Coming to Exmouth in 2010? Contact us today to make your booking and you'll receive a whopping 20% off any and all tours or courses you book with us!
This offer is only valid on NEW bookings made directly with us via email.
Your email with your specific dates & tour/course requests must be received by 11:59pm 01 January 2010, Western Australia time.
Your payment to secure your spaces must be received no later than 1600 on the 3rd January 2010, Western Australia time. We cannot offer any extensions on this fabulous offer so don't put it off!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Tuesday 29 December 2009
Choppy conditions today around in Lighthouse Bay, but our dive sites never disappoint with the sheer number of fish, sharks, rays, turtles & other nifty critters!
We had some multi-day divers with us and their great desire was turtles so we headed to Labyrinth for our first dive. We found our first turtle about 2 minutes in and kept running across more and more scattered everywhere along the site. At the very end of the dive we even had one swim with us for a while! The nudibranchs have been busy laying eggs and we found a few bright pink egg spirals perched at the top of ledges & fluttering in the mild surge. Schools of snapper, sea perch and trevally hung out over the sand while small white tip reef sharks hid behind them. It was a great dive even though it was pretty dirty.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 4-6m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge is covered in more weed than we've ever seen there before. Lots of cool baby fish and funky nudibranchs are hiding in there for those who have the patience to really look. Most of the big schools of fish that are normally around were a little scattered today instead of grouped up, but all the individuals were there. A big white tip reef shark cruised past our group nice and slowly as we were checking out a well camouflaged wobbegong shark hiding his head under a rocky outcrop. Olive sea snakes were abundant but most of them were tucked under and sleeping; one guy did check out each member of our group, poking his tongue out at each of us in turn. The highlight of our dive was coming across a big leopard shark resting in the sand. A few little fishes were busily giving his gills a scrub and we were able to lay quietly next to him for ages before we had to head back to the boat. Fantastic stuff to see!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 4-6m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 13m
We had some multi-day divers with us and their great desire was turtles so we headed to Labyrinth for our first dive. We found our first turtle about 2 minutes in and kept running across more and more scattered everywhere along the site. At the very end of the dive we even had one swim with us for a while! The nudibranchs have been busy laying eggs and we found a few bright pink egg spirals perched at the top of ledges & fluttering in the mild surge. Schools of snapper, sea perch and trevally hung out over the sand while small white tip reef sharks hid behind them. It was a great dive even though it was pretty dirty.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 4-6m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge is covered in more weed than we've ever seen there before. Lots of cool baby fish and funky nudibranchs are hiding in there for those who have the patience to really look. Most of the big schools of fish that are normally around were a little scattered today instead of grouped up, but all the individuals were there. A big white tip reef shark cruised past our group nice and slowly as we were checking out a well camouflaged wobbegong shark hiding his head under a rocky outcrop. Olive sea snakes were abundant but most of them were tucked under and sleeping; one guy did check out each member of our group, poking his tongue out at each of us in turn. The highlight of our dive was coming across a big leopard shark resting in the sand. A few little fishes were busily giving his gills a scrub and we were able to lay quietly next to him for ages before we had to head back to the boat. Fantastic stuff to see!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 4-6m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 13m
Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Sunday 27 December 2009
We had a little more breeze come in earlier than expected today so the surface was a little choppy as we dropped in for our first dive at Cod Spot. Happily all of the fishes were excited to see us and we had a lovely dive. Big 6 banded angelfish seemed to be everywhere - or a couple were following us! - and we also saw more Emperor Angels than usual, too. A silvery school of small barracuda charged in and out of a big wall of baitfish while lazy cod circled around picking off the unfortunates on the edges. Gorgeous little red & electric blue sea stars scattered over the reef and nudibranchs added little outbursts of colour. The top of this site always astounds us with colour and beauty, no matter how many times we dive it - there are just so many different shades of oranges, yellows, reds, purples, blues, greens and pinks.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
We ducked around to the eastern side of South Muiron Island for lunch and our second dive. East Side Bommies had chop on the surface but the visibility was better and the fish life was really active. Our group kept getting circled by a big school of trevally - so close you could feel them pass! Scorpionfish, moray eels, reef sharks, more nudibranchs and huge clouds of pink anthias kept us engaged as we weaved in and out of the awesome bommies.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 7m
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
We ducked around to the eastern side of South Muiron Island for lunch and our second dive. East Side Bommies had chop on the surface but the visibility was better and the fish life was really active. Our group kept getting circled by a big school of trevally - so close you could feel them pass! Scorpionfish, moray eels, reef sharks, more nudibranchs and huge clouds of pink anthias kept us engaged as we weaved in and out of the awesome bommies.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 7m
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Thursday 24 December 2009
What a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve Day - out on the ocean checking out some diving on the Ningaloo Reef! We headed north to the Muiron Islands (we were meant to go yesterday but it was a little too breezy to be comfortable!) and the sea was calm, the temperatures were hot and the underwater life was teeming!
