Shark Bay and Monkey Mia

Shark Bay is a shallow, salty double bay on the mid-west coast of Western Australia, listed as World Heritage for a rare combination of features rather than one headline sight. At Hamelin Pool the water is roughly twice as salty as open ocean, and in it grow stromatolites, rock-like mounds built by microbial mats that resemble some of the oldest known life forms. Shell Beach is made not of sand but of countless small white cockle shells packed metres deep. The bay holds vast seagrass meadows that support dugongs, turtles and sharks. At Monkey Mia, wild bottlenose dolphins come into knee-deep water most mornings, and rangers control the feeding so the animals keep hunting for themselves.

What you actually see

• Hamelin Pool - the stromatolite mounds in hypersaline water, viewed from a boardwalk.
• Shell Beach - a shoreline built from small white cockle shells rather than sand.
• Monkey Mia - the morning dolphin visits, managed and limited by rangers.
• Francois Peron National Park - red cliffs meeting white sand and turquoise water at Cape Peron.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable half of the year, with mild days and less wind than midsummer. Dolphin visits happen in the early morning, so plan to stay the night rather than drive in and out. Winter brings the best water clarity for spotting dugongs and turtles from a boat.

Honest expectations

The distances are the hardest part: it is a very long drive from Perth for a landscape that is flat, low and repetitive between the highlights. Monkey Mia is busy and structured, with a crowd on the beach and no guarantee the dolphins turn up. Francois Peron beyond the homestead needs a four-wheel drive with lowered tyre pressures.

Nearby

Kalbarri National Park lies to the south and the Coral Coast runs north towards Carnarvon and Exmouth.