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| These tips have been exclusivly compiled for you by Axel Passeck, owner and Manager of the Best Western Sea Breeze Resort, who has been living and working in the tourism industry at Ningaloo Reef for the last 10 years. |
Planning your trip
When planing your trip please make sure you understand the remoteness and distances. Our closest town is Carnarvon 365km to the south with only 6000 citizens! Coral Bay is 150km to the south with only 120 residents. Bus services do exist but arrive in Exmouth at night, sometimes you have to wait unprotected in "shelters" in the middle of nowhere for the next bus transfer into Exmouth! Learmonth is our main airport and 35km South of town! You will either need your car to be at the airport or require a shuttle! Best Western Sea Breeze Resort offers this service for free! If you decide to pick up your car at the airport, think about the logistics and cost behind it! As there are no refueling and cleaning facilities at the airport, cars need to be driven into town, serviced and driven back to the airport just for people to drive back in a long convoy into town! Additional charges apply and quickly add up to the equivalent of your first day of car rental. This doesn't make sense to us, we are happy to provide a free shuttle service, saving you money and saving the environment.
When driving to Exmouth yourself, please plan carefully as the distances between petrol station are huge and opening hours are limited! Please NEVER drive late or in the dark from the highway to Exmouth. The road is scattered with wildlife, from goats, sheep, roos to cattle! This turns into one of the most dangerous roads I have been on and I have had a lot of close calls in my big 4WD. So take your time and please drive and plan carefully!
Seasonality
Ningaloo has 2 different areas where seasonality comes into it:
[1] WILDLIFE SEASONS
Whale Sharks are the big thing in Exmouth and our season starts on the 1st April ( officially) with the Whale Shark None Sighting Policy! It lasts till the end of the July School Holidays and then the operators will come back into town! Giant Manta's are around all year, but they are gathering from May to November in large numbers. In August 2000 we reported the largest group ever seen with over 220 individual Mantas! Humpback Whales appear usually mid June and then hang around the Exmouth Gulf til the end of November in the thousands! From Mid July to Mid August Ningaloo turns on the BIG3, all three major plankton feeders can be seen in one day! No other place in the world offers this! Later in October the sea turtles begin to lay their eggs! What an amazing experience to see this and then 6-8 weeks later they hatch!
[2] TOURISM SEASONS
It all begins with Easter / April School Holidays, which ever is first! April School Holidays are generally booked well in advanced and prices are at their peak! It then really peaks with each School Holidays and larger event towards Christmas! Christmas and New Years Eve and into middle of January is the last peak period before it quietens down! This is really not understood by me and others, because this is the best time of the year! Yes, it gets hot for a few hours in the day, but the nights are mild and it is bone dry! You are mainly inside, in the water or hanging in the pool during the peak temperatures of the day and then later in the afternoon everybody enjoys the mild temperatures and outdoors!
Best time to travel
This of course all depends on what it is you want to achieve/experience! The wildlife seasons are of course the main driver if you come for that specific reason. If you just want to get away from the rat race, then I believe January to April are the best months. It is quiet, stunningly beautiful and the best value for your money! Usually prices are rock bottom and you can snatch great bargains! Yet at lot of services, tours and restaurants are closed in summer. So please do not be disappointed, find out before hand, which services are available, which tours are operating and which restaurants are open! So when some bargains sound too good to be true, you may want to find out what the catch is! Sometimes there is none, but......! |
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