Exmouth Escape Resort

You get a resort built around space and easy evenings rather than a single room with barely enough floor for a suitcase. Exmouth Escape Resort suits divers travelling as a couple, with family, or simply with enough luggage to make a compact hotel room feel like a badly packed dive bag. The accommodation is arranged as apartments and villas, with private entrances, living areas and kitchens that let you control the pace of the stay.

The atmosphere is relaxed and practical. You can eat at Whalers Restaurant, sit beside the outdoor pool, use the barbecue, or walk into town when you want a change of scene. Children are welcome, and the separate wading pool gives younger guests somewhere of their own while adults keep an eye on proceedings from the pool area.

The resort stands at 375 Murat Road in Exmouth, Western Australia, on the North West Coral Coast. Ningaloo Reef is the reason most people come this far, and Exmouth is the closest town to the World Heritage reef. Cape Range National Park is also part of the local picture, with hiking and outdoor excursions available beyond the resort.

Town Beach is a short walk away, while Exmouth Beach is about half a mile from the property. The town centre takes roughly 10 to 15 minutes on foot, so you can reach cafés, bars and other places to eat without turning every evening into a driving exercise. Whalers Restaurant is on site; the Exmouth Yacht Club is about 10 minutes away on foot, and Whalebone Brewing Company is about 1 mile away.

The choice here is less about picking a decorative room category and more about deciding how much living space you want around your diving kit, clothes and post-dive appetite. The One-Bedroom Apartment is the straightforward couple's option, with a separate living area and a kitchen for keeping things simple. If you are sharing with friends or travelling as a small group, a Two-Bedroom Apartment gives you more room to spread out and two bathrooms. The larger three-bedroom villa is the sensible choice when several people need to stay under one roof without negotiating every chair and cupboard.

Kitchens include a refrigerator, microwave, toaster, kettle, kitchenware and dining table, so breakfast before an early departure or a quick meal between outings is perfectly manageable. A washing machine, drying rack, iron and ironing facilities help when the wardrobe has been through a few salty days. There is also air conditioning and heating, private bathroom facilities with shower and hairdryer, a sofa and seating area, a flat-screen TV, wardrobe and alarm clock.

You are booking self-contained accommodation rather than a simple bedroom. That matters when you return tired, want cold drinks from the fridge, or need a quiet hour with the door shut and the air conditioning running. The resort also has non-smoking rooms, and some rooms may be affected by noise when on-site functions are taking place.

Whalers Restaurant is the resort's named dining address, with indoor and outdoor seating looking across the swimming pools and gardens. Its menu centres on fresh local seafood, steaks and local produce, which is a more useful description than simply calling it 'international cuisine' and leaving you to guess. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served, with evening service from 5:30pm until late.

You can also have a drink beside the pool while the water does its slow evening work. There is no breakfast package or board formula specified here, so the useful assumption is that you choose what and when you eat rather than arriving with an all-inclusive wristband. Kids' meals are available, and the apartments and villas give you the option of using the kitchen or barbecue when restaurant dining is not the plan.

The outdoor pool sits beside Whalers Restaurant, with sun loungers and umbrellas for the serious business of doing very little. A separate children's wading pool and pool toys keep the family side of the resort moving, while the gardens, patio, sun terrace and outdoor dining areas give you several places to sit without being sent back to the room. No spa timetable is needed here: the pool and a cool drink cover the low-effort option.

When you want to leave the resort, the tour desk can help with the area's excursions. Yardie Creek, Coral Bay and Turquoise Bay are named outings, while wildlife observation and cultural excursions add something beyond the reef. Hiking, fishing and snorkelling are also available, and car hire makes the wider Exmouth and Cape Range area easier to reach. For a couple, that means you can split the day sensibly: reef time for one outing, then a beach, a garden chair or a short drive instead of another organised activity.

Learmonth Airport is about 19 miles away, around a 20-minute drive. Qantas is the only airline flying to Exmouth, with flights from Perth taking about 1 hour and 50 minutes and operating seven days a week. Car hire is available at the resort, and free private parking is on site; parking reservation is required.

Check-in is from 2pm, with reception hours listed as 8am to 6pm. If you arrive outside those hours, contact the resort in advance. Check-out is by 10am. Private and express check-in and check-out, luggage storage and a tour desk are available, which is handy when travel times and boat departures refuse to align neatly.

Wi-Fi is available in the common areas, while room internet is listed separately as chargeable, so check the arrangement for your accommodation before relying on it for a full evening of streaming or work. Payment is by card rather than cash, photo identification and a credit card are required at check-in, and children of all ages are welcome. Group bookings are limited to four rooms.