Name: Sal Salis
Address: Yardie Creek Road, Cape Range National Park, Cape Range National Park, Cape Range National Park, 6707, Australia
Rating: 9

24-hour reception

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Wheelchair Accessible

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Diet menu (on request)

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Parking nearby

Free Parking on Premises

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Next to the beach

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Conference Hall

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Exmouth Airport

Learmonth Airport

Sal Salis

Cape Range National Park

This is a truly exceptional place. One could repeat all the superlatives; i would simply say it is unique. Deluxe camping an extraordinary location, all to yourselves, with access to the beach, sea, snorking, walking and views for miles around. What makes the place that bit better is the perfect balance of informality with exceptional food and service. you could not ask for more. Yes it is expensive, but remember where you are, that you will want for nothing, spend nothing more and not sacrifice any comforts. Thanks to all the team for making our stay so special

Special and unique place

We recently stayed at Sal Salis on Ningaloo Reef and it was an amazing experience. The staff were so lovely. Special mention to Lawrence, Leith, Jess(Jeff)🤣 and Erin. Food was delicious, tents were terrific. Comfy bed which was made up every day. The beaches are spectacular and the snorkelling tours really good. Loved our swim with the whalesharks but agree it’s quite strenuous and full on. But the guys and girls on the boat were very helpful and assisted us really well. Love, love, loved it!

Ningaloo Reef and Whaleshark Swim.

I have just returned from three nights at Sal Salis.

The resort was well organised - the transfer arrangements and dietary requests were requested and met in full.  The food was absolutely delicious and the company of the guests was very pleasant.  As another reviewer mentioned the tent and path lighting are all LED low voltage and not so bright.  And there is no airconditioning as the resort takes its eco responsibilities seriously.  Mobile phone charging is available via two USB ports in the room; there are no 240V sockets in the tent.

The reef was in good condition - neither broken nor bleached.  This reflects the fairly remote location and the relatively few visitors compared to the Maldives for example.  I saw plenty of fish, a ray and turtles on the reef

I went on the hotel organised Yardie Creek Gorge walk, the Oyster Bay snorkel and the Oyster Bay canoe trip & snorkel.   I also went on the Exmouth Diving Centre whale shark trip.  What I would say is that the canoe and whale shark trips are physically demanding and a decent level of fitness, ie stamina, swimming ability and water confidence are required.  The canoe trip is a 700m paddle out and back to the reef’s edge and requires clambering out and then back in to the floating canoe.  The whale shark viewing takes place in the open ocean (beyond the reef) with a current, sea swell and wind - it is a thoroughly rewarding & memorable experience but it is not a spectator activity, it is a sporting activity requiring considerable physical effort.  Help is at hand from the guides for all activities and noodles are available for the whale shark swim.   Despite the assistance there were not many over 60’s in the resort / participating in the water based activities.

I would have no hesitation recommending a stay at Sal Salis and suggest three or four nights as an ideal length of stay, longer could be a bit boring.

Memorable stay seeing the whale sharks

Great stay at Sal Salis back in May. The tent was incredibly comfortable, staff attentive and food and wine of a very high standard.
Proximity to the beach was amazing and peace and quiet greatly appreciated.
We were contacted just before our stay to organise pick up and dietary requirements etc. and everything ran perfectly. 
This is not a cheap place to stay obviously, but if you can do it then do!

Quirky Luxury

The Ningaloo reef is excellent  and well worth visiting. Sal Salis tented accomodation is well sited for reef visits and the food is excellent.However a note of caution for older guests with the lighting in the tents with solar power is inadquate at night as is the lighting on the pathways. The tent is a real falls risk for older guests and therfore I would not recomendet it as accomodation for this group. I nearly fell a couple of times trying to get in and out of the tent. I am sure that it is technically possible to improve the nighttime lighting. It should be high priority for the management

 Great reef to visit but caution for older guests at Sal Salis

We recently spent 5 wonderful days at Sal Salis. The tent was clean and the bed was very comfortable - we loved lying in bed listening to the ocean at night. The meals were delicious & different every night - each course was paired with a different wine. Watching the sunset each night with canapés and drinks was a highlight as was our last night when the staff set up the dinner tables under the stars. We loved the morning sunrise hikes to nearby gorges and the kayaking and snorkelling to nearby beaches - it was great having the staff with us to point out & explain different fish & coral. The staff were all amazing and very dedicated to all the guests. We would rate this as good as any 5 star hotel we have stayed at!

