Panorama of Charles Knife canyon, Exmouth

Is the Exmouth region the hidden secret ? Before coming here all I knew about the area was the Naval Communications Station that the US Navy used to signal their submarines using Very Low Frequency radio and that whale sharks came along the coast to feed enabling you to snorkel with them. When I spoke to people about that often they had never heard about it, but then Exmouth is on the opposite side of the country from most Australians. Indeed, I could n’t get any further from where I started !
I did n’t know about camping next to the beach in the National Park, or about the fantastic weather all year round. I only heard about Coral Bay, just back down the road, until I heard about it on the traveller’s telegraph at happy hour one evening. I certainly never knew it had spectacular canyons like the Charles Knife Canyon above, with the sea in front of me and just over the summit behind me.


If you ever need a physical example of “laidback” go to Coral Bay, south of Exmouth ….there are 2 caravan parks, a backpackers, and a resort, all full of people without a care in the world. Most activity involves the ocean or the beach, although “activity” may be an exaggeration ! Here you can also snorkel right off the beach into coral and colourful fish :

Or you can just wait for yet another sunset ….