Perth to Broome: The West Coast Road Trip

While everyone else is fighting for a parking spot at Byron, you could be swimming alongside a whale shark with not another soul in sight. The Perth-to-Broome run is the road trip that most backpackers skip — and that's exactly why you shouldn't. It's roughly 2,400km of red dirt, turquoise water and roadhouse meat pies, and it'll spit you out the other end a different person.

This is a big, remote drive. Budget at least 10 days, ideally two weeks, and treat your vehicle and your water supply like they matter. Out here, they do.

Getting wheels under you

You can't do this trip properly on public transport — it's a self-drive or nothing. A campervan is the obvious move because accommodation thins out fast once you leave Perth, and free or cheap camping is everywhere.

• For a kitted-out van with a fridge and a bed, Travellers Autobarn has long-term backpacker rates that work out cheaper the longer you keep the van.
• If you want something cheap and cheerful for a one-way Perth-to-Broome leg, check JUCY Rentals — just watch for one-way relocation fees, which can actually swing in your favour during repositioning season.

A word of warning: one-way drop-offs in Broome cost more than returning to Perth. If your budget is tight, consider driving back down — you'll see everything from the other side and skip the surcharge.

Fuel is your biggest variable cost. Expect to pay 15–30c per litre more at remote roadhouses than in Perth, and fill up whenever you're below half a tank north of Carnarvon.

The stops that matter

Pinnacles Desert (2 hrs north of Perth)

An easy first day. The Pinnacles are thousands of limestone spires poking out of yellow sand in Nambung National Park. Go at sunset, pay the park fee (around $17 per vehicle), and you've got your trip's first jaw-drop only 200km in.

Kalbarri (about 580km from Perth)

A proper backpacker town with coastal gorges, the Insta-famous Kalbarri Skywalk hanging over the Murchison River, and Nature's Window framing the gorge perfectly. The cliffs along the coast at sunset are reason enough to stay two nights.

Shark Bay & Monkey Mia (300km north of Kalbarri)

A UNESCO World Heritage area. Watch wild dolphins come into the shallows at Monkey Mia in the morning, then drive out to Shell Beach — a beach made entirely of tiny white shells, not sand. Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool are basically living fossils, three billion years in the making.

Ningaloo & Exmouth — the main event

This is why you came. Around 1,260km north of Perth, Ningaloo Reef is a fringing reef you can swim out to straight off the beach — no expensive boat needed at Turquoise Bay, where you just walk in and drift-snorkel over coral.

But the headline act is the whale sharks. From roughly March to August, the world's biggest fish cruise these waters, and you can join a tour to swim alongside them.

• Whale shark swim tours run around $400–$450 for a full day, including gear, lunch and a spotter plane.
• Humpback whale swims run later in the season (around August to October).

Book whale shark and reef tours in advance through GetYourGuide — peak season fills out and Exmouth is too remote to wing it.

Karijini National Park (inland detour)

If you've got the time, swing inland to Karijini. Iron-red gorges, freshwater swimming holes and waterfalls in the middle of the Pilbara desert — it's surreal. The drive in is long and some roads are unsealed, so check conditions and your tyre situation first. Fern Pool and Fortescue Falls are the easy wins; Hancock Gorge is the adventurous one.

Broome — the finish line

Cable Beach: 22km of white sand, camel trains at sunset, and the Indian Ocean glowing orange. Broome is your reward — a laid-back pearling town with great markets, the famous Sun Pictures outdoor cinema, and if your timing's lucky (a few nights a month from March to October), the Staircase to the Moon optical illusion over the mudflats.

What it actually costs

Rough per-person budget for two people sharing a van over two weeks:

• Van hire: $50–$90 per day
• Fuel: $600–$900 total (split between you)
• Campsites: $0–$45 per night (mix free camps and powered sites)
• Whale shark tour: $400+
• Food and roadhouse stops: $30–$50 per day

All in, you're looking at roughly $2,000–$2,800 per person for the fortnight, depending on how much you splurge on tours.

Don't get caught out

• Distances are brutal. Towns can be 300km+ apart. Carry extra water (at least 10L per person), a spare tyre you know how to change, and snacks.
• Phone signal disappears. Download offline maps and tell someone your route.
• Wet season (Nov–Apr) brings heat, humidity and road closures up north. The dry season (May–Oct) is the sweet spot, though whale sharks start in March.
• Stingers and crocs: up around Broome, don't swim where you're not sure it's safe.

The verdict

The East Coast is a rite of passage, but the West Coast is the one you'll bore your mates about for years. Fewer crowds, bigger landscapes, and the kind of empty-highway freedom that's getting harder to find. Fill the tank, point north, and go.