Ningaloo Reef
- UNESCO World Heritage
- UNESCO natural beauty
Interesting facts
- In December 2015 the short-nosed sea snake, feared extinct for 17 years, was rediscovered on Ningaloo Reef.
- Novelist Tim Winton donated his A$25,000 Western Australian Premier's Book Award prize in 2002 to the campaign against a resort planned at Mauds Landing.
- The name Ningaloo comes from the Wajarri language and is variously translated as "promontory", "deep water" or "high land jutting into the sea".
- The Baiyungu and Yinigudura peoples, part of the Yamatji, are the traditional owners of the Ningaloo coast.
- In 2006 marine scientists surveying deeper water beyond the reef discovered previously unknown sponge gardens.
- Loggerhead, green and hawksbill turtles all use Ningaloo's beaches as breeding grounds.
- The World Heritage area protects more than 700,000 hectares of reef, sea and arid cape, some 1,200 km north of Perth.
- The reef was first protected as Ningaloo Marine Park in 1987, more than two decades before its UNESCO listing.
- Marine heatwaves caused coral bleaching on the reef in 2011 and again in 2025.
- In 2023 the ABC released Ningaloo Nyinggulu, a three-part documentary series about the reef narrated by Tim Winton.
Why it is worth it
Ningaloo is a reef you can wade out to. Along the coast of Western Australia's North West Cape, the coral grows not far beyond the beach — in places less than 500 metres offshore — so that you can step off white sand into a lagoon and float straight over coral gardens. Running for about 260 km, it is Australia's largest fringing reef, and its meeting of arid cape, rugged ranges and a vivid turquoise lagoon makes it one of the most striking coastlines on the continent.
The reef is famous above all for its big visitors. From around March to August, whale sharks — the largest fish in the sea — gather along the outer reef, and Ningaloo is one of the most reliable places on earth to swim beside them. In winter the same waters become a migration route for humpback whales, manta rays, dolphins and dugongs. Within the reef itself live some 500 species of fish, around 300 of coral and some 600 of molluscs.
On the cape side, Cape Range National Park runs down to the shore. At Turquoise Bay, inside the park, a natural current carries snorkellers along the reef in a gentle drift from one end of the beach to the other — easy to enjoy, though the current can be strong and needs care. Further south, the small settlement of Coral Bay sits right on the lagoon, with coral within a few strokes of the beach.
The Ningaloo Coast, including the reef, the Cape Range park and the land around it, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.
Getting there
The nearest town is Exmouth, on the tip of the cape; the closest larger town, Karratha, is about 400 km away, so Exmouth is the practical base. Learmonth Airport (LEA), about 33 km from Exmouth, has flights from Perth of about two hours. Turquoise Bay is roughly a 40-minute drive from Exmouth through Cape Range National Park; Coral Bay lies about 150 km south of Exmouth by road. Whale shark and manta swims are run as boat trips from both places.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The 705,015-hectare (1,742,130-acre) heritage-listed area is located approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that fringes the Ningaloo Coast is 260 kilometres (160 mi) long and is Australia's largest fringing coral reef and the only large reef positioned very close to a landmass. The Muiron Islands and Cape Farquhar are within this coastal zone.
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