Fraggle Rock was a little dirtier than we are used to but it more than made up for the lower visibility with an outstanding array of fish. In places, the fish were so thick we couldn't see the reef at all! 100s of nudibranchs were spotted, eels poked from holes, parrotfish & convict surgeons shimmied over the reef in big groups, big angelfish cruised past in pairs ... it was just a great dive for the fishies.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 13m
We decided to see if the other side of the Islands had some clearer water so headed to East Side Bommies. This site blew everyone away again. Masses of fish from top to bottom and covering every bommie. There were even schools of darts, fusiliers and trevally out over the sand. Blue spotted rays looked like they'd been electrified, their brilliant dots glowing so brightly you could see them for miles it seemed. Anthias, chromis and damsels danced merrily above their staghorn corals. Coral cod, blacktipped rockcod, huge estuary cod and brilliantly coloured peacock cod roamed over the whole site and at least one was hiding under every ledge. Perfect way to end the day before a smooth, gorgeous trip back to the marina.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: slight
DEPTH: 8m
Fraggle Rock was a little dirtier than we are used to but it more than made up for the lower visibility with an outstanding array of fish. In places, the fish were so thick we couldn't see the reef at all! 100s of nudibranchs were spotted, eels poked from holes, parrotfish & convict surgeons shimmied over the reef in big groups, big angelfish cruised past in pairs ... it was just a great dive for the fishies.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 13m
We decided to see if the other side of the Islands had some clearer water so headed to East Side Bommies. This site blew everyone away again. Masses of fish from top to bottom and covering every bommie. There were even schools of darts, fusiliers and trevally out over the sand. Blue spotted rays looked like they'd been electrified, their brilliant dots glowing so brightly you could see them for miles it seemed. Anthias, chromis and damsels danced merrily above their staghorn corals. Coral cod, blacktipped rockcod, huge estuary cod and brilliantly coloured peacock cod roamed over the whole site and at least one was hiding under every ledge. Perfect way to end the day before a smooth, gorgeous trip back to the marina.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: slight
DEPTH: 8m
Monday, December 21, 2009
NEWS: Christmas & New Year's Holiday hours & tours
Wow, it's nearly the end of 2009 already! Christmas is only four days away and we're gearing up for a busy couple of weeks as people come to Exmouth & the Ningaloo Reef for some holiday festivities in the sun & sea.
The dive centre will be open from 0900 - 1600 every day except for Christmas Day (25 December)and New Year's Day (1 January).
We have the following tours available over the holiday season - all of these have an 0800 meet time at Exmouth Diving Centre:
There are still spaces available on all of our tours, but we do recommend that you prebook your tours as spaces are limited. You can ring us on 08 9949 1201, drop us an email or pop into Exmouth Diving Centre when you get to town.
Exmouth Diving Centre is located on Payne St, directly behind the Potshot Resort. We are a bright blue building with orange clownfish on the front so we're hard to miss! As you come into town (Murat Rd), you'll see the Caltex on your left - turn here (Maidestone Crescent) and go for not quite one block. You'll see Exmouth's swimming pool on your right - turn right here and we're just up ahead on the right hand side.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Christmas tree worms to get you in the spirit!
The dive centre will be open from 0900 - 1600 every day except for Christmas Day (25 December)and New Year's Day (1 January).
We have the following tours available over the holiday season - all of these have an 0800 meet time at Exmouth Diving Centre:
- Tuesday 22 December 2 morning reef dives
- Wednesday 23 December Muiron Islands
- Thursday 24 December 2 morning reef dives
- Friday 25 December CHRISTMAS DAY - DIVE SHOP IS CLOSED, NO DIVING AVAILABLE
- Saturday 26 December 2 morning reef dives
- Sunday 27 December Muiron Islands
- Monday 28 December 2 morning reef dives
- Tuesday 29 December 2 morning reef dives
- Wednesday 30 December Muiron Islands
- Thursday 31 December 2 morning reef dives
- Friday 01 January NEW YEAR'S DAY - DIVE SHOP IS CLOSED, NO DIVING AVAILABLE
- Tuesday 02 January 2 morning reef dives
Exmouth Diving Centre is located on Payne St, directly behind the Potshot Resort. We are a bright blue building with orange clownfish on the front so we're hard to miss! As you come into town (Murat Rd), you'll see the Caltex on your left - turn here (Maidestone Crescent) and go for not quite one block. You'll see Exmouth's swimming pool on your right - turn right here and we're just up ahead on the right hand side.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Christmas tree worms to get you in the spirit!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 9 December 2009
Another day, another awesome time on the Ningaloo Reef! Today we headed up to the Muiron Islands where both our divers and our snorkellers saw more sea creatures than will fit in a log book (or in a trip report!)
