THis is our first trip to Perth. We are staying 10 days and are thinking maybe three days in Perth, 3 in the shark bay/coral bay area and then three in the Margaret River. Our youngest son is in a wheel chair so we need to stay in a reasonable hotel, camping is not an option for him. I realise we would need to fly to see the reef, can some one advise us the best area to stay in? The kids want to see monkey mia and to snorkel at the reef, not knowing the area makes it harder to search for flights. Also would it be difficult for our son to get around on Rottnest Island? THanks.

Hello. West Australia is wonderful and I am sure you will enjoy it. I see you plan on staying three days in Shark Bay/Coral Bay, but three days might not be enough to see both areas. According to this chart below it will take almost 7 hours to drive from Monkey Mia to Coral Bay.
http://www.westernaustralia.com/Site...Charts_ACC.jpg
It has been a while since I have been to Rottnest Island, so I cannot comment on accessibility, however, I do remember that the ferry was large and that many of the paths around Rottnest were well paved.
Up at Coral Bay and Ningaloo Reef, you don't have to fly out to see the reef. You need only go out a short way on a boat. In Coral Bay you can easily snorkel right off the beach, but you must keep an eye out for boats. In the Exmouth area, too, there are places where you can snorkel or dive right off the beach. We were there to snorkel with manta rays and whale sharks, and to do some scuba diving. It was excellent, spectacular. We were there many years ago and at that time there weren't many places to stay in Coral Bay (the area has limited water resources so it cannot support much growth). We stayed in a self-contained apartment at the Ningaloo Reef Resort. It was comfortable with ocean views, but as the ocean is only steps away you will want to be on the beach instead of your room. I am sure they must have wheelchair accessible rooms. Exmouth is a much larger town with more shops and accommodation than Coral Bay. The area around Exmouth is gorgeous, with lots of wildlife, especially birds. The beaches are fantastic and nearly deserted. We stayed at an ordinary motel called the Potshot, which was recommended by the Dive Shop (the dive shot was right next door). Potshot had a restaurant with boring food, but, as I said before, this was years ago and things might have improved since then. The grounds were attractive and they had a pool. It was clean and comfortable. The entire complex was on the ground floor. We were able to rent a very cheap car across the street. The Exmouth Tourism office was a short walk away as were the shops, so it was conveniently located.

This article about Ningaloo appeared in today's Independent newspaper (though it really focuses on the region's scuba diving):
http://travel.independent.co.uk/ausa...cle3349083.ece

thank you so much. This, at least, has made us review our times and we are thinking that we cannot do both. I asked the question on Rottnest Island as the brochures said that thge best way to get around is to hire a bike, which we cannot do but as long as there are paths we will manage. Thank you again we try and make sure our son sees as much as possible and having this website makes that much easier.

This link should help a lot:
http://www.rottnestisland.com/en/Get...ed/default.htm

It's the Rottnest Island Authority's own page on access for the mobility impaired.