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.

Friday 30 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 5:18 · sunrise 5:42 · solar noon 12:08 · sunset 18:34 · dusk 18:58
Breeze➤➤➤➤➤➤breezyreef➤➤➤➤➤calmbreezytip➤➤➤➤➤calmbreezytownreef SW breeze ~12:00 · tip W breeze ~14:00 · town SW breeze ~16:00 · up to 30 km/h
Tide▽▲▽low 7:26 (0.2 m) · high 13:51 (2.0 m) · low 19:06 (0.9 m) — Exmouth gauge, above LAT
Mandu Mandu Gorge loop5:02–7:02 · sunrise 5:42 · dawn for rock-wallabies — and no shade laterMandu Mandu rock-wallabies5:02–7:02 · sunrise 5:42 · most active in the soft early lightCharles Knife sunrise drive5:02–7:02 · sunrise 5:42 · low light throws the canyons into reliefVlamingh Head sunrise5:02–7:02 · sunrise 5:42Yardie Creek rim walkcooler ends of the dayWobiri reef breakW sea breeze ~14:00 · light easterly mornings, before the sea breezeTurquoise Bay drift snorkelSW sea breeze ~12:00Lakeside reef snorkelSW sea breeze ~12:00Yardie Creek paddleSW sea breeze ~12:00 · the gorge funnels windSandy Bay swimSW sea breeze ~12:00Sandy Bay SUP & flat waterSW sea breeze ~12:00 · the wind crowd takes over once the breeze buildsBundegi reef snorkelW sea breeze ~14:00 · a good fallback when the west coast blows outBundegi SUPW sea breeze ~14:00Tantabiddi lagoon snorkelW sea breeze ~14:00Exmouth scenic flightbook a morning flight — calmest air and best lightDunes surf breakmid tide ~10:39 · W sea breeze ~14:00 · mid tide — the left gets shallow on the dropOsprey Bay drift snorkel10:21–12:00 · rising to high 13:51 · 2.0 m · SW sea breeze ~12:00Bundegi kayak trailaround high 13:51 · 2.0 m · W sea breeze ~14:00 · snorkel the moorings with water over the reefOyster Stacks coral snorkelaround high 13:51 · 2.0 m · needs ~1.2 m of water over the coralVlamingh Head sunset17:49–18:54 · sunset 18:34Jurabi dune sunset17:49–18:54 · sunset 18:34Milyering dark-sky stargazingdark until the 75% moon rises ~23:23 · 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.