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If these beaches aren’t on your bucket list, then they should be.

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Looking for the best beaches in Australia? Look no further. These are some of the best beaches in Australia, and they’ve all made the cut in the new travel book Australia’s Top 100 Places to Go – The Ultimate Bucket List by Jen Adams and Clint Bizzell from Network Ten’s Places We Go.

Bondi Beach, Sydney, New South Wales

One of the most famous beaches in the world, Bondi Beach is the grande dame of Sydney beaches. Everyone from politicians to backpackers parade up and down this perfectly curved expanse of sand, which is protected by headlands on either side and has water that just invites you to throw yourself in (although try not to end up on an episode of Bondi Rescue).

Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay, New South Wales

Move over Whitehaven Beach, Hyams Beach takes the crown for having the most blindingly white sand in the country. And stretching in front of the beach is an expanse of turquoise water, which an array of dolphins and other marine animals call home – they might even come up and welcome you.

Squeaky Beach, Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria

You could pick any of the beaches in Wilsons Promontory National Park and label it one of the best in Australia. But Squeaky Beach, reached by an hour-long trek, with its literally squeaky sand, will take your breath away.

Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia

The sunset from Cable Beach, as the sun dips spectacularly into the Indian Ocean and turns the water into a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges and pinks, is one of the best you’ll see from a beach.

Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia

Eighty Mile Beach, really 225 kilometres long, is where the Great Sandy Desert meets the Indian Ocean, and it’s just as spectacular as that sounds. The turquoise water joins up with the big blue sky and for those who love the coast, it’s almost a spiritual experience.

Seventeen Seventy, Queensland

The town of Seventeen Seventy in Queensland is said to be one of the only places in Australia where you can watch the sun rise and set over the ocean. This underdeveloped town remains a beach paradise for those who just want to laze about on the water and not do much else.

The Whitsundays, Queensland

You can’t mention the best beaches in Australia and not mention the Whitsundays. This surprisingly mountainous chain of islands is home to white beaches, turquoise water and incredible snorkelling just offshore.

Bay of Fires, Tasmania

In a country full of pristine coastline, the Bay of Fires in north-east Tasmania stands out for its unique combination of white sand, turquoise water and red-lichen splashed boulders. Each beach is a postcard-perfect moment waiting to happen.

To find more bucket list–worthy attractions, check out Australia’s Top 100 Places to Go – The Ultimate Bucket List.

 

 

     

We swam with whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef (and lived to tell the tale)

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Whale shark at Ningaloo Reef, Tourism Western Australia

Whale shark at Ningaloo Reef, Tourism Western Australia

One of our Explorers, Lauren, went swimming with whale sharks over Easter. And yup, she found out that they are definitely sharks. But also that they probably won’t eat you.

‘Group 2, get on the marlin board! Quickly, quickly.’

Shoving on my flippers and snorkel, I flapped my way down the stairs to the edge of the boat. In front of us, the water of Ningaloo Reef was a sparkling blue, like the deep blue of Elizabeth Taylor’s famous sapphires. Unfortunately, unlike a sapphire, the water was not smoothly cut but choppy and getting worse by the second. In the distance, the dry brown hills of Cape Range National Park lined the shore. The heads of Group 1 were bobbing around in the ocean around 50 metres from the boat, unmoored by anything except their fascination with something underneath the surface that we couldn’t see. But I was pretty sure they were all looking at what we’d all come to Ningaloo Reef to see – a whale shark.

‘Okay, go!’

The other people on the board started leaping in the ocean. I stuck out my right foot, flipper first, and stepped off the boat.

The water was cold and tingly. A slightly panicked gasp from one of my fellow group members made me look up – ‘There are jellyfish!’ she said. That explained the tingling. But as the stings seemingly weren’t deadly, I focused my attention on looking down, trying to spot movement in the water.

Our group leader gestured for us to swim away from the boat and to stay close together. There’s nothing like being smacked by multiple flippers to encourage movement, so we all kicked our way slowly through the water, swimming towards Group 1 with our heads in the water, glancing from side-to-side to see whether we could spot anything moving in the water. At that moment the water was calm, but in the distance I saw a wave in the water. Was there something emerging from the clear blue of the reef water?

There was something, something big. It was a similar colour to the surrounding ocean, but slightly darker. As we swam closer, I could see that it was a huge head, its mouth double – triple! – my width, with white spots polka-dotting over its head and all the way down its back. It was a whale shark.

I’d travelled quite a way to see this whale shark. After flying into Perth from Melbourne, my travel buddy and I had rented a campervan (if you can call a converted Toyota Tarago a campervan) and raced – within the speed limit, of course – up the coast to Exmouth. We’d almost booked a tour with a company in Coral Bay, but decided to go further north at the last minute. It was a good call. Exmouth is an enchanting town, the final outpost of this surprisingly fertile stretch of desert, and is the gateway to both Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range National Park.

