Travelling on the west coast - what to do there

Mismatch

Hey folks,

I'm hoping to do a bit of travel on the West Coast of Australia near the end of my time here. Now, I've heard loads about the East Coast from other backpackers, but very little about the west coast. Just wondering if anyone's been and if there's much to see/do there? How long would you recommend spending there? Would three weeks be enough? We're planning to fly home from Perth, but are there many other spots worth visiting?

Doc

The problem with the West coast is the huge distances you have to travel between places of interest. One place I would defiantly recommend going to if you can is Coral Bay. Its an absolutely beautiful place about 12 hours north of Perth on the Ningaloo reef. The Ningaloo reef is stunning and much less damaged then a lot of the touristy spots on the Great Barrier Reef the coral starts right at the water's edge. The fish and the coral are very accessible to all including small children. Fish and coral can be experienced either snorkeling or on one of the Coral glass bottom viewing boats (I did one of these and got to swim with a massive turtle). Beautiful place I really recommend it although the drive to it was a bitch.

Wild Rover

Spent a couple of weeks there before, well worth a visit. Went up as far as Exmouth to see Ningaloo Reef, thats a great spot as mentioned above. There's a few stop-offs along the way like Shark Bay and the Pinnacles desert. Also south of Perth is a great drive, into the wine region for a wine tour. So i think you'd see loads in 3 weeks if you plan it out right

Mackman

Doc wrote: »

The problem with the West coast is the huge distances you have to travel between places of interest. One place I would defiantly recommend going to if you can is Coral Bay. Its an absolutely beautiful place about 12 hours north of Perth on the Ningaloo reef. The Ningaloo reef is stunning and much less damaged then a lot of the touristy spots on the Great Barrier Reef the coral starts right at the water's edge. The fish and the coral are very accessible to all including small children. Fish and coral can be experienced either snorkeling or on one of the Coral glass bottom viewing boats (I did one of these and got to swim with a massive turtle). Beautiful place I really recommend it although the drive to it was a bitch.

+1 Coral Bay is amazing. Shark Bay is pretty good too. More of a relaxation place though. Kalbarri is a good spot, plenty to do. Bush trekking, quad biking, ab sailing in the bush, and the usual water sports.

Down south is beautiful. Everything's much closer together too. The tree top walk in Walpole is good. There are loads of caves and stuff along the south west coast near Margaret River, (also worth checking out). Some great beaches down south too. Ya might be lucky and get a surfing comp in margaret river while your down there.

Daithio2

We drove from Broome down to Perth over about 12 days and it was amazing. Coral bay and shark bay were great. Karijini national park was also amazing. The distances are huge but I quite enjoyed the road trip aspect of it. It really is much more unique than the east coast. One thing I'd watch though is the time of year you do it; in the summer it is not really possible as most places will consistently be above 40 degrees.

fontanalis

Coral Bay is amazing but probably 12 hours north of Perth, try to make it for the whale sharks.

Xavi6

So far I've done Bunbury, Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River, Cervantes (Pinnacles), Jurien, Geraldton, Kalbarri and Broome. I'm off whale shark swimming in Exmouth at the beginning of May.

There's just so much to see on the west coast so if you can set aside a good bit of time to drive it then do so.

Kalbarri is an amazing spot. The gorges and Nature's Window are absolutely spectacular and the town itself is nice and quiet. Definitely worth a couple of nights.