During our recent trip to Exmouth, we took a drive out to Turquoise Bay which is considered one of Western Australia’s most beautiful beaches. It certainly lives up to the name with beautiful clear water, and lovely soft sand.

The bay is located within the Cape Range National Park and is on the other side of the cape from Exmouth, about a 50 minute drive away as shown in the map below. To enter the park you will need a National Parks Pass, or pay for a day pass when you arrive (around $15 per vehicle).

As you leave Exmouth and head north you can see the old Harold E. Holt communications station in the distance. It is a really odd sight in the distance with the huge poles reaching up to the sky.

You then want to turn left at Yardie Creek Road, which we missed the first time. We kept heading north and reached Bundegi Beach. This does make for a nice stop with a cafe and some bathrooms.

Once we had turned around and made it into the National Park, there were lots of different beaches to choose from but we carried on straight to the star of the show. If you wanted to make a whole day of it you could stop along the various beaches to find your favourite spot.

The turn off for Turquoise Bay is very well sign-posted so you won’t miss it. You can park right up near the dunes and there are a public (drop) toilets too. Before you head onto the beach there are signposts to read that explain the sea life that can be found in the area, and provide warnings for anyone wanting to go snorkeling in the area.

Turquoise Bay is well known for drift snorkeling, where you enter the water and the currents are so strong they carry you right across the coral reefs. It is recommended that only experienced swimmers attempt this as it can be quite dangerous if the current takes you too far north.

As we don’t have that much experience snorkeling we decided to stay within the safety of the crystal clear bay. Similar to Coral Bay, you can see fish when you are only ankle-deep in the water. There is also a sand-bar that allows you to walk quite far out and look back onto the beach.

There were quite a few other groups of people at the Bay while we were there, but it is so spacious that you can soak in the beauty without being disturbed.

It does get quite hot and sunny during the day in Australia, and there is no shade on the beach. We used sunscreen and only stayed for about an hour, but if you wanted to stay longer make sure to bring an umbrella/shade sail and re-apply the sunscreen.

Where is your favourite beach?