Western Australia Road Trip: 9 Days of Driving and Adventure

Route: Perth → Geraldton → Exmouth → Carnarvon → Kalbarri → Perth

Our road trip loop from Perth to Exmouth and back took 9 days of driving, exploring, and discovering the diverse beauty of Western Australia's west coast. While it was a lot of time on the road, it was also filled with striking landscapes, national parks, snorkeling spots, and a good dose of adventure.

Exmouth Bundegi Beach - Mandu Mandu Trail and Oyster Stack in Cape Range National Park

Highlights:

• We saw so much of the West Coast! From dramatic gorges in Kalbarri to turquoise waters in Exmouth, every stop had something unique.

• Winter sun and warm water. Escaping colder weather in Australia by heading north in winter is a real treat. You can still snorkel and even scuba dive without leaving the country!

• It made us want to come back. While this loop gave us a great taste, it also convinced us there’s so much more to explore.

  
  

Kalbarri National Park with Nature's Window trail and the Skywalk

The Challenges:

• Distances are deceiving. This drive is long, and much of it isn’t even along the coast.

• Main attractions are far off the highway.

  • Shark Bay: 1.5 hours detour

  • Kalbarri: 45 minutes from the highway

  • Cape Range National Park: nearly 1 hour from Exmouth itself you want to really explore these areas, you need to factor in extra days.

    
    

What We Missed (and would plan better next time):

• Swimming with whale sharks or manta rays. Unfortunately, the tours were booked out. Book months in advance!

• Seeing dugongs. They’re known to hang around Town Beach in Exmouth, but we weren’t lucky this time.

• Coral Bay. We drove past it, but it looked beautiful and had great reviews. Some tours also leave from there.

• Ballara Beef Farm. Heard it’s a cozy spot for a stay and local food—we’ll keep it in mind for the next trip.

• Shark Bay. Between its national park, wildlife, and hikes near the coast, it seems like the perfect blend of nature and beach.

  
  
  

The Pinnacles of Nambung National Park

Would We Return to Exmouth?

Maybe not.

While we enjoyed our time there — the turquoise water, Cape Range National Park, and the unique marine life — we felt a bit rushed and missed out on key experiences like swimming with whale sharks or diving with manta rays.

Next time, we’d likely try scuba diving on the East Coast of Australia, where dive sites are more accessible and logistics feel easier.

That said, if you’re short on time but still dream of Exmouth, check Qantas flights from Perth — they can save you an entire day of driving each way.

Western Australia is massive, and there are still so many remote places we’d love to explore — Broome, the Horizontal Falls, the Kimberley... But that’s a whole different trip — one we’d definitely fly to and take our time with.

Tips For Next Time:

• Stay longer where it counts. We could have easily spent 5 nights in Kalbarri—between hikes and ocean views, it’s worth it.

• Same goes for Shark Bay. It seems to offer a good balance of relaxing by the water and exploring nature.

• 4 nights in Exmouth wasn't enough. Between the national park, diving/snorkeling, and just recovering from long drives, we felt a bit rushed.

Even with its challenges, this road trip showed us just how diverse and wild WA can be. It’s not the most relaxing holiday, but it’s one we won’t forget.