Beachbumz

Hi guys
i know we always get good advice from you so here goes....

we want to take our kids (well adults.. !) up to Coral bay or Ningaloo for 3-5 days while they are here on holiday.

Is it better to fly, or drive and stop on the way ?
can anyone recommend accommodation in Coral bay/Ningaloo?
is it better to stay in Coral Bay/Exmouth/Ningaloo area?
how do we transfer from airport to Coral Bay (cheaply)?
and as we are novices is snorkelling better from Coral or Ningaloo?

any advice greatly appreciated....

cheers

sassenach

i have been to both places and i believe coral bay is a better proposition with children and great for snorkling ,i personally would drive but you would be looking at a 14 hr to drive to coral bay and i would take camping equipment .
Flying could be a problem if going to coral bay as the airport i think is at learmouth [i think that right ]and that is closer to exmouth ,i dont believe exmouth is as nice as coral bay but that is my personal opinion and i also believe it is better to take some transport up there ,for exploring .I love coral bay to be honest but you will find it very very busy at school holidays and all campp sites and accomodation need to be booked in advance ,maybe shark bay would be a better its closer and has a bit more accomodation to offer .Also it is coming into cyclone season up exmouth way now and the humidity will be creeping up a lot and if a cyclone should dump a lot of rain the floodways from carnarvon up tend to cut the roads off and you could be stuck for a week .

denver

I would drive, though it is a long journey. The scenery is a bit unispiring, unless you like desert landscapes! Kalbarri is a great place to stay for a few days as a stopover. it is a small fishing type town with a friendly/ family feel to it. coral Bay is fantastic for snorkelling, but quite basic in accommodations, no shops or anything, but IMO that is a good thing.

Pomster

we went 2 years ago and stayed at both Coral Bay and Exmouth.

Driving is dull, dull, dull. Even the drive from learmonth airport to Coral bay was painful and that was only an hour- it is very flat scenery apart from the termite mounds!

The friends we went with, repeated the trip recently and drove from Perth. It took them 3 days to get there- they said frequent breaks were essential due to the hypnotic effect of the road.

Coral Bay is better location to explore the reef, as you can walk from the 'resort' to the water easily. Coral Bay is (or was as they are developing it) a single resort with more or less one owner with a variety of camping/cabin accom. Nothing posh but unfortunately pretty expensive for cabins. However the area is so amazing that it is well worth the money.

We hired a car from Learmonth airport and drove to CB- gave us lots of flexibility.

Have a fab time- it is (in my opinion) so much better than Great Barrier Reef.

Jacqui

We stayed at Coral Bay (located at bottom end of Ningaloo Reef) just recently. Click on the link below for our experience of the place and journey:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...73#post4042573