Illustrated day on the reef, dawn to night — a smiling rising sun, a snorkeller over a manta ray and turtle at midday, and a crescent moon over the sunset

A day on the reef

Daily guide

What's good around Exmouth, hour by hour — each in-season experience placed in its best window by the real sun, moon, tide and sea breeze for the day. Step through dates to scout a trip.

Wednesday 28 October

Solid bars are pinned to the real sun, moon, tide and sea breeze for this date; faded bars are a looser part of the day.

6am81012pm246810
Sundawn 5:20 · sunrise 5:43 · solar noon 12:08 · sunset 18:33 · dusk 18:57
Breeze➤➤➤➤➤➤breezyreef➤➤➤➤➤➤breezytip➤➤➤➤➤breezytownreef W breeze ~10:00 · tip W breeze ~10:00 · town W breeze ~11:00 · up to 28 km/h
Tide▽▲▽low 6:11 (0.1 m) · high 12:35 (2.1 m) · low 17:59 (0.7 m) — Exmouth gauge, above LAT
Mandu Mandu Gorge loop5:03–7:03 · sunrise 5:43 · dawn for rock-wallabies — and no shade laterMandu Mandu rock-wallabies5:03–7:03 · sunrise 5:43 · most active in the soft early lightCharles Knife sunrise drive5:03–7:03 · sunrise 5:43 · low light throws the canyons into reliefVlamingh Head sunrise5:03–7:03 · sunrise 5:43Yardie Creek rim walkcooler ends of the dayWobiri reef breakW sea breeze ~10:00 · light easterly mornings, before the sea breezeTurquoise Bay drift snorkelW sea breeze ~10:00Lakeside reef snorkelW sea breeze ~10:00Yardie Creek paddleW sea breeze ~10:00 · the gorge funnels windSandy Bay swimW sea breeze ~10:00Sandy Bay SUP & flat waterW sea breeze ~10:00 · the wind crowd takes over once the breeze buildsBundegi reef snorkelW sea breeze ~10:00 · a good fallback when the west coast blows outBundegi SUPW sea breeze ~10:00Tantabiddi lagoon snorkelW sea breeze ~10:00Exmouth scenic flightbook a morning flight — calmest air and best lightDunes surf breakmid tide ~9:23 · W sea breeze ~10:00 · mid tide — the left gets shallow on the dropOsprey Bay drift snorkel9:05–10:00 · rising to high 12:35 · 2.1 m · W sea breeze ~10:00Bundegi kayak trail10:05–11:00 · around high 12:35 · 2.1 m · W sea breeze ~11:00 · snorkel the moorings with water over the reefOyster Stacks coral snorkelaround high 12:35 · 2.1 m · needs ~1.2 m of water over the coralVlamingh Head sunset17:48–18:53 · sunset 18:33Jurabi dune sunset17:48–18:53 · sunset 18:33Milyering dark-sky stargazing19:52–21:12 · dark until the 92% moon rises ~21:12 · let your eyes adjust ~20 min

Sun and moon are computed for Exmouth; times are AWST. Tides are computed from the Exmouth gauge (20.3 km away; TICON-4 constituents, CC BY 4.0, DGFI-TUM) — astronomical tide above LAT, no weather surge. Not for navigation. Wind is an Open-Meteo forecast at 3 points across the cape (reef, tip, town): hours shade darker as the wind builds (hatched = 20+ km/h sea breeze), arrows show where it blows toward, and hovering an hour gives the number.