Beaches & Reefs of Western Australia

Perth

While you’re in town, take a trip across the water to the beautiful Rottnest Island, home to the adorable quokka, who loves to pose for tourists’ photos. Back in the city, explore the galleries and museums, take a walk or cycle along the extensive pathways or have a picnic in King’s Park, a 990-acre green space filled with historic memorials and native flora.

Cervantes

First up is Cervantes, the main access point to Namburg National Park, and home to the intriguing Pinnacles, a collection of jagged limestone rocks pillars studding the desert, and looking like something from another world. A great time to visit is sunset, when the light changes colours across the sands and rocks. When not admiring the pinnacles, chill out on the beach or try the long list of local water sports.

Geraldton

Popular with windsurfers and kite surfers, with stand-up paddle boarding also up-and-coming, the beaches are a good place to start exploring, with Town Beach one of the most easily accessible. If you’re a culture vulture, head to the Maritime Museum, the HMAS Sydney Memorial or the Western Australian Museum.

Monkey Mia

Later, continue on to Monkey Mia, hop in a boat and look out for a wide range of marine life including turtles, manta rays and dugongs. But of course the main event here is the daily visit from a local pod of bottlenose dolphins, which come right up to the beach and feed from your hands.

Carnarvon

Try it in the restaurants, or perhaps even head down to the ocean and fish for yourself – mackerel, mulloway and even shark can be caught right from the beach. The town is also the perfect base for exploring nearby Mount Augustus and the Kennedy Ranges or touring the banana and mango plantations. Don’t miss the Carnarvon Blowholes either, which, when the tide is right, shoot jets of water 20m into the air!

Coral Bay

The ideal spot from which to explore the marine park, this tiny town boasts just one street, plenty of seafood menus and a lovely soft beach where you can snorkel right into the waves to get up close to a myriad of multi-coloured fish and corals. If you’d prefer not to get your feet wet, try a glass-bottomed boat trip where you might also spot dolphins and rays.

Exmouth

If you didn’t do any diving or snorkelling in Coral Bay, then you definitely should here, as it’s the perfect place to swim beneath the waves and spot turtles, octopus, sharks and rays. Your Journey includes a Whale Shark Discovery Tour, allowing you to get up close to the world’s largest fish, which grown to lengths of up to 14m.

Perth

Catch up on any of the top sights you missed the first time round, or just hang out in the local bars and restaurant. If you fancy something more relaxing, head down to Kings Park, a 990-acre green space home to bushland walking trails, historic memorials, native flora, Indigenous cultural activities and a bustling events calendar, or take a chilled out stroll or bike ride along the banks of the Swan River.