Whalebone displayed its showy colours in the deep blue water - some of the soft corals even had a few polyps out feeding despite the lack of much current or surge. Parrotfish were everywhere showing off their dazzling scales as they noisily munched along the reef - bright green, shiny purple, deep rosy-pink, gaudy turquoise. Blue spotted rays were shoulder to shoulder with big sailfin catfish and neither seemed inclined to move out from under the ledges, instead putting up with the flapping and bumping of the other. Brilliant yellow flutemouths tried to hide behind some rankin cod, hoping to pounce on some unsuspecting lunch. Stripey nudibranchs of several species shimmied across the reef and peeked out from under corals. Gorgeous dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 13m
East Side Bommies - wow! Big cod, reef sharks, sting rays, turtles, schools of convict surgeons, black & white humbugs, neon blue damsels, sparkly green chromis, brilliant hot pink anthias, silver trevally & barracuda, orange & blue nudibranchs...total rainbow of never ending motion today. Outstanding!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Whalebone displayed its showy colours in the deep blue water - some of the soft corals even had a few polyps out feeding despite the lack of much current or surge. Parrotfish were everywhere showing off their dazzling scales as they noisily munched along the reef - bright green, shiny purple, deep rosy-pink, gaudy turquoise. Blue spotted rays were shoulder to shoulder with big sailfin catfish and neither seemed inclined to move out from under the ledges, instead putting up with the flapping and bumping of the other. Brilliant yellow flutemouths tried to hide behind some rankin cod, hoping to pounce on some unsuspecting lunch. Stripey nudibranchs of several species shimmied across the reef and peeked out from under corals. Gorgeous dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 13m
East Side Bommies - wow! Big cod, reef sharks, sting rays, turtles, schools of convict surgeons, black & white humbugs, neon blue damsels, sparkly green chromis, brilliant hot pink anthias, silver trevally & barracuda, orange & blue nudibranchs...total rainbow of never ending motion today. Outstanding!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Friday 27 November 2009
Whoops! I apologise for this blast from the past - I accidentally left it in our drafts folder instead of hitting the publish button!
Exmouth's Ningaloo Reef offered up another fantastic dive day for us. We headed to Gulliver's first up and although there was lots of food (ie floaties) in the water, we still had good visibility and pretty blue water. Today was a cod day: rankin, potato, coral, chinaman, estuary & black tipped rockcod. The octopus were also out and about, showing off their sexy legs & dazzling patterns. Of course, all the usual suspects - sharks, eels, rays, turtles, schools of fish - were glad to see us, too!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Blizzard Ridge had fabulous fish action again - it seems like our resident schooling threadfin pearl perch, snapper and fusiliers are multiplying every week! Big pelagics buzzed through the dive today, too: big spanish mackerel & some enormous golden trevally. Wobbegong sharks were snoozing right out in the open and moray eels of all sizes stuck well out of holes. The cleaning action here was fierce with big lines and multiple cleaner fish & shrimps on every customer. Love this dive site!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Exmouth's Ningaloo Reef offered up another fantastic dive day for us. We headed to Gulliver's first up and although there was lots of food (ie floaties) in the water, we still had good visibility and pretty blue water. Today was a cod day: rankin, potato, coral, chinaman, estuary & black tipped rockcod. The octopus were also out and about, showing off their sexy legs & dazzling patterns. Of course, all the usual suspects - sharks, eels, rays, turtles, schools of fish - were glad to see us, too!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Blizzard Ridge had fabulous fish action again - it seems like our resident schooling threadfin pearl perch, snapper and fusiliers are multiplying every week! Big pelagics buzzed through the dive today, too: big spanish mackerel & some enormous golden trevally. Wobbegong sharks were snoozing right out in the open and moray eels of all sizes stuck well out of holes. The cleaning action here was fierce with big lines and multiple cleaner fish & shrimps on every customer. Love this dive site!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 25 November 2009
Wowie kazowie! What a perfect Exmouth Diving day to head over to the Muiron Islands, the northernmost area of the Ningaloo Reef.