We’d been lucky to get a spot on a whale shark tour in Exmouth. When we’d enquired two weeks earlier there had been only two spots left across the whole Easter week, and we’d only gotten lucky because Ningaloo Whaleshark n Dive had two boats going out.

We found ourselves on one of those boats, the Aliikai (which apparently means Queen of the Ocean in Hawaiian), the day after arriving in Exmouth. The crew all swore, hand-over-heart, that the Aliikai was the best whale shark boat on the reef and after spending the day with them, I’m a believer – especially after eating the lunch they provided (you really want to get their lunch).

But as we bobbed around in the ocean, food was the last thing on our minds. Although I’m sure some of us were worried that we might become food.

We’d been told to stay three metres from the whale shark at all times (for their safety and ours), and as the huge head moved towards us, I scrambled to get out of its way, bashing into the other members of Group 2 in my haste. We were desperate not to startle the whale shark, as our crew had warned us that any sudden movements could lead to the shark diving away from us. As it came closer, we could see the full scale of this so-called gentle giant – this one was around five metres long. As it swam past, with other fish clinging to its fins, I forgot to breathe into the scuba mask, awed at the grace and power of this animal. The whale shark is, quite frankly, the supermodel of the shark kingdom, although slightly larger in scale than a human supermodel. It doesn’t really look like more familiar images of sharks with their pointy noses and sinister rows of teeth; a whale shark’s mouth is wider and gracefully curves into a body that is bigger than any other variety of shark. Flapping my flippers with my enthusiasm than skill, I tried to keep up with the shark, but soon fell back. In my defence, its fins were much bigger than my flippers.

Sticking my head above the water, I breathed in with a gurgle, sure that it was the end of the encounter. But everyone else still had their heads in the water – I stuck mine back down to see that the whale shark had doubled back, and was swimming past us again. It was briefly silhouetted against the hull of the boat, and was almost the same size as the boat.

Jeannette, our German photographer, had told us that these whale sharks are teen males and the whale shark swinging around was reminiscent of nothing so much as a teen boy circling a group of girls on his bicycle. The whale shark was no less impressive on the second time around.

‘Everyone, out!’ We swam back towards the boat, heads still down, hoping to catch a final glimpse of the whale shark. There are strict guidelines around interactions with whale sharks to protect them and us – only ten people are allowed around the creatures at one time. Whale shark tour boats work together to make sure everyone gets adequate time with the sharks, and our time was up for now.

We swam with our first shark three more times before moving on. Apparently he was a particularly curious and friendly guy – normally whale sharks are more bashful, so our crew wanted to give some other groups time with this rare creature.

The whale shark companies have spotter planes to find these gentle giants in the water, and another one had been spotted further west. Our second whale shark was more typically bashful. Group 1 jumped in the water, but by the time we (Group 2) jumped in, Bashful had dived down to 10 metres and we could no longer see him.

Luckily, the spotter plane had seen another whale shark a short distance away, and we spent some time swimming with this one, who was a happy compromise between Curious and Bashful.

As we were relaxing on deck after our third whale shark encounter, one of the crew members came racing down the stairs. Some manta rays had been spotted further out to ocean, so we dropped everything and sped off.

When we got there, two boats were rocking around the windy patch of ocean. There were around 40 people already in the water, moving in a pattern around what must have been the manta rays.

Before we jumped into the ocean, one of our crew members gave us an overview. Manta rays are extremely jumpy and will dive away at the first hint of too many bubbles in the water. So don’t breathe OR swim too vigorously. But no worries – it was a stingray that had killed Steve Irwin. Manta rays are more closely related to sharks, so there was nothing to concern ourselves about. We were given the cue to all jump in – no groups this time. Even the skipper was going in.

Swimming over to where the majority of people were hanging out, we looked through the water. And there was one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen – two huge manta rays, doing a synchronised swimming routine through the water. These manta rays were each around 3 to 4 metres across, and were circling around, tail to face, in incredible patterns. And contrary to the warnings of our crew member, these manta rays were swimming right at us – simultaneously the most terrifying and thrilling moment of my life. You know who will come out on top in a collision between a manta ray and a human (hint: it won’t be you). It’s an experience that’s so hard to describe. You’re trying to get out of the way of these giant creatures without smashing into everyone around you, trying to remember to breathe properly, all without taking your eyes off the manta rays. Braver people than me were free diving to get underneath the creatures, holding their breath longer than seemed possible.

After around 20 minutes I was manta ray-ed out. I felt (manta) ray-diant, but it was time to get out of the water. Swimming back to the boat, I felt almost relieved. It had been incredible, but my adrenalin levels couldn’t handle any more excitement. Around a metre from the boat, I felt a presence nearby. Looking around, there wasn’t a human within 20 metres. But the ocean below me wasn’t the blue I’d come to expect – I glanced down to see the steel grey of the manta ray stretched up mere centimetres from my legs. Gurgling screaming through my mask, I watched as the manta ray looked up at me (did the cheeky devil wink?) and leisurely glided away.

