Western Oz

[Corky]

I am off to W.A. from end of July - Mid August. We will be travelling around the SouthWest then up to Ningaloo. What I am trying to find out is is it worth booking the accomodation from this end or (as its not school hols over there) can we just turn up and be reasonably confident that rooms will be available. Any advice appreciated.
Cheers
Corks

[rooster]

Hi Corky

Firstly, I am very jealous! I spent a couple of mths in WA last year and had a blast!

Regarding accomodation, it depends what you are after. Hostels are not plentiful compared to the East Coast but there are also fewer travellers. I was there May-June 04 and we were generally fine without booking for private rooms and hardly ever had problems for dorms. For hotels around Margaret River and just north of Perth we didnt have a problem generally, although we stayed friends for a couple of nights. The further north you go the less of everything there is though - how you travel is important as well because some of these towns are very quiet and arriving off the Greyhound in the middle of the night would not be great I think.

The one major exception was Coral Bay - the sole backpackers here is full most nights and the other resort in the Bay is expensive and can also get v busy. The alternative is to camp if you have a tent or van. I don't know about Exmouth because we stayed in the camper van here, but it is very popular with divers and OW students.

I may have been no use here as you probably knew all this anyway!

If you want any info or advice on diving give me a shout - I dived a lot in WA and there are some real hidden gems.

regards