The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, sitting off the Western Australia coast at Exmouth, is the world’s largest fringing coral reef at 260 kilometres in length. It’s filled with a staggering rollcall of sea life: roughly 738 species of reef fish, more than 1000 species of marine algae, some 600 species of crustaceans, and 655 species of mollusc. And then there are its most celebrated seasonal residents, the hulking yet graceful whale sharks, which congregate here from March to August each year to chow down on plankton. Growing anywhere up to 13 metres in length, the whale shark is not actually a whale but is, in fact, the world’s largest fish.

The allures of the Margaret River region, located in the south-west corner of Western Australia, are much celebrated, especially when it comes to food and wine (see #81). But the area is also home to one of the country’s most stunning coastal walks: the Cape to Cape.

Perth has been going through quite the transformation in the last year, from new five-star hotels to refurbished classics, here are eight hotspots in the City of Lights.

Jump on a ferry from Fremantle or Perth to explore this pristine island playground – while treading very lightly. Rottnest Island has long been Western Australia’s holiday destination of choice and, while you can still enjoy its timeless slow-paced, laid-back charm, in recent years the island has been busy becoming a super-sustainable destination.

Few people even know this remote archipelago of 122 islands, named the Houtman Abrolhos, exist.This is a special time for the islands, since 2019 marked 400 years since a Dutch merchant sailor came across the flat crusts of land en route to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. Captain Houtman spotted the archipelago 151 years before Captain James Cook arrived on the east coast of Australia.

Australia’s most remote luxury lodge experience is accessible only by air and lies 250 kilometres north-west of Kununurra on Western Australia’s out-of-this-world Kimberley Coast. Open early March to late October each year, the off-grid Berkeley River Lodge is strung like pearls along the coastal sand dunes, overlooking the Timor Sea and surrounded by wilderness. The 20 villas all boast large private decks with 180-degree views of the ocean and outback, and an open-air en suite with a freestanding bath that scores serious tub points.

On Western Australia’s Coral Coast, the seaside city of Geraldton is your anchor point for exploring a region also known as the Outback Coast. Geraldton itself is an increasingly trendy locale with a rich Indigenous history and the mantle of being the windsurfing capital of Australia – with plenty of river cruising, rock climbing, deep-sea fishing, abseiling, horse riding and bushwalking to entertain.

With the launch of a four-hour direct flight from Melbourne to Kununurra (aka the Kimberley Express) set to take place next May, the East Kimberley region will open up to east coast Australians in a whole new way. Travellers will be transported straight to the doorstep of some of the country’s most iconic outback destinations. Start planning now.

Acacias flower, raucous red-winged parrots breed and flocks of cockatoos feed on the bush onions during the dry Barrgana season on Western Australia’s Dampier Peninsula. Kangaroos are well-fed and fat, lizards hibernate underground and a sea mist moves inland on cool nights.

The seaside city of Geraldton on Western Australia’s Coral Coast supports a proud Indigenous culture and the Yamaji Drive Trail is testament to this. Looping together 14 sites of significance to local Aboriginal communities, the 195-kilometre trail takes in natural beauty, art and history and can be driven in one to two days at leisure, beginning at Champion Bay (Jambinu).

With more than 185 heritage-listed buildings, a characterful old train station that’s now a museum and the picturesque Avon River running right through it, Western Australia’s largest inland town, Northam, already had a lot to recommend a visit.

Victorians will soon be able to hop on a flight in the morning and be sampling the epicurean delights and sights of the Margaret River region by the afternoon. Jetstar’s new Melbourne to Busselton route is set to connect the country’s east coast straight to the heart of one of our best wine regions. Find your hitlist.

Large swathes of the outback’s red and golden sands are carpeted in colour come spring, when tens of thousands of Australian wildflowers burst into life. Western Australia, the epicentre of native flora, boasts some 12,000 species of wildflowers, 60 per cent of which are found nowhere else on Earth.