The hook
Australia's vast, remote west, where a coral reef you can swim off the beach hosts the world's biggest fish, ancient life-forms still build living rocks in a turquoise bay, and a wilderness of beehive-striped domes and hidden gorges stretches beyond the horizon.
01Why it's worth it
Western Australia is enormous, empty, and full of natural wonders spread across huge distances. Its coastal jewel is Ningaloo Reef, a rare fringing reef you can wade into directly from shore to snorkel over coral and swim with turtles, manta rays, and, seasonally, the whale shark, the largest fish on Earth, one of the most reliable places in the world for that awe-inspiring encounter, along with migrating humpback whales. Down the coast, Shark Bay's Hamelin Pool holds living stromatolites, colonies of microbes that build rocky mounds, essentially living fossils representing some of the oldest and simplest life on the planet, alongside the wild dolphins of Monkey Mia and dazzling shell beaches. And far to the north lies the Kimberley, one of the last great wilderness frontiers: a rugged, ancient landscape of red gorges, waterfalls, remote coast, Aboriginal rock art among the oldest in the world, and the surreal orange-and-black beehive domes of the Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu. Distances are immense and much of it is accessible only in the dry season or by four-wheel drive and small plane. For raw, remote, wildlife-rich, and geologically astonishing nature, Australia's west is a frontier of wonders.
02How to experience it
Match your trip to the highlights: snorkel Ningaloo Reef (and swim with whale sharks Mar-Aug) from Exmouth or Coral Bay; see the stromatolites, dolphins, and beaches of Shark Bay; and, for the adventurous, explore the Kimberley and Purnululu's Bungle Bungles in the dry season by 4x4, cruise, or scenic flight. Distances are vast, so plan around one or two regions.