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    Itinerary

    10 Days on the Ningaloo & Coral Coast: Perth to Exmouth Itinerary

    This is a one-way trip, not a loop — Perth to Exmouth is 1,270 km, and driving it twice inside ten days leaves almost no time at the destination. Fly out of Learmonth Airport (36 km south of Exmouth) instead, and price a one-way hire car against the return-drive alternative before you book.

    Length
    10 days
    Total distance
    ~1,270 km one way
    Season
    April–October. Whale sharks aggregate mid-March to July, humpback whales August–October. Summer (November–March) is very hot in the north.
    Vehicle
    Any 2WD for this route — sealed the whole way. Only Karijini, well beyond this itinerary, needs a high-clearance vehicle.
    Suits
    Couples, Family, Friends Group
    Route style
    Point-to-point
    10 Days on the Ningaloo & Coral Coast — Western Australia

    Route map

    Approximate route: Perth → Geraldton → Kalbarri → Denham → Coral Bay → Exmouth. Shown for planning only — this is not a turn-by-turn route. Always check current road conditions before you travel.

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    Leaflet © OpenStreetMap contributors

    Route stops in order: 1. Perth, 2. Geraldton, 3. Kalbarri, 4. Denham, 5. Coral Bay, 6. Exmouth.

    The order matters: this itinerary runs the coast in one direction, north from Perth, rather than trying to loop back through the same towns.

    Ningaloo is the part of this trip you genuinely can't get anywhere else in Australia — reef you can snorkel straight off the beach. If time gets tight, that's the region to protect, not the one to cut.

    Day by day

    10 Days on the Ningaloo & Coral Coast — stage plan
    DaysRouteDistanceDriveWhat you doSleep
    Day 1Perth → Geraldton418 km4h 30mLong first day. The HMAS Sydney II Memorial, overlooking the city, is a sobering stop if you have the afternoon.Geraldton
    Day 2Geraldton → Kalbarri156 km1h 45mKalbarri National Park's inland gorges — Nature's Window and the Z-Bend — are best in the morning before the heat.Kalbarri
    Day 3Kalbarrilocal—Coastal cliff walks along the Bigurda Trail, or finish the inland gorges if you didn't get to them. Sunset at one of the coastal lookouts.Kalbarri
    Day 4Kalbarri → Shark Bay (Denham)390 km4h 30mHamelin Pool's stromatolites — living structures built by the same cyanobacteria that oxygenated Earth's early atmosphere — are worth the short detour en route.Denham
    Day 5Shark Baylocal—Monkey Mia's wild dolphin interaction happens in the morning. Shell Beach and Eagle Bluff in the afternoon.Denham
    Day 6Shark Bay → Coral Bay~410 km4h 45mLong transit day back to the North West Coastal Highway and north. Arrive with enough light for a first look at the reef.Coral Bay
    Day 7Coral Baylocal—The reef comes almost to the shore here — snorkel straight off the beach, no boat needed. Glass-bottom boat or manta ray tours run from the same beach.Coral Bay
    Day 8Coral Bay → Exmouth~155 km1h 45mCape Range National Park en route. Turquoise Bay's drift snorkel — enter at the south end, drift north, exit before the sandbar — is free and one of the best in the country.Exmouth
    Day 9Exmouth & Ningaloolocal—Yardie Creek gorge cruise, or a whale shark swim tour (mid-March–July) or humpback tour (August–October) if your dates line up.Exmouth
    Day 10Depart via Learmonth Airport36 km30mDrop the hire car and fly out — Learmonth is about 30 minutes south of Exmouth.—

    Cost and booking notes

    • One-way vehicle hire with a Perth pickup and Exmouth/Learmonth drop-off carries a substantial relocation fee, but it saves two full days of driving each way. Price both options before booking.
    • Whale shark tours run roughly $400–$500 per person and sell out in the April–June peak — book ahead, not on arrival.
    • Fuel gets progressively more expensive the further north you go — fill up in the larger towns (Geraldton, Carnarvon) rather than the smaller roadhouses where possible.

    Common questions

    For a 10-day trip, yes. Perth to Exmouth is 1,270 km one way — driving it both ways inside ten days leaves barely a week at the destinations. A one-way hire car with a Learmonth drop-off, or flying home from Learmonth and returning the car separately, both beat the return drive.

    Roughly mid-March to July, peaking April to June when the sharks aggregate after coral spawning. Humpback whale swim tours run separately, roughly August to October.

    It's enough to do the route properly without rushing, provided you commit to the one-way structure. Trying to also loop back to Perth by road inside 10 days is the mistake — that needs closer to 14.

    Useful services on this trip

    Related guides

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