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Tourism operators along Western Australia's Ningaloo Coast report a strong recovery after Cyclone Narelle, with reefs, wildlife and wildflowers thriving and Bullara Station rebuilt within five weeks.
Tourism operators along Western Australia's Ningaloo Coast say the region has rebounded strongly after Cyclone Narelle, which hit the Coral Coast in March 2026 just days before the season began.
The category 5 storm packed 200 km/h winds and 250 millimetres of rain. Its tidal surge pushed water from the Exmouth Gulf more than 18 kilometres inland. The timing could not have been worse, yet the whale sharks and humpbacks have arrived on cue. The annual coral spawning was as spectacular as usual, and niche tours have sprung up in response to the lush conditions.
Ningaloo Coast tourism rebound and optimism
The best part is the palpable feeling of optimism rippling through the small community. At Turquoise Bay in Cape Range National Park, the reef begins just metres from the shore. The beach is ranked as one of Western Australia's best, with bone-white sand and clear shallow water. Snorkellers enter at the southern end, do not fight the flow and exit before the northern end of the sandbar.
As a local warned, leave it too late and you will be sucked out to sea. Floating over coral gardens alongside rivers of tropical fish, a snorkeller sees neon colours flaring like falling stars. A green turtle flashes into view, then a pouty-lipped grouper blows kisses in the wake. Overhead, the sun spins like a giant mirror ball, throwing shards of light across the reef.
For an overview, Exmouth Adventure Co runs a Ningaloo in a day safari from Exmouth to Charles Knife Canyon, through Cape Range National Park to Turquoise Bay and Yardie Creek. Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, near Exmouth, offers commanding views of the North West Cape. At the midway point, guide Ash Broinowski explains the ocean has numerous ways to self-heal after natural events.
Ocean self-healing and reef recovery
Listen carefully underwater and you will hear the crunch-crunch of parrot fish grazing on coral, removing algae and keeping the reef healthy, Broinowski says. I do not hear or see the colourful clean-up crew but their handiwork leaves the water sparkling. Turning from the reef to the ranges, the story of recovery is just as remarkable.
Broinowski points out signs of new life everywhere, from a whistling kite sitting on eggs to mulla mulla plants, their purple pompoms nodding in the breeze. The silver lining, or is that a green lining, of receiving a year's worth of rain in a few days is how vibrant everything is. Last year we did not see the purple mulla mulla at all, says Broinowski. And now it is already blooming in June.
Further along, his eagle eyes spot the crimson blush of Sturt's desert pea, the rare localised form that lacks the signature black eyes. These indicator plants point to a bumper wildflower season ahead, he says. The next morning an eco-cruise with Yardie Creek Boat Tours goes into gorge country. Sheer limestone walls are banded with red, pink and cream, an ancient reef system frozen in stone.
Yardie Creek restoration and wildlife returns
Rare, black-flanked rock wallabies hop about the craggy walls like furry acrobats, while the aerial roots of fig trees drape the canyon walls in long, tangled plaits. Since the cyclone cleared away the sandbar, Yardie Creek is once again open to the ocean, with its natural tidal flow restored, says Jade Cantrell, the marine biologist guide. We are seeing squid, dolphins, rays and turtles coming back into the mouth of the creek.
This is the land and sea country of the Jinigudera, Baiyungu and Thalanyji people, who have maintained an unbroken connection to these lands for at least 32,000 years. Pushing deeper into the creek, Cantrell points out natural rock traps once used by the Baiyungu people to harvest fish from the sheltered waters. She also talks about the blind gudgeon, an eyeless fish that has lived in the region's subterranean karst caves for millions of years.
For her final trick she hands around a palm-sized megalodon tooth, another reminder that this arid landscape was once a tropical ocean ruled by giant predators. On previous visits I confined my time to the reef, but now I see why the Ningaloo Coast was listed as a World Heritage site for both its oceans and ranges. Deeper again is Bullara Station, a 100,000-hectare working cattle station and outback stay an hour or so south of Exmouth.
We received 380 millimetres of rain in six hours, says owner and manager Edwina Shallcross, pointing to a marker where the floodwaters reached. Never in 100 years has the property experienced such conditions. If it was not for photographs showing staff kayaking across the floodwaters, I would never have believed it. The woolshed bar is pumping with music and people, and it is happy half-hour when we arrive.
Bullara Station rebuild and community support
All accommodation options, from campsites to safari huts to bell tents, are close to capacity. A lot of our accommodation was lost or damaged, says Shallcross, but within five weeks, thanks to community support, we managed to rebuild, revamp and reopen. We are now bigger and better than ever. We stay in the historic Shearers Lodge, which has a communal kitchen, lounge and dining area.
We have booked dinner at The Table, where husband-and-wife team head chef Toby Fisher and pastry chef Maree Fisher serve farm-to-table dining inside a 110-year-old woolshed. We do not have a pool, ocean front or artesian spa, says Shallcross. But we have created a community of travellers, a destination where people come to connect and slow down. On a walk of the property Shallcross explains that with the wetlands now full, waterbirds are returning in great numbers.
Nature has come in and given it all a big spring-clean, she says.
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smh:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Cyclone Narelle Turquoise Bay Bullara Station Western Australia Tourism
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