Winderabandi Point and Coral Bay

Roadtrip to Exmouth, Winderabandi Point & Kalbarri – Part III

As sad as I am to leave Exmouth, I’m also really looking forward to our next destination: Winderabandi Point. At about an hour from Exmouth, and 14 km behind a turnoff to Bullara Station, a non-signposted dirt road called Ningaloo Road takes 4WD vehicles to Ningaloo Station. It’s 32 km through a bleak termite-mount-flaked landscape. After over an hour of rough, bumpy and corrugated track, we’re beyond relieved to finally see some dunes, indicating that we must be close to the turn off to Winderabandi Point. After the station, the track turns into a smoother sand road. Another 18 km north and we finally get to our destination.

Winderabandi Point

Campsite number 10 is right at the beach. The sun has already set when we get there, and we set up the tent as quick as possible. Our “next-site” neighbours are Ed from Australia and Niamh. He works in the mines on a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off roster and uses the two weeks off to travel in his handy camping trailer. Liam and I enviously inspect the 4WD trailer, which includes all the necessities for easy set up and break down as well as cooking and kitchen facilities and a proper bed. We love our tent but during a windy night like this, it’s not the cosiest way to sleep. Beach camping always means you’re more exposed to the elements, and it’s no different here. Our tent is blown and bent to the point where the walls of the tent squish into my face at night. The tent fabric is flapping in the wind, creating a lot of noise on top of the face cloth. I’d lie if I said we had the best night sleep, and I’m cranky in the morning when it’s cool and the wind hasn’t calmed one bit. Liam jokes that it must be called Winderabandi for a reason but I’m not in the mood for laughing as I’m holding the casing of the gas cooker in front of the kettle to shield the slowly heating water from the wind.

Things really take a turn for the better when Liam parks the car sideways to the wind direction and pulls out the awning with the direction of the wind. With that extra shelter from the cool breeze, it’s actually quite warm and I can stretch out on the reclining camp chairs to read and write my notes for this trip. By late morning, the wind eases down substantially and after a quick morning snorkel where I spot many white fish floating nearby the shore, we take the boat out for a spin around the bay.

The bay itself is a sanctuary so fishing isn’t allowed off the boat – only on shore – unless you’re passed the sanctuary borders. We only enjoy the bountiful ocean life around us, a turtle sticking out its head to check who is making all this noise, a seal dropping by and a dolphin gently bopping by. Closer to shore, I slide off the front of the boat to go for a snorkel back to shore, where Liam picks me up again. I don’t have much luck seeing animals but the underwater plants and the white sands make for sufficient enjoyment anyway.

The tide is going out when we head over to the south end of the bay to exit the sanctuary for fishing. The coral is now really close to the water surface, so we decide we won’t risk going any further and actually destroying the coral. On the way back to shore, we see another turtle and a massive, black-dotted stingray at least 1.5 metres wide. We follow him around a little, admiring this beautiful creature.

Knowing that this is out last night camping already, which we acknowledge with one eye laughing and one eye crying, we go all in with the dinner tonight: A starter platter with cheese, prosciutto and olives and some red wine is followed by steaks and vegetables cooked on the hot place as well as sweet potatoe wrapped in tin foil on the fire. Ed and Niamh come over for a beer around our campfire and now it’s their turn to admire our five star campsite dinner. As every night, we end up counting shooting stars before we turn in early with thankfully, a little less wind.

The next morning we have to make another choice of track, this time to Coral Bay. We can either go back the way we came in, via that horrible bouncy, corrugated track to the tarmac and then turn right to Coral Bay, or we take another sand road (which looked like it was in a better condition) all the way to Coral Bay. Since the campground host had told us the sand road is in better condition than the corrugated road in, and after not doing Yardie Creek (which Ed did and said the creek had no water at all), we decide that this time we would do the “road less taken” – the sand track. The 53 km dirt track to Coral Bay follows the coastline and offers many side roads overlooking beautiful bays.

Although it takes us 2.5 hours from Winderabandi to Coral Bay, we’re over the moon with our choice. Not only is this track much nicer to drive; it’s also a lot more scenic. We also stumble over another campsite – Bruboodjoo Camp– nestled against the dunes and featuring its own little bay. Tinnies (little aluminium boats) are bopping along, anchored in the waves, and we’re a bit sad that we can’t just stay a night here. But we decide to push further to Coral Bay and on to Kalbarri as planned.

Coral Bay

I had been to Exmouth and Turquoise Bay but never to Coral Bay. Whilst Winderabandi was totally remote and serene, Coral Bay is pretty much the opposite: It’s as bustling as can be since school holidays are only just over but it’s still main holiday season here. The tiny resort town seems to be bursting at the seams.

I was wrong to think that snorkling can’t get better than in Turquoise Bay – but Coral Bay is just as beautiful, if not better. Just like in Turquoise Bay, we can just drop our stuff, jump in and after a few strokes, we are in midst of the most beautiful coral, fishes of all sizes and colours in beautifully clear waters.

Our plan was to get there by 12 and stay until 1 pm so we can make our way to Kalbarri (7 hours from Coral Bay). By the time we got there it was already 1:30, but we sacrificed getting away early for snorkling. And what a choice. I staid again in the water until I was shaking with cold, and even so I was sad to leave the colourful and bright life under the sea behind. At 2:30 pm, we strengthened ourselves at the Coral Bay Bakery with jam doughnuts and apple pies before finally embarking on our 7-hour drive to Kalbarri.