Coral Coast Highway - Britz

Nine nights and 2,913 kilometres in a loop from Perth in a campervan, up the Coral Coast to Ningaloo and back.

Geraldton comes first, then Kalbarri, where the Murchison River has cut gorges several hundred metres into red sandstone a short way inland, with Nature’s Window framing the river bend, and the coastal cliffs south of the town running for miles.

Denham and Shark Bay follow, UNESCO listed for the seagrass meadows, the dugongs and the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool, with the dolphins at Monkey Mia alongside. Carnarvon comes next, then Coral Bay and Exmouth on Ningaloo Reef, which is the point of the trip: a fringing reef starting a few metres off the beach, with a drift snorkel at Turquoise Bay and whale sharks passing through in the autumn months.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Ten days for 2,913 kilometres means two long driving days in each direction, with the reef in the middle of them. Everything is sealed, so a standard camper handles it. The whale shark season from roughly March to July is the window worth planning around, and those tours book out well ahead. Kalbarri is the other stop worth two nights, since the river gorges are inland and the coastal cliffs are south of town, and the two do not fit comfortably into a single day.