Reef - best tips for everyone backpacking around Australia in a van. #vanlife #backpacking #australia Exmouth is best known for the Cape Range National Park and Ningaloo Reef and Coral Bay…
