There are several ways to do road trips in Western Australia. If you are driving around the entire length of Australia, Perth to Exmouth (or vice versa!) this road trip itinerary could also be for you!
Why Western Australia is a must-visit
Western Australia offers vast areas of wilderness, from the endemic-species rich southwestern Australia through the great canyon of Kalbarri, along the coast of Jurien Bay and Beekeepers Reserve to Australia’s Coral Coast of Ningaloo Reef. You will find that there are a lot less tourists than in other parts of Australia.
Table of contents
- Why Western Australia is a must-visit
- Why we chose to do a road trip with an autocamper in Western Australia
- How to get from Perth to Exmouth
- Perth to Exmouth Road Trip: Must see places
- Interesting facts about Western Australia
Why we chose to do a road trip with an autocamper in Western Australia
When we first had to decide on the itinerary in Australia, we did some extensive research on the different regions in the country. The continent of Australia is massive, and we knew we could not see all the states within the 7 weeks we could travel from work.
We only knew one thing for certain, and that was that we were going to be in Sydney for one week. As my partner had visited Queensland and The Northern Territory before, we had to add something new for him too! I had personally never been to Aussie before, but I knew that I was looking to see some wild parts of Australia.
6 reasons why we visited Western Australia
We chose Western Australia from these criteria: Good snorkeling, possible to do in ~14 days time, beautiful scenery, unique nature (like the Kalbarri and Ningaloo Reef), lots of wildlife (kangaroos) and nice beaches.
The choice of renting an autocamper over a more basic 4×4 was made because we wanted to be fully self-sustained. This meant we had a fully functional kitchen, a large fresh water tank, a bathroom (toilet and shower), table and couches (which transforms into the bed by night).
There are always some compromises you have to make when choosing between an autocamper and a 4×4 vehicle (also known as four-wheel drive, 4WD).
If you want to read more about our choice of autocamper plus some tips from us first timers, follow this link.
How to get from Perth to Exmouth
There are several ways to travel from Perth to Exmouth. When we researched ways of traveling the North West Coastal Highway between Perth and Exmouth, we came across three different ways of traveling:
- Road trip round trip (our choice)
- One-way road trip and return with airplane (i.e. only renting a vehicle one-way)
- One-way road trip and end up in Broome (i.e. only renting a vehicle one-way)
We read that it was possible to rent a vehicle (e.g. an autocamper, campervan etc.), but the only one-way renting options were between Perth and Broome, and not to Exmouth.
There exists other modes of transportation (bus, train, hitchhiking), which will not be described in this post.
Perth to Exmouth Road Trip: Must see places
There are several must-see destinations on this recommended itinerary. Continue reading to find out more!
The Pinnacles Desert, Nambung National Park (near the town Cervantes)
The limestone pillars in the Pinnacles could be your first stop on your road trip from Perth to Exmouth. We came from Yanchep National Park and drove towards the town Cervantes and found the Pinnacles, and was stunned by the resemblance to the photos we had seen.
If you are keen on some ‘desert walking‘, you could easily spend a couple of hours here amongst these limestone pillars. It was fun to walk around and look at the different shapes and sizes of the pillars.
Read more about park entry fees and other activities in Nambung National Park here.
Recommended number of days/nights: 1 day (doable within one day)
Kalbarri National Park
As we visited Kalbarri National Park during the summer, it was a difficult place to visit mid-day as there are limited water resources and almost no shelter from the hot summer sun. Therefore, we did not do any longer hikes. But we saw the visitor’s center, enjoyed the views at Skywalk and read about the local flora, fauna and traditional land owners.
If you plan your visit carefully, you can hike here when the temperatures are more pleasant. Kalbarri National Park is an absolute stunner!
Recommended number of days/nights: 2 days or more
Shark Bay World Heritage Area
Shark Bay is also a place like no other. The environment is so extreme, that only few species have specialized in inhabiting the inhospitable land. Here we really felt the downside of the autocamper, as it was not possible for us to drive into François Peron National Park, nor Dirk Hartog Island. We did also not attempt snorkeling in Denham or Monkey Mia.
The Shark Bay Area is a place for outdoor enthusiasts, as there are many water activities, quad bike riding in the dunes and wild camping (given you have the right vehicle and horse powers!). Read more about our experiences in Shark Bay here.
Recommended number of days/nights: 2 days or more (Shark Bay is so far from everything, you may as well take your time to explore the different sites)
Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range National Park
The Ningaloo Reef is designated as a World Heritage Area. It is a 300 km long coastal coral reef, which makes up Western Australia’s Coral Coast.
It is home to a myriad of sea life, and the Ningaloo Reef is known for being a good place to swim with the harmless whale sharks, humpback whales and manta rays! Head to this website for different tours and info about when it is whale shark season. We enjoyed snorkeling so much at Turquoise Bay, that this became our favorite place on our road trip.
