Winderabandi on the Ningaloo coast is closed after Cyclone Narelle. How booking works when it reopens, availability tips and DBCA cancellation rules to know.
About Winderabandi
Winderabandi is a beachfront campground in Nyinggulara National Park (the park formerly known as Ningaloo), on the Ningaloo coast north of Coral Bay. It sits right beside the Winderabandi Sanctuary Zone of Ningaloo Marine Park, so the water out front is protected reef, while the shoreline itself is a special purpose zone where you can fish from the beach. It is a favourite with people who want a quiet, self-sufficient stay on soft sand with the reef a short paddle away, and you can launch small boats and kayaks straight off the beach (4WD only).
Status as of October 2026: closed. Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle badly damaged every campground in Nyinggulara National Park: Janes Bay, North Lefroy, Point Billie, South Lefroy and Winderabandi. DBCA says the campgrounds need complete rebuilding, the park's radio tower was damaged so there are no emergency communications, and there is no estimated reopening date. Bookings for the closed campsites are unavailable until reopening is confirmed. Check alerts.dbca.wa.gov.au before making any plans.
The campsites
Before the cyclone, Winderabandi had 49 soft sand campsites of varying sizes, all unpowered. Whether the rebuilt campground keeps the same layout is not yet known, so check the campsite details and map on Park Stay WA once it reopens.
This is a no-facilities campground. The only infrastructure is a portable toilet dump point:
- No toilets. You must bring a portable, self-contained toilet approved for use in Australia and empty it at a dump point.
- No drinking water and no showers. Carry enough water for drinking and washing for your whole stay.
- No bins. Take all rubbish out with you.
- Generators are allowed.
- Dogs are allowed, on a leash at all times. Note that DBCA lays 1080 baits in the area, which are lethal to dogs.
- Campfires only in your own portable, self-contained fire ring, never on days of high fire danger or above, and you must bring your own firewood.
Private, unlicensed quad bikes and other off-road vehicles are not permitted in the park. Camping is charged per person per night, with no park entry fee for Nyinggulu Coastal Reserves.
How booking works
Bookings go through Park Stay WA, DBCA's online system. They are essential, must be made before arrival and cover one campsite only. There is no booking fee, and camping fees are paid by Mastercard or VISA when you book. The maximum stay is 14 nights if any night falls in WA public school holidays, otherwise 28 nights.
Ningaloo Coast campgrounds, including Nyinggulara National Park, don't use the usual rolling 180-day window. Instead DBCA releases stays in monthly blocks on the first Tuesday of each month at 10:00am AWST, with a virtual waiting room on release mornings. When Winderabandi reopens, expect its nights to appear through this system.
When it sells out
In normal times the Ningaloo coast campgrounds are among the hardest bookings in WA. Release mornings draw big queues, and the cooler months and school holidays go first. After a long closure, pent-up demand from regulars is likely to make the first reopening release especially competitive, so it pays to be ready rather than hoping to stumble on a free site later.
How to get a cancellation
Right now there is nothing to cancel: the whole campground is closed. The useful move is a reopening watch. Watch Winderabandi on Aussie Camp Alerts and we'll alert you as soon as Park Stay shows nights going from closed to bookable, so you hear about it without refreshing the site every week.
Once it is open again, standard DBCA cancellation rules apply. You can cancel or change a booking up to 11:59pm AWST the day before arrival. The refund is the fee paid, less a cancellation fee of one concession camper fee per date per campsite removed. That fee is waived inside the grace period (48 hours after booking when you book three or more days ahead), and for dates removed more than 14 days ahead in a peak period or more than 5 days ahead otherwise. Shortening or moving dates counts as removing them.
Those free-cancellation cut-offs shape when sites come back. Expect a flurry of returns in the 48 hours after each release morning, then again just before the 14-day and 5-day marks, with odd nights reappearing right up to the day before arrival. An instant alert on Aussie Camp Alerts is the easiest way to catch them.
Getting there
DBCA puts Winderabandi about 135km north of Coral Bay, in very remote country, and lists it under the Exmouth area. Access is for high-clearance 4WD vehicles with low-range gears only. Drop your tyre pressure for the soft sand access track, and bring a way to reinflate, because there is no facility to do so on the way out. Arrive with enough water, food, fuel, medication and first aid for the whole stay. November to April is cyclone season and December to April can be extremely hot, so plan accordingly.
Nearby alternatives
With Nyinggulara closed, the nearest bookable beach camping is in Cape Range National Park to the north and on the Warroora Coast to the south. Osprey Bay and Yardie Creek are popular Cape Range options that release on the same monthly schedule. Down south, Sandy Point on the Warroora Coast offers a similar remote feel. If you'd rather have showers and a town on your doorstep, Peoples Park in Coral Bay is the commercial option.