RAC Ningaloo Reef Resort

I was expecting a lot more for the money this holiday cost. Top whack prices for accommodation that is literally about to get demolished. The accommodation is terrible. There is no shade over the kids pool! Nothing, no shade cloth, no nothing. December in Coral Bay and the kids can’t play in the pool as they will die of heat exhaustion after 9:00. We have a room overlooking the pool and the beach that is advertised to sleep 6. Technically it can but really it can’t. The only entrance is into the apartment is main bedroom where mommy and daddy sleep. So if you have an afternoon nap, no one else can come in or out without waking you up. The other 4 beds are in the only other room (the living room). A bunk bed and a fold out sofa bed. Again, no storage at all. Nothing, nowhere to put suitcases etc. No GPOs anywhere’s except one in the kitchen, there is none accessible in the main bedroom either. If other people staying here want to get out early, they can’t without waking up mommy and daddy. The design of the accomodation is absolutely terrible. The place is falling to pieces. Rust everywhere. There isn’t even a vacuum cleaner which is much needed for the sand that gets everywhere. The kitchen has a tiny electric 2 pan hot plate that can cook a sausage in about 40 minutes, no oven so you can’t cook for your family. There is no cupboard space for food even if you had it. You have to eat out where the food is at extortionate prices, I mean really, hideously expensive and very “bar food like”. There is no storage for anything. No drawers, just a cupboard. They don’t tell you on the booking that this place is getting demolished very shortly to make way for RACs new resort. Next door and the ones up from that… The fly screen doors, swing free and do nothing but slam so you can’t get to sleep even if you wanted to. RAC have no signs up here at all as it is way below their standard but they still sell it as their standard such as Monkey Mia. If anyone leaves a good review about this place they’re lying through their teeth and will be an employee. I am gutted that this place has turned out to be like this. I flew my partner and our children up and I drove up with all the fishing gear etc which cost us a fortune. This was a huge mistake. Please do not stay here, go to Monkey Mia where RAC have spent their money.

My wife, adult son and I stayed at the Ningaloo Reef Resort for two nights in mid-November. We booked via Expedia, paying $311CAD (approx AUD$280) per night, including taxes, etc., for an “Ocean view apartment”, booking 2.5 weeks in advance. Check-in was quick and easy. The room was on the 2nd floor and had a spectacular view of the Bay from the balcony (partially obstructed by a palm tree, but who can complain about a view obstructed by a palm tree?). The suite was large in size, but an odd and awkward set-up. The entrance from the outside was directly into the master bedroom. It wasn’t a giant problem, but it did mean our party had to go through our bedroom every time they went in or out. The main/living room consisted of a set of bunk beds, a couch and a table. A small galley kitchen was in the hallway between the master bedroom and the main living room. The plain brown floor tile and complete lack of décor gave the whole room a bit of a “bunk hall” feel. An annoying feature is that each of the main rooms only had one double electrical socket. Most people want to have their phones and tablets at their bedside and be able to charge them at night. We had to go to some trouble with extension cords and by unplugging lamps to make sure we had access to enough sockets for our needs. We also found the blinds/curtains to be inadequate in blocking out the early morning sun. We managed to hang spare blankets and towels to block the window, but that required climbing and fastening and was an unnecessary hassle. It would be much easier if the room simply came with full blackout window features. Another annoying aspect was the wifi. I am giving the resort the benefit of the doubt by assuming that internet service in Coral Bay is limited and expensive. On check-in, they handed us some wifi codes. It also appeared you could go to the office any time and get more codes if you needed them. Each code was only good for 24 hrs (to a max of 1GB). However, the biggest problem was that any time you locked your phone/tablet/laptop (or it timed out and locked itself) it would log out of the wifi and you would need to re-enter the code to obtain access. With multiple people using the same code, you then had to write it down or take a photo of it. If the point is to limit usage, then they probably accomplish the goal just by making it such a hassle to use, but you’d think there would be a better way to do it. The Ningaloo grounds and amenities were excellent. The large lawn/garden area provides plenty of room to play or sit. There are chairs, a pool (which we didn’t visit), BBQs (which we didn’t use), and a restaurant and a bar. Those all gave the outdoor areas a resort feel, with lots of people out, having a good time. One thing I would have appreciated was a guide showing (with photos and maps) very specific spots to snorkel. I spent a long time our first night trying to find information on exactly where to snorkel, but found little helpful. I could have saved an hour and had a better experience the next day if the resort created and provided a handout with specific snorkel spots identified. The room rate of AU$280 was somewhat steep, but it is sort of the only game in town and wasn’t available for some of the dates we considered (all within a couple days of the ones we ultimately chose), so there seems to be plenty of demand at that rate. The location, just off the beach is excellent, and the property looks great (particularly from the front) with the lawn, pool and palm trees. That said, the accommodation itself is quite basic, and for the price, I probably expected a little bit more. On that basis, I consider the Ningaloo Reef Resort to be on par with other similar properties, which is the definition of an “average” (3) rating.

