Blue Holes is Kalbarri's best snorkelling spot: a limestone reef platform just south of town where erosion has carved lagoon pools – the 'blue holes' – that fill with clear water inside the protection of the outer reef. Since 2000 the area has been protected as the Kalbarri Blue Holes Fish Habitat Protection Area, with fishing prohibited, and the Kalbarri visitor centre notes more than 70 fish species, 11 types of coral and western rock lobsters.

The pools are shallow – mostly 1-3 m – with ledges and overhangs where crays hide, patches of hard and soft coral and sponges, and a mix of subtropical and temperate fish: wrasse, dart, butterflyfish, herring, tailor, damselfish and juvenile reef fish, with the occasional octopus. The small lagoon gives what one guide calls an 'aquarium-like' experience.

It suits families and snorkellers of any experience in calm conditions, and there is little reason to bring scuba. The limestone is sharp, so reef shoes are essential. Facilities include a shade shelter, picnic tables and a toilet block. Snakes can be encountered on the dune paths.

Nearby Red Bluff and Jakes Point are primarily surfing and scenic spots, and the Kalbarri National Park coastal cliffs to the south are spectacular but unsafe for entry. The Zuytdorp wreck lies far to the north below the Zuytdorp Cliffs. Kalbarri has no dive shop or air station, so scuba divers must bring filled cylinders from Geraldton; for snorkellers, a mask, fins, reef shoes and a rash vest are all that is needed. The protection area's rules also prohibit collecting shells and marine life.

Kalbarri is about 570 km (6 hours) north of Perth, 150 km north of Geraldton. Blue Holes is a 5-minute drive south of town along Red Bluff Road, with a signed car park, or a 2 km walk/cycle along the Melaleuca Walk Trail from the town centre. From the car park a short path leads to the beach; enter the lagoon pools across the limestone, wearing reef shoes because the rock is sharp.

Kalbarri's coast faces the open Indian Ocean. Offshore easterly winds in the morning give the calmest water, and the southerly sea breeze turns onshore and strengthens most afternoons from October to April. Swell from the south-west is the main limit: Marine Life Network notes surge is very strong and visibility poorer when swell is running.

Blue Holes' lagoon pools are sheltered by the reef platform and are the calmest snorkel on the Kalbarri coast, but they surge when the swell is up and fill with sand-clouded water. Go in the morning, ideally near high tide when the pools are deepest and connected.

Enter the main lagoon pool from the beach, snorkel slowly along the pool edges and under ledges, and stay inside the reef line away from breaking water.

No dive operator in Kalbarri – independent snorkelling; air fills in Geraldton.