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Coral Coast

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Coral Coast starts at Coral Bay and continues along the coast until the small town of Onslow. The area offers a strong sense of eco-tourism with spectacular landscape and fabulous coral reefs.

Coral Bay is a small coastal resort offering wonderful sandy beaches suitable for swimming. It is situated at the start of the Ningaloo Marine Park which continues north along the North West Cape. Ningaloo means 'Point of Land', and the reef does surround the point of land that is the North West Cape.

The Ningaloo Marine Park offers over 220 different species of coral and is the Great Barrier Reef of Western Australia. It is also home to the huge Whale Shark (which isn't dangerous, they eat plankton and little fish). The Whale Sharks can be seen from March to June, which is the time when the coral is spawning, and can best be observed from one of the many Whale Shark cruises out to the Ningaloo Reef. Other sea creatures which you are likely to see include Humpback Whales (during their migration in June/July and October/November), Manta Rays (from July - November), and Turtles (from November - January).

Near the tip of the cape is Exmouth which is a great place from which to join one of the fabulous eco-tourism tours around the North West Cape. Nearby is the Cape Range National Park, which stretches along the west coastline of the North West Cape. There are some fantastic beaches within the park as well as some stunning gorges including Charles Knife Gorge, Shothole Gorge and Yardie Creek Gorge. There is an interesting boat trip along the Yardie Gorge which is very pleasant. There are also a number of camping areas within the Cape Range National Park, with the main sites being at Lakeside, Osprey Bay and Ned's Camp and Mesa.

Further north along the coast you will reach Onslow which was the base for Nuclear testing on the Montebello Islands, and was also bombed during World War II leaving behind the remains of Old Onslow just south of the current town.

You can get to the Coral Coast on flights from Skywest, which land at Learmonth, or by catching the Greyhound service which stops at Coral Bay and Exmouth.

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