Exmount, Australia

Yesterday in Exmouth was 111F, today is promised to be much better, only 98F.

Few month ago I booked HAL snorkeling tour to go to Ningaloo Coast. It is UNESCO heritage site. This very highly anticipated tour got cancelled due to no availability of the boat.

The whole town is 2500 people and it looked like majority of houses are empty. Local people come here during winter times in Australia. Summer is low season due to the heat.

So, I booked a rental car in the town and we decide to drive to Ningaloo Coast ourself. According to Google the drive is about 45 min.

We took tender boat and then shuttle that delivered us to the center of this deserted town. Then we walked a little over a half a mile to rental agency.

After getting a car, I drove (on the left side) to Discovery Center, where we got info on where to snorkel. Basically we had three choices: one-short drive from Discovery Center and then 1/2 walk and snorkeling without current, two - Turquoise Bay with strong current and third - Oyster Stacks, where snorkeling possibilities only with a high tide because corals are very close to the shore.

Looked like option one was the only good one for us. The walk to the snorkeling spot thru sand and stones was very difficult. It was hot, the sand was very soft and we were carrying lots of stuff (including three huge bottles of water). But we made it.
The beach is beautiful, water is perfect temperature, but when we started to swim, we quickly realised there is a pretty strong current and we are the only two in the water.

After 15 minutes of fighting the current, we decided it’s not worth the risk and turned around. We still had to walk back to the car.
Not a lot of fish or corals, but it was a pleasant swim.

We rested a little and went back to our car. It was getting really hot. Back in the car, we drove another 20min to Turquoise Bay.

The beach is so beautiful and the water is turquoise color. Few people were in the water, but mostly close to the shore and not snorkeling. We spent a little time on the beach and decided to drive back. The last shuttle from the town was at 3:00pm.

On the way back, we were debating to eat something in the town, or go back on the ship. We had breakfast at 6:30 and it was 2:00pm now. After swimming and walking we were really hungry. We decided to go to the ship.
I dropped Boris and all our stuff at the shuttle stop and drove to rental place. After returning the car I walked back. That 10min walk was like walking in the hot plate.

Back on the ship, we had a quick bite, then shower, rest and a Valentine dinner.
After dinner, there was a party, but we did not attend. Too tired to party.

Overall we enjoyed today, the drive was easy and the swimming was good.Read more