Highly recommend

This was a fantastic two nights but not the completely ‘wow’ factor we were looking for
Staff were great, food and drink were wonderful. It was great to meet other guests in the communal area. However the accommodation was tired looking and needed some renovations. The bed was really comfortable and clean but the  eco toilet had a odour that permeated the tent. Flooring was clean but the wooden slats and walkways. needed some loving attention- sanding and varnishing maybe. Weather is changeable in Ningaloo and I would have liked more options than tent or open ( but shaded) lodge. I was cold quite a lot - but loads of blankets available. Just not as comfy as I would except for ‘luxury’. The tour we did was good- Osprey Bay turtle watching but we are very inexperienced snorkelers and I would have appreciated some more help and care. I was quite scared with the swell in the reef. We cancelled the afternoon tour of kayaking as I was sure it would be too physically difficult. We are both 66 and quite fit and active but the tours lacked the supervision I needed. I should have liked someone to sit down with at the beginning of our stay to explain the tours and what was expected of us ( and a bit of education about what we expected to see) 
I was glad I was only staying for two nights and that we had a car and were able to tour about the area before and after our stay. Otherwise I would have been bored. 
We have stayed in some of the other luxury lodges of Australia - some of which have been truly amazing-and although Sal Salis is good, it is not the luxury I expected for the price. 
Sal Salis, you are in a privileged position and you could do more…..

Excellent but no Wow Factor

We loved our three night Sal Salis experience.  I would call it upmarket glamping with gourmet meals.  The staff were attentive to help us enjoy this amazing spot, Ningaloo.  The tent was extremely comfortable and a great way to experience the outdoors in a king-sized triple sheeted bed.  We especially loved meeting the other guests at meal times.


What a treasure 

We booked and stayed in the Honeymoon tent from 09/05/23 to 12/05/23 for $7950AUD. On the first night in our tent, we were awoken several times to the sound of an animal gnawing on something wooden. At first we thought it was the wind moving the tent, but as the night progressed we also heard scurrying noises. 

The following morning the noise returned. I opened up a large wicker hamper in the tent and found a rat gnawing on the frame. It ran through a hole it had made in the wicker, under the bed, and escaped through a large hole in the corner of the tent where the canvas had come away from the metal that keeps the tent in place. I inspected our brand new backpack we had stored in the hamper and found the rat had also chewed into the padding and destroyed the backpack.

We reported our findings to the manager on duty. His solution was to remove the hamper and plug the hole in the tent with a bath towel.

After lunch we mentioned it to the property manager, who basically had no idea what we were talking about. The situation had obviously not been communicated to him as a matter of urgency, even though the presence of rats in a property is a health hazard.

When we did have a discussion with him about the problem of the vermin in our tent and its solution, the property manager simply appeared uninterested. He did not offer an apology or even a follow-up inquiry to see if the problem persisted.

Sal Salis is marketed as a luxury lodge of Australia, but the reality is the property is completely run down. Holes in tents, ripped shade cloth on many of the tents, broken furniture (including a swing chair in such bad condition it scratched my leg and nearly drew blood). The entire property has a film of dust over it and just feels dirty. There are so many flies in the common area where people eat it is disgusting.

In addition, the staff that took us on excursions had very little knowledge of the area. They were not exactly good ambassadors for Ningaloo. For example, we went on the drift snorkel at Turquoise Bay on our second afternoon at the property. After the snorkel, magnificent Turquoise Bay beach (which is just steps from the drift snorkel area) was not even mentioned to us. It was just recently voted the 17th most beautiful beach in the world.

The choices consciously made by property management of making your own drinks (and only pod coffee from a fly-blown Nespresso coffee machine as the coffee option), wi-fi being only available to staff (not guests), and device charging only possible from a single communal power board in the common area also cannot be considered luxurious by any stretch of the imagination. 

If the property was in a remote location,its state of disrepair could be forgiven, but it is far less remote than other (better maintained) luxury lodges, being only 67km from Exmouth (population 3000).

In summary, we were very disappointed with our stay at Sal Salis. We did give management an opportunity to respond prior to posting this review, but it has now been 8 days with no response. We certainly will not be recommending the property in its current condition, and it definitely does not belong on the Luxury Lodges of Australia list.

"Sal Salis" and "Luxury" should not appear in the same sentence.

Unfortunately had to cancel - with 11 months for them to find alternate bookings they kept the total 25% booking fee which equated to over $2965 deposit.  They will obviously replace our visit with another booking so have pocketed a nice financial win for their business.   Understand there are some admin fees but $2965 is absolutely unreasonable!   BEWARE - either pay total and get fully refundable otherwise go elsewhere!!!

Sal Salis

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