The reef in Coral Bay (the town) is so severely damaged after a failed coral spawning event in September 2022, that it will take several years for the corals and reef fish to recover to former glory. Until then I recommend to go further up north to Exmouth and Cape Range National Park for epic snorkeling adventures. However, Coral Bay is still a cute small town that is worth a visit, and the beach itself is nice.
Recommended number of days/nights: 2 days or more
Our personal 15-days’ road trip itinerary along Western Australia’s Coral Coast
This itinerary reflects our true travel as it changed slightly along the way (mainly due to the delayed retrieval of the autocamper and a slashed tire in Carnarvon). This list starts at day 1 in Perth and shows our step-by-step route along the West Coast of Australia.
- Perth (picking up the van) -> Moore River Rest (free rest spot near Yanchep National park)
- Yanchep -> Cervantes (The Pinnacles) & campsite in Port Gregory, the town (Pink Lake)
- Port Gregory -> Kalbarri National Park (camping in Kalbarri town)
- Kalbarri National Park -> Coral Bay, the town (campsite)
- Coral Bay -> Free camping at Lyndon River rest
- Lyndon River-> Exmouth (the city) -> camping at Cape Range National Park, Mesa Camp (Ningaloo Reef)
- Ningaloo Reef – snorkeling all day!! (Mesa camp in Cape Range, big recommendations!)
- Ningaloo Reef – snorkeling (staying at Exmouth camping this night)
- Back to Cape Range National Park for snorkeling -> driving the rest of the day heading south (camping at a free rest spot)
- The unexpected day at Carnarvon – we got a shredded/punctured tyre!! after getting that fixed -> camping at Wooramel River Station (we LOVED that place!)
- Wooramel -> Shark Bay (Stromatolites, Shell Beach etc. Camping in Denham)
- Monkey Mia/Shark Bay (camping in Denham)
- Shark Bay (Pearl Farm /wildlife excursion) -> continue south to a free rest spot Galena Riverside South
- Galena -> Beekeepers Reserve -> Yanchep National Park (camping at Henry White Oval inside the park)
- Yanchep National Park (hiking all day)
- Returning the van: Yanchep -> Perth
Interesting facts about Western Australia
Perth is the ideal gateway when you travel from Europe, Asia or the Middle East to Australia and it has a large international airport.
The population of Western Australia
Western Australia (WA in short) is the countrys largest state, covering whooping 33% of the land area of Australia!
In 2020 2.7 million people lived in Western Australia, of which 2.19 mio people live in Perth, the 4th largest city in Australia. That means that outside of Perth, you will not find a lot of people!
Perth’s population is notable for the high proportion of British- (36.8%) and Irish-born (8.8%) residents (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023). In 2021, 3.3% of the population of WA identified themselves as either Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or both (Census, 2021).
The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
On this road trip you will have several opportunities to learn about Aboriginal culture. We found that at the Skywalk in Kalbarri National Park there was a great exhibition with respect to the traditional land owners. When I return to WA one day, I would like to visit Francois Peron National Park (Shark Bay) for its’ wildlife and cultural heritage values.
The Perth to Exmouth Distance and driving time
The driving distance from Perth to Exmouth is approximately 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) when following the most common route along the North West Coastal Highway.
Driving from Perth to Exmouth takes approx. 15 hours non-stop. This has of course to be divided into shorter legs of travel to make it a nice experience. There is no fun in rushing about 🙂
Wild Flower Routes in WA
It is possible to combine your road trip from Perth to Exmouth with some of the Wild Flower Routes in Western Australia. On www.Wildflowercountry.com you can see relevant itineraries for your length of stay.
Wildlife of Western Australia
Western Australia is excellent for viewing many of the continents’ famous animals. Have a look at my photo gallery of the animals we encountered during our road trip.
Red kangaroo in Yanchep National Park 
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) 
Two laughing kookaburras 
An Australian Ringneck having fresh green leaves 
Koala in a tree, Yanchep National Park 
A wild emu at the beach in Monkey Mia 
Australian Pelican, Cape Range National Park (Ningaloo Reef) 
An Echidna having just crossed the road in Kalbarri National Park 
A yellow-green budgerigar on a blue sky close to Wooramel 
A Carnabys cuckatoo at Moore River Rest
I hope you enjoyed reading this post about Western Australia. If you feel inspired to do this yourself, let me know in the comments. Please also feel free to share this post with anyone who may find this interesting 🙂
-Traveling Female Ornithologist
*None of the mentioned places or experiences in this post were sponsored.
© All photos are my own unless stated and may not be used without permission.
Traveling Female Ornithologist 
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