Coral Bay WA

Today we officially started our return journey heading south.

A very early departure from Exmouth had us in Coral Bay by 7:30 am, just in time for coffee and breakfast at the bakery before boarding ‘Utopia’ for a day on the water snorkelling with Manta Rays (the fourth of our ‘swim with’ experiences).

It didn’t take long for the spotter plane to find our first Manta and for us to slide into the water and swim over the top and alongside this graceful creature. Interestingly Mantas have unique markings on their underbelly enabling them to be individually identified.

In addition to the Mantas, throughout the day we spotted dolphins, turtles, bull rays and a shark attack - actually two Bronze Whalers snacking on a defenceless bait ball.

Once back inside the shelter of the reef we enjoyed snorkelling the ‘Mazes’ with its calm crystal clear water and abundance of corals and tropical sea life. I even saw a shark! The kids (and kids at heart) also had great fun jumping off the top deck of the boat.

We rounded off yet another great day exploring the Ningaloo Reef with a delicious seafood platter at the local cafe.

Our accommodation for the night is the Ningaloo Coral Bay Caravan Park which is packed full of caravans, motor homes and tents, even more so than Exmouth. The caravan park is literally bigger than the town itself and definitely the centre of activity.

Although we’ve only experienced a very small part of what Coral Bay has to offer, it has certainly impressed - especially the immaculate aqua water with perhaps our best reef snorkelling experience so far. It's definitely on the list of places to come back to one day.Read more