Yardie Homestead

For those that want to truly experience the Exmouth coastline, Cape Range National Park and Ningaloo Reef while staying at a private campground among the shade of trees with good facilities, you can’t beat Yardie.

Yardie Homestead is about a 20-30 minutes drive from the centre of Exmouth. The Exmouth township is on the coastline that faces east, sitting on the western-side of the Exmouth Gulf, inside the cape. Yardie is on the opposite side of the cape, looking out to open ocean where you’ll find Ningaloo Reef. This is probably where you want to be when you’re coming to the area.

The main road that goes past the lighthouse to the national park, right along the coast is where you’ll find the Yardie Homestead caravan park. It’s a very short drive or a long walk to some of the main beaches, including the beginner surf beach (Wobiri Beach), wind/kite surfing area and snorkeling spots.

Among a very dry and desolate environment is the homestead where there’s the only natural spring in the area, so there’s lots of trees and shade throughout the caravan park, unlike the campgrounds within the national park. There’s also a pool and some great semi-outdoor sitting areas that barbecues, seating and a TV. At the office is a shop with some basic groceries, caravan/camping equipment, fishing bait and tackle.

Often, there’ll be bands playing, cook-ups and yoga classes.

Yardie Homestead is suited to those that are looking for a caravan park that’s more of a bush camping experience as opposed to or compared to the family friendly RAC Exmouth Caravan Park in the centre of town. The place has options for all types of travellers, from caravans and RVs to tents, cabins and huts.

Several amenity blocks can be found throughout the caravan park. Although they’re a little bit dated and don’t always have constant hot water (not that you’ll need it), they’re kept clean and usually not completely occupied.

There are laundry facilities at the main amenities block.

Multiple barbecue areas can be found throughout the grounds, the biggest and best one is just the near the pool, beside a shady grass area.

One thing that can cause some frustration is the lack of taps. Often, one tap will be shared between 4-6 campsites and for some unlucky people, you’ll need to borrow a hose or two from your neighbours and use it as an extension as the taps are quite far from some of the sites.

The internet reception is hit and miss, coming and going. Even with a Telstra tower very close to Yardie, it only has enough bandwidth for several thousand people and when the surrounding area is busy, there are tens of thousands of people in the place that are connected to it. Some days, there’ll be almost no internet data or phone coverage, but by the time that the day heats up and people have gone to the beach, it can become quite decent and fast for short periods at a time. If internet is essential, you can connect to the Yardie Homestead modem for $15 a gig, but you’ll need to sit close to the office (which is just near some nice shady or undercover areas).