The best photo stops between Perth and Exmouth

Like millions of roadtrippers before us, we decided to tackle the 1200km drive from Perth to Exmouth for the chance to swim with whale sharks during their autumn migration to Ningaloo Reef. Our expectations of the gentle giants were outrageously high, but when you’re the biggest fish in world – and by biggest we mean up to 18m – you don’t have to do much other than show up to elicit snorkel-muffled ‘wows’ from mere mortals like us. What we didn’t expect, however, were all the other ‘wows’ on the drive up there.

Not only is the Coral Coast home to some of the country’s weirdest sights, they’re also some of the most photogenic. So if you’ve got an itch in your feet and a camera in your pocket, this road trip’s for you.

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The Pinnacles Desert

First stop is Nambung National Park to see a landscape that would look more at home on Mars than two hours north of Perth. The ancient limestone pillars jutting out of the desert sand cover an area of nearly 17,500 hectares, and with some as high as 3.5m, they make for spectacular photography. Time your visit for an hour or so before sunset when the light is soft and shadows are long, or arrive after dark to gaze at the Milky Way. The park is open until 9pm, so with a new moon and a clear sky, it’s the perfect place to pop your Pixel 6 Pro on a tripod and put its astrophotography claims to the test.

Hutt Lagoon

We’re going to go against conventional photography wisdom for just a minute. When you’re visiting Hutt Lagoon, you’ll want high midday sun and a cloud-free day for the lolly-coloured water to show off its brightest pink shade. The unusual colour is the result of beta-carotene (think carrots!) which, in sunny conditions, is produced by algae that lives in the water. This means nature ultimately decides how bright the pink is at any given time, but the lagoon still looks pretty even when it’s pale. Park at one of the dedicated pull-ins along Port Gregory Road for photos on the shoreline, or splurge on a scenic flight for jaw-dropping birds’ eye views.

Nature’s Window

Atop the orange cliffs in Kalbarri National Park, this natural hole in the rock is the ideal place to take in views of the Murchison River and frame up your next family photo. Nature’s Window is only a short walk from parking, so you can enjoy the views and capture that iconic Kalbarri moment even when the weather’s hot. But if you’re lucky enough to visit on a cooler day, the experience only gets better when you continue on the Loop walk down the cliffs and beside the river. If you’ve got energy left over, the Z Bend hike is short but steep, with emerald green rock pools at the bottom.

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Shell Beach

Put your phone in macro mode to capture the billions of tiny white cockle shells that have replaced all the sand at the suitably named Shell Beach. With the sparkling, jewel-coloured water lapping at the shelly shoreline, you’ll be tap-happy both up close and from afar. Give yourself time to walk some of the 70km-long beach, and go for a swim in water so salty you’ll feel like you’re floating in the Dead Sea.

Stromatolites

Ummm, strom-what-a-lites? Put simply, these ‘living fossils’ are examples of the earliest life on Earth. Without microbial reefs like these pumping the oceans with oxygen 3 billion years ago, we wouldn’t be around today, so they’re a pretty big deal, evolutionally speaking. Hamelin Pool in the Shark Bay World Heritage area is one of only two sites in the world where you can see living stromatolites, and they’re easily accessed on a raised boardwalk that takes you out and over the limestone formations dotted in the clear blue shallows. Yes, they’re brown and blob-like. And yes, they’ve been described as a cross between a rock and a cauliflower. But just search Hamelin Pool on Instagram to see how photogenic a bunch of ancient cauliflower rocks can be.

Carnarvon’s Cactus Garden

Carnarvon is the heart of Western Australia’s food bowl, and “the Fruit Loop” drive along both banks of the Gascoyne River is where travellers can go to discover the growers, producers and subtropical flavours of the region. What travellers also discovered though, while munching on their chocolate-coated frozen bananas, was a cactus garden. Through the power of photo-sharing, one local guy’s succulent obsession soon became a little bit Insta-famous, and it’s not hard to see why. Some of the spiky specimens tower over posing tourists at 5m high.

Sunset over the ocean

West Australians have got one up on us east coasters when it comes to golden hour by the ocean. After all, sunset is infinitely easier to get out of bed for than sunrise. So when you’re driving up to Exmouth, don’t forget to point your peepers at the sun sinking into the ocean every night. If you’re travelling in a campervan, do yourself a favour and book a campsite (in advance) in Cape Range National Park. The park’s 2WD accessible campsites put you right beside some of the most pristine beaches on the Coral Coast. During the day, enjoy snorkelling the coral reef right off the beach, and cruising, paddling or bushwalking at Yardie Creek.

Plus, since we’ve recently switched on a tower in Learmonth, you can now enjoy more mobile coverage within Exmouth and Cape Range National Park.

Capture magic moments on your next Australian road trip. Whether you’re into landscape stills, long exposure, portraiture, video or lowlight shots, the  latest phones pair clever cameras and software smarts to give you exceptional travel photos without the fuss. And don’t forget to  pick a plan with enough data to go the distance.

Check out the latest phones to capture your travel moments like a pro.