Coral Bay (Wednesday 19th June - Saturday 22nd June)

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After twelve days out bush we sure are ready for a shower, caravan restock and unfortunately a big pile of washing waiting to be done. We scrub up and head out to the local pub with the Gordon family for a delicious meal, after so much seafood we are all craving some meat, and devour our food.

We also have to make a big decision ($1200 for the family), to swim with the whale sharks or not? The Gordon’s are going and we can’t resist, so we make the booking, get packed and excitedly go to bed to await the adventures that the day ahead are sure to bring.

We meet at the diving store at 7.30am, get fitted for wetsuits and flippers and then jump on the bus to take our group to the boat. So much excitement is in the air as we don our wetsuits and skim over the seas for our first stop on the reef. We all line up and jump off of the back of the boat for a look at the amazing coral formations and vast variety of sea life including lots of amazing big turtles. After a great explore of this underwater world we are back on the boat awaiting instructions for the whale shark chase. A spotter plane flies about and then signals to the skipper where we need to go. As soon as a shark is spotted off the boat goes, racing toward our destination. We are given a briefing on what we need to do to get an amazing view of these creatures without intimidating them as well. Before we know it we are standing on the back of the boat awaiting the count to jump in, adrenelin is pumping as we jump in and rapidly swim along with our guide to the best location to view the sharks. We stare out into the deep depths of the ocean and all of a sudden a six metre whale shark comes into view, swimming straight toward us. We stare in amazement and then are able to swim along side of it, watching it peacefully glide along. Our guide signals the end of the run and then we group together to swim back to the boat and climb back on board. We get to repeat this amazing run five times and spend approximately one hour swimming with and watching these amazing creatures. The atmosphere on the boat is electric with the excitement of everyone on board, we share lunch together and commence the boat journey back to Ningaloo Reef. The excitement continues as we see pods of humpback whales with some so close they are not more than five metres from the boat. We get the opportunity for one more snorkel on the seaward side of the reef where the depth drops down to about ten meters. Cruising around the reef are schools of bait fish, barracuda, emperor fish, reef sharks, turtles and most amazing of all a huge mantra ray which swam straight below us, its wings spanning at least three metres across. What a fabulous treat to see this graceful creature at the end of what was one spectacular day for all.

Kianna and Ella were so brave, out there exploring the depths of the ocean with us. As we arrived back at the caravan we were so thankful for such an amazing opportunity and as the adrenelin wore off, we were suddenly so tired from the excitement and activity of one very busy and full day. What an amazing world we live in.



Matt's Say: Well I never thought I'd be so stoked to see a 6 meter long fish up close...good thing that these fish eat krill. It was pretty freaky to watch a gloomy shape move from the depths of the Indian Ocean then cruise past us, seemingly so close I could reach out and touch it. Can't do that though...or one of the guides would have fed me to the tiger sharks! I learnt a very important distinction between large tropical water sharks: spots good....stripes bad! Much keener on the spotty ones. I guess it's one of those things...if we'd come all this way and not done the whale shark dive then I'd always wonder and I would have been in trouble with the crew!

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