Exmouth is the rough-edged northern base for Ningaloo: a small service town on the North West Cape, closer to reef, red ranges, and empty coastline than to any big city. It has more infrastructure than Coral Bay, but it is still remote enough that you feel the distance from Perth in the heat, the prices, and the long roads in every direction.
The reason to come is the combination of Cape Range National Park and the northern Ningaloo Reef. You can snorkel from beaches such as Turquoise Bay, drive into limestone gorges, watch turtles in season, and join whale shark or humpback whale trips when the migration calendar lines up.
Exmouth is not polished resort Australia, and that is a strength. Bring sun protection, book key tours early in peak season, and respect the national-park rules. The landscape is fragile, dry, and unforgiving, but when the reef is clear and the ranges glow red at sunset, the long trip north makes sense.