Coral Bay and Ningaloo Reef

Day 4- Arriving at Coral Bay

We woke up at 5:30 am to start a long day of driving up to Coral Bay. We stopped at Carnarvon on the way through to break things up a bit, but overall there was nothing much to report from this day. We saw two wild kangaroos jump across the road, a male and a female. You can tell the difference because the males are a darker reddish color. We also saw seen some goats and sheep. Barry, one of the tour guides, explained to us that many farms are about a half million to a million acres, and that the sheep and goats just roam free. Their movement can be controlled by where the water is placed. They need a lot of land because of food scarcity and harsh conditions.

Earlier in the day we stopped at a plateau in the middle of the outback to get a few pictures. The photos really don’t do the view justice.

We also stopped at Gwoonwardu Mia, a Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre. We saw some great aboriginal artwork there and hung out for a bit next to the café.

There was a shopping centre where we saw a “Target Country,” which was pretty funny. We went inside and I really have no idea why its called that.

The cafe at the Aboriginal center- designed by the local kids.

Our next stop was at a harbor riverside for a picnic lunch before pulling into the Coral Bay campsite. The campsite was beautiful, and the town is incredibly tiny- pretty much just one street in front of the beach with a few shops (dive shops and cafes), a trailer park (where we camped), and a backpackers hostel. The campsite was really nice and I was glad we got to stay for two nights. Before we set up our tents we got to hang out at the beach for a while, wading in the shallow water. Because the reef is so close to the shore, stingrays were swimming around in the shallows so you had to watch where you stepped. We also spotted a bunch of large, colorful fish.

Day 5- Exploring Ningaloo Reef

The next day I signed up for a five-hour snorkeling tour with Manta Rays- the first time I had ever been! We got up early to head over to the dive shop, got our gear, and took a bus over to the tour boat.

Onboard the boat.

Once we were over some coral we jumped in to test out our gear for 45 minutes before we began looking for the Mantas. It was fun, but kind of stressful getting used to the gear for the first time. I saw a small reef shark and a few fish before my mask started fogging up- when the tour guide started pointing out “the biggest jellyfish she’s seen here” a few feet away from us and I couldn’t see it, I knew it was time to swim back to the boat and switch gear!

After the test run we all got back on board, had “morning tea,” then they sent up the small plane to spot the Mantas. It was a full moon for the few nights we were there so the reef was really active, and the Mantas were in to be cleaned. As soon as they spotted one we split into 2 groups and took turns swimming behind it- it was a massive female, about 4 meters wide- pretty much as big as they get! It was incredible because she was swimming nice and slow with the current while getting cleaned by fish, so it was easy to keep up. Most of the time I was floating only a few feet above her back. Definitely my favorite part of the day!

The Manta!

Awesome picture my friend Kimbra took.

We let the Manta go on her way and got onboard for lunch, where they drove over to a turtle breeding ground. We saw a bunch of different turtles surfacing, as well as a 9-foot Tiger Shark…or as the driver put it, “big enough to eat a man.” We went and warned some locals who were swimming and I actually didn’t think too much of it, but when I got back and looked it up the Tiger Shark is pretty much second most dangerous to the Great White! Good thing I didn’t know that at the time, haha. We then drove over to the outer reef, where the waves are breaking, for another 45 minute snorkel. This was where I realized that I am definitely not as strong of a swimmer as I thought- the current was really strong so I just decided to chill over this one section of coral near a long rope with a buoy they had hanging off the back of the boat.

The Tiger Shark.

The top of the boat- chasing the Tiger Shark to get some pictures!

Warning the locals- got back on the boat to go look for it.

Shantee, Me, and Emily

When we got back to the dock, we saw a huge Queensland Grouper while waiting for the bus. I thought that was awesome because it’s really similar to the groupers that I worked with at the aquarium.

What a Queensland Grouper looks like- bigger than the Goliath Groupers I would feed at the aquarium.

When we got back to the dive shop we got free snorkel rentals and explored from the beach- we really didn’t have to swim too far to see some coral, although it wasn’t as bright as the reefs farther out. It was another great night of hanging out with friends and sleeping under the stars at Coral Bay!