Monkey Mia was a spot that Dylan and I actually considered skipping all together. But, we now look back and are extremely glad that we splurged a little and experienced this tiny corner of WA that feels like a tropical getaway.
In this blogpost, I’m going to share a little bit more into our experience, what Caravan Park we stayed at (or the only caravan park you CAN stay at), and what to do in Monkey Mia.
GETTING THERE
Getting to Monkey Mia feels like a bit of a drive. You have to drive in to Shark bay and then drive another 26kms to Monkey Mia.
Unfortunately, this “National Park” is not included in the WA parks pass and is rather pricey. $15 per person if you’re just going in for the day and $25 per person if you’re staying there.
This was the main reason we considered skipping it, it does feel a bit steep for such a small area with seemingly not much to offer.
WHERE TO STAY
The only place you can stay here is the RAC Resort. Thankfully, we’re RAC members so we got a bit of a discount on the unpowered sites. I, personally, greatest dislike caravan parks for how packed it everyone is. I like campgrounds where you are a bit more spaced out. You can check out and book at the RAC Resort here!
However, we got lucky when we went because the unpowered sites were not busy at all.
With our discount, we ended up paying $37 per night. Pretty average for a caravan park I’d say. The amenities were excellent though. Laundry, beautifully hot showers, a great and modern camp kitchen. We also made the most of the happy hour at the Monkey Bar. 🐵🍻
Booking.com
THINGS TO DO
You’ve probably heard that everyone goes to Monkey Mia for the dolphins.
The “Dolphin Experience” (or the dolphin feeding) is at 7:45am everyday. It’s interesting to go and hear about the history and to hear what they do to make sure the dolphings don’t rely on the fish they get fed here. Only select dolphins are fed, and only at certain times of day and a rather small portion in comparison to their daily intake.
Hot Tip: at the 7:45 feeding it is CRAZYYYY busy. But at the end of the first feeding they let the dolphins leave until they come back at least 10 minutes later. If you can, stay for that next feed. Everyone else leaves, and then you actually manage to be closer to the dolphins and take photos without 100s of people in front of you or in the background.
Something else we did was rent Kayaks and paddle up towards the national park. Or, Red Bluff (if you’ve read my blogpost on Karijini, you’ll know a lot of spots in WA are called Red Bluff). It was a hard paddle because it was so windy. But it was a great activity – especially because with a 2WD you can’t get into the Francois Peron National Park, so it was nice to get a liiittllleee taste of it this way.
You could, of course, splurge a little more and REALLY experience the beauty that is the landscape of Monkey Mia and the surrounds by booking a scenic flight over the area!
Klook.comOverall, it definitely was a splurge to go to Monkey Mia and stay for two nights. But for us, it was worth it. It felt like a mini tropical holiday getaway.
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