Exmouth, AU

A family-run microbrewery on Patterson Way pouring its own beers alongside wood-fired pizzas in a corrugated-iron shed with old dinghies, trucks and a sandpit for the kids. Live music runs Thursday through Sunday and it's dog-friendly, which is rare in town. Currently sits at the top of most locals' lists.

An award-winning craft brewery on Kennedy Street brewing on-site and serving a modern Australian menu built around local seafood and produce. Larger and more polished than Whalebone, with a sealed beer garden, a kids' play area and regular live acts. The default group-dinner choice in town.

A family-run seafood restaurant inside Exmouth Escape Resort, leaning hard on local catch: tiger prawns, Shark Bay crab, goldband snapper, Coffin Bay oysters. The dining room is open-air and tropical and the menu also runs to steak for the seafood-averse. The go-to for a slightly nicer dinner without driving to Mantarays.

The marina-side restaurant at Mantarays Ningaloo Beach Resort, with the only proper gulf-view dining room in Exmouth and a menu of Ningaloo prawns, Shark Bay scallops, goldband snapper and ocean trout. Three meals a day, more formal than the breweries, and the place locals book for an anniversary or a parents-in-town dinner.

An Italian deli and smokehouse on Murat Road run by an Italian family doing wood-fired pizza and pasta by night and a gourmet deli plus espresso by day. The brisket and pulled-pork end of the menu is the local hook, and gelato is made in-house. Reliable, generous and family-friendly rather than special-occasion.

A small vegan-and-vegetarian-friendly cafe in the Ross Street centre serving brunch plates, smoothie bowls and proper coffee. The plant-leaning menu fills an obvious gap in a town otherwise dominated by seafood and steak. Equally happy for a long working morning as a quick acai bowl after the reef.

A bakery and cafe in the Ross Street Mall that has been the town's pie and pastry shop since the 1960s. Fresh bread, sausage rolls, vanilla slices and a strong pie counter draw both the tradies and the snorkel-day picnickers. The quickest takeaway breakfast in central Exmouth.

A small cafe on Huston Street doing rustic all-day brunch plates and seriously good coffee for a town this remote. Menu is short, ingredient-driven and leans into seafood when it can; the seafood linguini gets mentioned constantly. Quieter than the Ross Street cafes and a favourite morning workspace for locals.

A class-4 loop of about 6km starting from Thomas Carter Lookout at the top of Charles Knife Road, winding along the range top above Shothole Canyon and Exmouth Gulf. The walk is exposed, rocky and unshaded, and the views down into the canyon system are the best in Cape Range you can reach without a 4WD into the park. Allow about three hours.

A very short rocky walk up steps from the picnic area at the end of Shothole Canyon Road to a lookout over the canyon and Exmouth Gulf. The drive in along the canyon floor on the unsealed road is the real experience; the walk itself is a five-minute payoff at the top. A good half-day pair with Charles Knife if you don't want a full hike.

Short interconnected tracks around the lighthouse precinct linking the 1912 tower, the lookout above it, the WWII radar bunker remains and the gun emplacements down the slope. Total walking is under 1km and entirely on graded paths and stairs. The most history per metre you'll find on the North West Cape.

A signed kayak route around the Bundegi reef system on the gulf side, marked with kayak moorings so you don't anchor on coral. Calm-water paddle of about 2-4km depending on which moorings you visit, with snorkelling at each tied-off stop. The flat-water alternative to the exposed kayaking out of Tantabiddi.

A flat sand-and-gravel path of a few hundred metres from the small carpark at the end of Mildura Wreck Road out to the dune-top lookout over the 1907 cattle steamer wreck. The whole thing takes ten minutes and works as a stretch-the-legs add-on to the lighthouse loop.

A small-group eco-tour operator running half-day and full-day sea-kayak-plus-snorkel trips on Ningaloo Reef out of central Exmouth, plus multi-day expeditions and kayak, snorkel and SUP hire. The half-day Turtle Tour out of Bundegi is the easy entry-level option; the Tantabiddi day trip is the full reef experience.

A boat-tour operator running whale-shark swims (roughly March to August), humpback swims (August to October) and reef snorkel days the rest of the year out of the marina. Tours include all gear, spotter-pilot fees, photographer and food, and the boats are sailing catamarans rather than power-only vessels. The local default for the whale-shark bucket-list day.

The Sub Sea Explorer is a custom semi-submersible catamaran with sixteen below-waterline windows, the only one of its kind in WA, running reef cruises out of Tantabiddi. The point is reef viewing without swimming, which makes it the option for non-snorkellers, very young kids or someone who's seasick on a normal boat.

The longest-running glass-bottom boat on the reef, departing from the marina with the biggest viewing windows on the Exmouth side. Combines drive-over-coral viewing with optional snorkel stops, so non-swimmers stay dry and snorkellers still get in the water. Family-friendly and runs year-round when conditions allow.

The volunteer-run sailing club at the southern end of Town Beach, opened to visitors as a cheap and cheerful beachfront bar and meal spot when the kitchen is running. Hosts the Friday-night outdoor cinema in season and the town's social-sailing fleet. Not a destination kitchen but the cheapest waterfront sunset in town.

A 1912 kerosene-burning lighthouse on the headland at the very tip of North West Cape, sitting above the WWII radar station and gun emplacements that defended the wartime submarine base. The panorama from the lookout below the tower takes in both Indian Ocean and Ningaloo Reef sides of the cape, which is rare in Australia. The drive up doubles as the town's go-to sunset spot.

Exmouth's main visitor centre on Murat Road, combining the tourist information desk, the regional museum and a small aquarium showcasing reef and gulf species in tanks fed by Ningaloo water. It's the practical first stop for park passes, conditions, tour bookings and the indoor air-conditioning escape on a hot afternoon. Allow about 90 minutes for the aquarium and exhibits.

The sheltered Exmouth Gulf beach at the end of town, calmer and warmer than the reef-side beaches and where locals bring kids and dogs after work. The sand is coarse and the water is gulf-flat almost all year. Not a snorkel beach, but the easiest swim and sundowner spot if you don't want to drive.

A long calm beach on the gulf side north of town with a small jetty, picnic shelters and the southern fringe of Ningaloo Reef close to shore. Snorkelling is gentler and shallower than on the western side and the water stays flat when the reef beaches are blown out. The closest reef-style swim to Exmouth town.

An open-air interpretive shelter on the dunes between the lighthouse and the turtle-nesting beaches, run by the Department of Biodiversity. It's the meeting point for the ranger-led night turtle walks in nesting season and an information stop the rest of the year. Free, unstaffed outside tour times, and the boardwalk frames the sunset.

The rusted frames of the SS Mildura, a cattle steamer that ran aground on the reef in 1907 and never came off, now sitting about 80 metres offshore north of the lighthouse. A short walk from the small carpark leads to a lookout with an interpretive panel telling the story. Best as a low-tide curiosity rather than a long stop.

The protected marina at the south end of town, lined with charter boats, fishing tinnies and a handful of waterfront cafes and the resort. It's the pickup point for whale shark, reef snorkel and game-fishing charters, and the boardwalk around it is an easy evening loop. A sea eagle nest on top of one of the lighting masts is the running local landmark.