The Coral Coast Highway

Take a morning flight from Perth to Exmouth's Learmonth Airport with Qantas. Collect your Avis hire car and drive the short distance north to Exmouth.

Once you have entered Exmouth town, stop at the Ningaloo Aquarium and Discovery Centre to earn about the area. You can also hire snorkel gear or book tours. Explore the town’s breweries and eateries, hire a jet ski at the Town Beach or hike at Shothole Canyon. Make sure you’ve booked your mega-fauna (whale shark, humpback whale or manta ray) tour, along with any other tours you're interested in doing during your time here.

Get up before the sun at Sunrise Beach - Exmouth is one of the few places where you can see the sun rise and set over the ocean on the same day. Spend the day in Cape Range National Park on an organised tour or self-drive.

Drift snorkel at Turquoise Bay, spot turtles at Sandy Bay, learn about the coastline and landscapes at Milyering Discovery Centre, have a picnic lunch at Osprey Bay or go boating (or hiking) along Yardie Creek. Watch the sunset at Vlamingh Head Lighthouse.

Not your thing? Why not learn to dive! Visit the nearby Muiron Islands to dive or choose a double dive on Ningaloo Reef.

On your way to Coral Bay, consider visiting Bullara Station for homemade scones and barista coffee in an outback setting.

Leaving Exmouth early, you can enjoy what Coral Bay has to offer - everything water! Swimming with manta rays (year-round), learning to dive, sailing away on a Ningaloo Reef charter, or joining a glass bottom boat tour to see the reef without getting wet.

After a lazy breakfast, snorkel in the calm waters of Bill’s Bay or Paradise Beach.

Leave Coral Bay for Carnarvon and inspect the OTC Dish and the Space and Technology Museum. Self-drive the Fruit Loop Drive Trail, visiting working plantations, and visit Gwoonwardu Mia - Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage & Cultural Centre. Enjoy a BBQ or picnic dinner by Carnarvon’s Fascine waterway.

In the morning, see Carnarvon from the air on a helicopter joy-ride or (allowing more time) heli-snorkel the Stromatolites of Hamelin Bay. Before leaving town, pick up lunch supplies and a treat for yourself – a Carnarvon chocolate-coated frozen banana!

On arriving in Shark Bay, stop at Eagle Bluff for views over the Indian Ocean. Consider stopping at the Shark Bay Discovery Centre, complete with interactive exhibits detailing the area’s history (European and Indigenous) and heritage. Kids will love the Pirate Playground opposite the Centre and the nearby Thong Shack.

Stay: Denham or Monkey Mia.

Get up early to spend a day exploring Kalbarri and its National Park. Be sure to pack lots of water and food before entering the Park.

Take a photo at the iconic Nature’s Window, traverse the Loop, Z-Bend or Four Ways hiking trails along the Murchison River Gorges, and picnic at Ross Graham Lookout, Hawks Head or along the River Trail.

Don’t fancy walking? See the area from above on a scenic flight. Later, enjoy fresh seafood served up at Finlay’s.

Depending on the time of year, some of Geraldton’s most extraordinary experiences are found close by. Offered year- round, enjoy a Fly and Flipper tour of the Abrolhos Islands.

If visiting between June and September, spend the day in Wildflower Country visiting WA’s wildflower mecca - Coalseam Conservation Park.

Stay: Geraldton or Dongara- Port Denison

Between Geraldton and Dongara-Port Denison, be sure to stop for a photo of Greenough’s leaning trees, visit Greenough Wildlife Park and enjoy a picnic lunch at Ellendale Pool.

Continue travelling south to Dongara and stop at Illegal Tender Rum Co for a rum tasting. Visit the ANZAC soldier sculptures art piece in Port Denison; best viewed at sunset. Pick up fresh seafood for a BBQ dinner at the Port Denison Marina or catch a movie under the stars at the Dongara-Denison Drive-In Cinema (seasonal).

Stay: Dongara-Port Denison

Wake up early for breakfast at Seaspray Café before continuing south to Jurien Bay.

A few must-do experiences in Jurien include meeting endangered Australian sea lions, a tandem skydive or a full day of fishing - catch your own dinner!

Need a beach day instead? Try Sandy Cape, for turquoise waters and sand boarding. Nearby, Green Head offers the stunning Three Bays Walkway, connecting three swimming beaches on a picturesque coastal walk.