At the end of the day, our crew told us we’d had one of the best days ever, and that it would have only been complete if we’d seen a tiger shark as well. Somehow I didn’t feel like we’d missed out too much.

 

 

     

The Explore Australia team’s travel bucket list

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Whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, Tourism Western Australia

Whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, Tourism Western Australia

Have you always wanted to swim with the whale sharks, or see the sun set over Uluru? Or are you more interested in rattling up the hills of Flinders Ranges in a 4WD or tobogganing down the sand hills of Wentworth?

We want to celebrate the top places to explore in Australia, so we’re putting together an Australian travel bucket list with our partners at Places We Go. And your favourite places could make the list! Hop over to Places We Go to enter your top place to visit in Australia, and you’ll go into the running to win a 5-day trip to the Aussie destination of your choice.

Of course, the best (and the worst) thing about Australia is that it’s so big – there are so many spots that could make the bucket list. So to spark your travel imaginations, we here at Explore Australia have come up with our staff bucket list.

Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

You might not be able to see it from space, but Ningaloo Reef has just as many things to entice visitors as the Great Barrier Reef – and one more. Ningaloo Reef is one of the places in the world you can swim with whale sharks. Don’t let the name confuse you. Whale sharks aren’t whales, but sharks. Luckily, they don’t eat people, just plankton and other varieties of small fish.

Unlike the Great Barrier Reef, the Ningaloo Reef is quite close to the coast. Tour operators will take you out to the reef, and when the sharks swim by, they’ll give you the cue to jump in. There are likely to be other fish species milling around, as well as the occasional other type of shark.

Of course, there’s more to Ningaloo Reef than swimming with whale sharks. But you’ll just have to go and find out for yourself.

Kangaroo Island, South Australia

You might think this island got its name by only being a hop away from the mainland. While Kangaroo Island is very accessible, at only a short ferry ride from the coast of South Australia, the island was named by Matthew Flinders (who named much of the coast) after its numerous kangaroos.

The island is wild by nature and also by history, as it was first colonised by escaped convicts and deserters. In a nation populated by wild characters, this island had some of the worst. Luckily, that’s no longer the case and Kangaroo Island is today a delightful holiday destination.

Uluru, Northern Territory

Yes, it is an obvious inclusion on the list, but for good reason! This monolith rises out of the plains of central Australia and has a presence that has to be felt to be believed. Around a 5-hour drive from Alice Springs, it’s worth camping overnight to see the sunrise and sunset over Uluru. If you’re lucky, you’ll be treated to a spectacular natural light show playing off the rock.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland

Cape Tribulation, so named by a frustrated Captain Cook, forms the coastal section of Daintree National Park. At 110km north of Cairns, Cape Trib is well and truly claimed by the north of Australia. Part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, the area has rivers and creeks, ancient species of animals and mountains covered with dense lowland rainforest that wouldn’t look out of place in an Indiana Jones movie.

The first Indiana Jones aspect of Cape Tribulation is that you need to cross a river to access it – although Indy might have preferred swinging across the river on a vine. Once you cross the river and wind your way through the rainforest, you’ll arrive at sandy beaches with incredible ocean views. It might not be the sort of treasure that Indy normally looks for, but it sure ain’t bad.

Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory

Don’t listen when people question whether you should Kaka-du or Kaka-don’t. You definitely should. The biggest national park in Australia, Kakadu has enough to please everyone in the family, whether you’re after towering waterfalls, ancient rock art, deadly animals, peaceful wetlands or secret swimming holes.

Great Barrier Reef, Queensland

While the Great Barrier Reef is so big you can see it from space, the delight is in the detail of the tropically coloured fish and coral. With big arguments raging over the environmental future of the reef, the time to see the reef is now.

Bungle Bungles, Western Australia

While tiger-striped rock cones might not be what you’d expect to see in what’s basically the middle of Australia, that’s part of what makes the Bungle Bungles so spectacular, and worthy of a place on everyone’s bucket lists.

Part of the World Heritage–listed Purnululu National Park, the park is on the border with the Northern Territory. Walk through the ancient rock formations to find hidden gorges, or go on a plane trip to appreciate the scale of the Bungle Bungles from above.

New Norcia, Western Australia

Western Australia has more than its fair share of strange sights, from the Bungle Bungles to Wave Rock. But potentially the strangest thing in the state is finding a Spanish town in the middle of the dry and dusty countryside. New Norcia is Australia’s only monastic town, and was built by Benedictine monks in the mid-nineteenth century.

Lake Eyre, South Australia

Most days in the life of Lake Eyre are the same: dry and salty. The lake is at Australia’s lowest point, and is an intimidating expanse of salt lakes. But on the rare occasion the lake floods, it bursts into life and birds flock to the life-giving water. While we’d prefer to see the lake in its gentler wet season, the dry expanses are just as worth a look.

Enter your bucket list suggestions here.