Yea it's dated but our room was clean and comfortable. The location is great, the views spectacular. The food was delicious and we had so much fun at the bar and playing pool. The staff were friendly and helpful

The accommodation is terrible and not any value for money. Door in bathroom broken, shower mouldy, basic amenities. Really only a 1 star facility. Uncomfortable beds. Not enough blankets. Cold water for half of us needing showers. Not accessible for people with disabilities. Just terrible and a rip off for the very expensive price.

A cute resort with great views of Coral Bay. Will be fab once it has its refurb. Pros: Bars is rustic but fun. Good is great. Pool offers much respite in the middle of the hotel day. Close to the beach. Friendly staff. Great New Year’s Eve party (though loud for the littlies). Offer fun activities for the kids like movie nights and popcorn. Cons: dated but refurb planned. Can get a bit loose around the bar so watch the little ones.

We had a studio apartment which was well maintained, clean, and for our limited use had the stuff we needed. It had 2 single and one double bed, and for 2 people was fine, but would be more than little crowed if all the beds were occupied. The double bed was comfortable and had nice linen. The price is about the same as a 5* place in Perth, so it is expensive, which might just be the local market. Reception was perfunctory rather than friendly, but that is not uncommon in Australia. Great site.

Amazing location for everything- swimming, snorkeling, shops, foods, bars

Just perfect for a family

The cleaning staff were very pleasant, some of the reception staff were good, but others seemed demotivated and disinterested and did not seem to have much local knowledge around snorkelling sites and access. I really dislike leaving critical reviews, but others need to be aware of the reality of this resort. We were excited to come to Coral Bay and enjoy our stay, but unfortunately, this was probably the biggest disappointment of our entire time in WA. The rooms are clean and well equipped, but very tired. Despite the expensive room rates, the facilities are functional at best with minimal TV content, 500Mb wifi per stay and uncomfortable beds. The view is probably a highlight, but it is difficult to comment for sure given that on our second day a sizeable marquee was erected on the lawn in front of our room, obscuring a large part of the scenery. The resort can in no way be responsible for the fact that after the 2022 coral spawning and fish-kill, the reef is essentially dead close to the beach and a lengthy swim, walk, drive or combination of all of the above is required to access any decent areas of living coral, but perhaps it is time they adjusted their prices to reflect the tired facilities and severely damaged coral.

My wife and I spent 3 nights at the Ningaloo Reef Resort in Coral Bay. The resort is well past its use by date and in need of serious revamp. Light frame upper extension has been added to the old original motel style accommodation. The only real thing it has got going for it is the location with every room a view of the bay. Standard room rate is $395 a night which is resort level for something way less. Not so bad with RAC member discount but still a lot of money for a view and little more. The restaurant is not busy but there is a reason for that. In my opinion the food is ok but not resort level. An up side is the staff are really nice and there is a really nice bar overlooking the beach. I doubt we will be vack at this price and far from the usual RAC resort standards we have experience such as monkey Mia. I have only given 2 stars because of very poor valua for money.