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The NorthWest Cape covers a huge area with the Ningaloo reef stetching 260km from slightly north of Exmouth to Amherst Point, south of Coral Bay. Exmouth is a smoll town of approximately 2500 people and situated 1270 km north of Perth.
In Exmouth, Every year from April to July following the mass spawning of coral, the world's biggest species of fish congregate in the Ningaloo Marine Park. These are the "WHALE SHARKS"!!. The chance to snorkel with these gentle giants is the opportunity of a lifetime and visitors from all over the world head to the Ningaloo Reef during whale shark season. These massive filter feeders can grow up to 8meter long. They cruise the world's oceans in search of plankton concentrations to feed on. Ningaloo Reef is one of the places they appear regularly in large numbers. Very little is known about the biology of these creatures, so reserach is ongoing. Day tours to snorkel with whale sharks depart daily during the season form both Exmouth and Coral Bay. The experience is open to confident swimmers of all ages.
Skywest Airlines operates daily return flights from Perth to Learmonth(amount of time required:2h45m). This airport is located 37kms from Exmouth. A shuttle bus meets each flight and for a fee you can catch a fide to Exmouth.
Greyhound Australia departs daily from Perth to Exmouth and return(One way amount of time required approximately 19h). The Exmouth Visitor Center on Murat Road is bus terminal for this company.
If you are traveling north to Exmouth along the North West Coastal Highway, travel 152 km north of Carnavon and turn left at the Exmouth Minilya Road. From here it is 200 km to Exmouth townsite.
Exmouth is blessed with a fantastic climate.With no wet season, it's dry and warm all year. In summer months the daytime temperatures range from the mid to high 30's while a typical winter's day reaches around 25 degrees. Water temperatures very throughout the year from 18-28 degree making for perfect whather all year!!
Exmouth Average Monthly Tempertures
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Temperatures | 38 | 37 | 36 | 33 | 29 | 25 | 24 | 26 | 29 | 32 | 34 | 37 |
The Navy Pier is the perfect compliment to your Ningaloo Reef diving holiday; it is consistently ranked among the Top Ten Pier/Jetty dives in Australia. This structure is home to an outstanding variety of marine life from schooling trevally, snapper and barracuda to giant Queensland gropers to the smallest nudibranchs. Colourful reef fishes including angelfish, butteryflyfish, Moorish idols and bannerfish make their homes among the huge pylons, which are covered in all manner of interesting invertebrates. As the Pier remains a working Defence facility, diving there is available only through a licensed dive center.This site has a maximum depth of 15m and is suitable for a wide range of divers. Special requirements for divers apply, so please ask for full details. This site is not suitable for snorkellers.
The environment of these two islands just 9.8 nuutical miles off the tip of the North West Cape is tranquil. Warm tropical waters teeming with marine life surround the uninbabited islands. In waters of depths 3-20m just off the shoreline there are coral Muirons that provide an unforgettable experience. Mating turtles are a common site during the season form Nov - Feb. Giant potato cod are best seen here during the spring and summer months.
There are a number of excellent dive sites in the Lighthouse Bay area, including Blizzard Reef, The Labyrinth and Helga's Tunnels. Depths at both Blizzard and Labyrinth range from 12-18m while Helga's has a maximum depth of 30m. There are pristine coral formations and an array of beautiful tropical fish along with reef sharks and schools of pelagic fish. Turtles are seen almost daily on the 'Lighthouse Bay' sites.
Diving off the West Side of Exmouth Cape offers a fantastic range of sites covered in large and small creatures on reef structures that are quite different to the sites farther north. West Side diving usually ranges from just north of the Tantabiddi boat ramp south to the Mandu Wall area. Huge potato & rankin cod, turtles, sharks and schooling pelagics patrol the blue waters while parrotfish, damsels, butterfly & angelfish of all colours decorate the outstanding hard coral reef structures. Ledges, small caves and plentiful hidey holes provide housing for moray eels, shrimps, pipefish and many other animals. Manta rays cruise this area from mid May and Humpback Whales start shwing up in late May/early June. Special tours are offered to see these creatures and may add the opportunity to do a dive or a snorkel on the reef, too! Combine diving on the West Side with the closer dive(ussally termed "local reef" by operators) to truly get a feel for the incredible diversity Exmouth can offer. Dive site range from 6m - 30m with many sites being suitable for all level of divers; this area is only accessible during certain months of the year(Mar - Aug).
