Whalesharks!!!

I want to maximize my chances for an encounter on my next diving trip. Would be great to keep track of TB sightings. Post your best picture that day you got lucky, date, location, and dive site if you can remember.
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You had me trawling through hundreds of your blogs looking for "The Pic". Finally found it, simply amazing. I have a Manta and a Sea Turtle together, but it doesn't even come close. You have some wonderful pictures. I especially love the Devil's Rays, and the Underwater Moai makes me want to book the first flight to the Easter Islands. Reply to this

Ahh Pierre..I just remembered someone (was it you?) asking about getting to Ningaloo..

Ningaloo is 1700km north west of Perth. There are unfortunately no dive resorts or liveaboards that frequent the area even during whaleshark migration due to the fact that ...to be honest...there is nothing to do in Ningaloo.

When I was working at Ningaloo on the Whaleshark and Humpback Whale migration study we had to have everything choppered in regularly and all our dive equipment was bought up from perth with us. We were using surface support air (Hookah Diving) or freediving because Humpbacks dont like bubbles.

If you do fly from Perth to Learmonth your accom choices are very limited..theres a 1960s pub with rooms, a couple of caravan parks with backpacker cabins or dorms or an eco camp set up right on the reef but they do not have any dive equipment meaning you need to take everything including tanks.

Liveaboards rarely do Ningaloo because once again..distance from Perth and you are limited to how much further up the coast you can go because of..well..crocodiles LOL. There are a few liveaboards that will do a trip out to Rowley Shoals (awesome drift diving at fast and furious pace) and sometimes include Ningaloo but alas..not often.

You will find almost ALL the tours for whalesharks and ningaloo are aimed at snorkellers who will spend a couple of nights at exmouth and then head on.

Having said that though..Ive also dived with whalesharks in PNG, Indonesia (Komodo and Flores both had sightings) Thailand (Similans) and strangely....one off our city beaches here in perth a few weeks ago (I think he was a naughty teenager off exploring as he has headed back up to the NW now) Reply to this

I have only ever seen one croc while diving and that was in PNG as I know not to dive up in the Kimberleys due to croc activity. The crocs actually do come down to Ningaloo at times - particularly after cyclones. Working in the far far north when crocs are around is ...disconcerting...there is a beautiful place known as Cape Levique where we were taking mangrove mud samples for another study - certainly keeps you on your toes when they pick you up to take you out to hop into the mud and have 4 guys with shotguns standing guard LOL...we got the mud samples pretty quickly.

In PNG the pidgen word for crocodile is PocPoc, the pidgen word for shit is PikPik...needless to say when I heard one of the papuans yell PikPik PocPoc and looked over to see a 3 - 4 ft long croc cruising past at about 16m it didnt take my brain long to work out what the yelling was about...no deco stop that time..i think we were all out of the water in record time.

Great whites!! Pierre just come down to Perth....its 10.12am and there have already been 6 of them spotted by the air patrol today! Reply to this

Thanks Cindy...will look at it....for whale sharks pics on TB first page...wait few more days...they are coming!!! Reply to this

Magnificent!!!!!! Your blog about this trip was so special - I think I may need to find the contact details one day soon 😊

Have dived Hing Mau and Deng or whatever they are called but no mention of this secret spot - must add it to the list! Reply to this