We started at Whalebone and the rich blue water provided a stunning backdrop to all of the red, yellow, orange & pink soft corals. We timed our dives just right to get the maximum effect of the rays of sunlight streaming through - watching the beams dance over the sand, reef and fishes is completely mesmerizing. All of our usual suspects were plentiful: parrotfish, trevally, white tip reef sharks, turtles, blue spotted rays, moray eels, nudibranchs, damsels, anthias, butterflyfish, sailfin catfish. It was almost like diving in an aquarium: beautiful visibility, fish so close & plentiful you almost had to push them out of the way and the colours of the reef seeming like someone had painted the perfect scenery. Oh, and did we mention warm?!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Keyhole's colour was amazing today, too. The water here had a beautiful green hue instead of the truer blue at Whalebone, but it made the sea fans, leather corals and soft corals almost glow. All of the fish were out in force from the smallest anemonefish dancing on the tips of anemones to big estuary cod patrolling the reef edges. Several small schools of convict surgeonfish tumbled over the top of the reef and mid-sized barracudas hung under ledges & over the sand. Fantastic dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We had a delicious lunch and a big drift snorkel at Turtle Bay and it's certainly living up to its namesake! There were turtles everywhere - often in groups of two or three. Mating season has well and truly started! We watched them start to get frisky from the boat and during our snorkel...it's amazing to see them right up close in the water. The turtle action was so awesome it was hard to tear ourselves away to see all the other cool stuff like rays, sharks, eels, anemonefish, threadfin pearl perch, parrotfish, angelfish...excellent snorkel area again today!
We started at Whalebone and the rich blue water provided a stunning backdrop to all of the red, yellow, orange & pink soft corals. We timed our dives just right to get the maximum effect of the rays of sunlight streaming through - watching the beams dance over the sand, reef and fishes is completely mesmerizing. All of our usual suspects were plentiful: parrotfish, trevally, white tip reef sharks, turtles, blue spotted rays, moray eels, nudibranchs, damsels, anthias, butterflyfish, sailfin catfish. It was almost like diving in an aquarium: beautiful visibility, fish so close & plentiful you almost had to push them out of the way and the colours of the reef seeming like someone had painted the perfect scenery. Oh, and did we mention warm?!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Keyhole's colour was amazing today, too. The water here had a beautiful green hue instead of the truer blue at Whalebone, but it made the sea fans, leather corals and soft corals almost glow. All of the fish were out in force from the smallest anemonefish dancing on the tips of anemones to big estuary cod patrolling the reef edges. Several small schools of convict surgeonfish tumbled over the top of the reef and mid-sized barracudas hung under ledges & over the sand. Fantastic dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We had a delicious lunch and a big drift snorkel at Turtle Bay and it's certainly living up to its namesake! There were turtles everywhere - often in groups of two or three. Mating season has well and truly started! We watched them start to get frisky from the boat and during our snorkel...it's amazing to see them right up close in the water. The turtle action was so awesome it was hard to tear ourselves away to see all the other cool stuff like rays, sharks, eels, anemonefish, threadfin pearl perch, parrotfish, angelfish...excellent snorkel area again today!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay 24 November 2009
Outstanding day for diving on the Ningaloo Reef here in Exmouth! Blizzard Ridge was hopping with so many fish we couldn't see where we were going in some places. The olive sea snakes are abundant and active - circling, snoozing, swimming lazily alongside the divers, exploring holes in the reef, chasing each other. We also saw more moray eels and octopus than we could count. Incredibly filled with critters today!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was also teeming with marine life. Turtles were scattered all over the reef and most of them had a nice variety of cleaners - shrimps & fishes - polishing their shells. A small school of mid-sized batfish teased us by coming in close and then effortlessly rising quickly to the surface, swinging around behind us and again getting very close to our heads. Big batfish enjoyed the cleaner wrasse on the cleaning stations. Pink anemonefish were being adventurous - swimming high above their anemones before diving into the heart of the tentacles & peeking over to see if we'd moved on yet. The colours today were amazingly vivid in the almost emerald green water.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Notodoris citrina nudibranch
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was also teeming with marine life. Turtles were scattered all over the reef and most of them had a nice variety of cleaners - shrimps & fishes - polishing their shells. A small school of mid-sized batfish teased us by coming in close and then effortlessly rising quickly to the surface, swinging around behind us and again getting very close to our heads. Big batfish enjoyed the cleaner wrasse on the cleaning stations. Pink anemonefish were being adventurous - swimming high above their anemones before diving into the heart of the tentacles & peeking over to see if we'd moved on yet. The colours today were amazingly vivid in the almost emerald green water.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Notodoris citrina nudibranch
Friday, November 20, 2009
SPECIAL: EXMOUTH DIVING CENTRE HOT NOVEMBER DIVE PRICE
Exmouth Diving Centre's morning reef dives are a HOT DEAL at $135 instead of $165 for the month of November. The reef is rockin' so hustle to get your deal & see the amazing Ningaloo Reef!
