Ningaloo reef
 

Where to visit and stay near Ningaloo Reef

Ningaloo Reef stretches for quite a distance along the coast. How are you planning to get there? Driving or flying to Learmonth.

There are two main towns, Coral Bay and Exmouth. I stayed in both places last year.

Coral Bay - small town, with limited accommodation, but you can snorkel the reef directly from the beach. There are also tours for whale watching and diving / snorkelling further out. Limited food options and accommodation. Self catering may be good. Small supermarket and bakery. If flying, it's about 120km from the airport. There are transfers (need pre-booking) or rental cars (also pre-book). For convenience, this is my favourite spot.

Exmouth is the service town for the area. I thought is was a particularly uninspiring place. There are shops and supermarkets. It's about 35km to the airport, and there are transfers - but here you do need a car - or be prepared to take tours everywhere. There is nowhere where you can walk to a snorkel area. There are as number of recognised snorkel spots, all about 50km or so away. The launching place to tours whale watching or whatever are 40km away. Tours will pick you up in town. There is one decent resort - MantaRays - about 5km out of town. There's other low key accommodation.

If you need any further information just let me know.