Our drive from Carnarvon to Coral Bay found us stopping at a couple of very interesting places. For instance our crossing into the ‘Tropic of Capricorn’. The day was a hot one at 40 deg while we entered the tropics. The ever changing landscape is barren, dry and the earth is red looks sandy and reaches all the way to the coast.
In this part of the country it seems as if the goats rule. Yes we saw so many goats within close proximity to the highway and along with a few cattle and sheep were the only ones enjoying the heat and sparse ground covering. Further along we found the start of many kilometres of some amazingly large termite formations; they are at least a couple of metres high and almost the same across their girth.
Coral Bay is a very relaxed seaside settlement that is situated just north of the Tropic of Capricorn and is the southern gateway to Ningaloo Marine Park. The reef at Coral Bay forms a natural lagoon and the water is crystal clear. From the moment we arrived we felt the ‘holiday energy’ of the area. This place is purely set up for having fun and relaxing.
You can walk out through knee deep crystal clear water for quite away before it starts getting a little deeper. The experience is awesome. As we walked out into the deeper water we saw some beautiful looking fish, at least 50cm, which swam right up to us. They kept us entertained for quite some time. The beach area is an absolute paradise if you love diving or snorkelling, stand up paddle boarding or just wading through the clear water and it was fabulous to watch how the kids loved being in this safe area.
The town has one street in and out and along here you will find Coral Bay Information Centre, Bill’s Tavern, a small shopping area with a bakery, supermarket, newsagent, boutique and a couple of the tour shops. Further along is another little supermarket and Fins take-away or Al-fresco dining and the the Ningaloo Resort which has a bar and restaurant.
There are two caravan parks in Coral Bay and we stayed at the Peoples Park. The park was heavily booked and we managed to score a site for two nights on part of the upper back level for $50 per night for the two of us on a sandy site with power but no water. There are some very nice beach front sites and you can expect to pay from $59 per couple. The amenities in our part of the park were average.There are a two BBQ areas and a camp kitchen which is way down the back of the park. So if you do need the facilities of a camp kitchen make sure you check out the parks map to book your site. Don’t expect Wi-Fi, TV or radio reception but you can get Telstra mobile coverage so we had our own Wi-Fi service.
As Coral Bay is a settlement rather than a town there are a few additional limitations such as the availability of fresh water which is limited and it’s advisable to stock up with everything including filling your fresh water tanks prior to arrival. Although there are a few drinking water taps around the park water for the showers are bore water.
Below are a list of others places we have visited that may be of interest to you:
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- Alice Springs NT to Broken Hill NSW
- Broken Hill to Sawtell – NSW
- Crossing the Nullarbor
- Free Camps – Broken Hill to Cobar -NSW
- NSW – Free camps, Donation camps, Showgrounds and Caravan Parks 2019
- Northern Territory – Free camps, Donation camps and Caravan Parks 2018/2019
- Queensland Road Trip 2017/2018
- South Australia to Western Australia 2019
- South Australia trip 2017/2018
- Victoria 2017/2018
- Western Australia Coastal Trip 2018
- WA’s Got the Lot 2019
Cheers
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Happy Aussie Caravanning Lifestyle
Dixie and Graeme