Don't forget to check us out and become a Fan of Exmouth Diving Centre at Facebook. Tell your friends, too. If we hit 600 before 30 November, we're giving everyone who books in November for any tour through 2010 an additional 5% discount.
Don't forget to check us out and become a Fan of Exmouth Diving Centre at Facebook. Tell your friends, too. If we hit 600 before 30 November, we're giving everyone who books in November for any tour through 2010 an additional 5% discount.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay 8 November 2009
Wow, yes, we are very far behind with our diving reports and other fun things on this blog. We have been having some connection and email problems that needed to be sorted out and it's meant that the blog has suffered. We hope that everything is fixed and running smoothly now, so enjoy this trip out to Lighthouse Bay from a little earlier in November.
We started at Blizzard Ridge and dropped into 20m visibility and fantastic fish action. There were olive sea snakes everywhere we looked including some very fat ones chasing each other along the top of the ledge. The nudibranchs are out in force in every colour of the rainbow. Our resident schools of threadfin pearl & 5 lined perch have grown and today they were grouped up altogether. Octopus were also abundant and quite a few were perched sitting up straight, keeping a good eye on the divers as we went past. The enormous moray eel had his entourage of cleaners darting to and fro as he swayed in the gentle current. We missed two huge humpback whales swimming right over the dive site by two minutes - but it was pretty cool to see them from the surface anyway. Just awsesome!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was turtle crazy today: loggerheads, green and hawksbill turtles all made a showing and there seemed to be at least one turtle under every ledge we came across. White tip reef sharks cruised and snoozed while blue spotted stingrays blew up huge plumes of sand as they dug for tasty morsels, bluebone and small wrasse darting in to steal whatever they could. Again, nudibranchs were diverse and abundant. Big batfish enjoyed the cleaning stations and wafted side to side low on the sand. It was a stunner of a dive!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20m and super clear blue
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
We started at Blizzard Ridge and dropped into 20m visibility and fantastic fish action. There were olive sea snakes everywhere we looked including some very fat ones chasing each other along the top of the ledge. The nudibranchs are out in force in every colour of the rainbow. Our resident schools of threadfin pearl & 5 lined perch have grown and today they were grouped up altogether. Octopus were also abundant and quite a few were perched sitting up straight, keeping a good eye on the divers as we went past. The enormous moray eel had his entourage of cleaners darting to and fro as he swayed in the gentle current. We missed two huge humpback whales swimming right over the dive site by two minutes - but it was pretty cool to see them from the surface anyway. Just awsesome!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was turtle crazy today: loggerheads, green and hawksbill turtles all made a showing and there seemed to be at least one turtle under every ledge we came across. White tip reef sharks cruised and snoozed while blue spotted stingrays blew up huge plumes of sand as they dug for tasty morsels, bluebone and small wrasse darting in to steal whatever they could. Again, nudibranchs were diverse and abundant. Big batfish enjoyed the cleaning stations and wafted side to side low on the sand. It was a stunner of a dive!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20m and super clear blue
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Monday, November 16, 2009
NEWS: emails are working again!
Yipppeee!! Our outgoing email seems to be working well again and everyone who has been waiting to hear from us should have received your response by now. If you haven't, please double check your inbox and your junk mail or spam folder just in case.
If there's nothing there, send your original email to us again and we will have a reply out to you within 48 hours.
As always, if you need immediate assistance, please ring Exmouth Diving Centre directly on 08 9949 1201 between 0800 - 1700 Western Australia time and our friendly shop crew can help over the phone.
Thanks again for being patience during this technological glitch!
We hope to now have time to add some new trip reports and fun stuff to the blog soon!
If there's nothing there, send your original email to us again and we will have a reply out to you within 48 hours.
As always, if you need immediate assistance, please ring Exmouth Diving Centre directly on 08 9949 1201 between 0800 - 1700 Western Australia time and our friendly shop crew can help over the phone.
Thanks again for being patience during this technological glitch!
We hope to now have time to add some new trip reports and fun stuff to the blog soon!
Friday, November 13, 2009
NEWS: We've been unable to send emails
Exmouth Diving Centre is experiecing some email problems - we have been unable to send emails since Sunday 08 November. We are working on the problem and hope to have it resolved within the next 48 hours.
We are receiving your emails just fine, we just can't get our answers OUT to you! Once we have things sorted out, everyone should have a personalized response answering your questions and helping with your specific Ningaloo Reef holiday plans by this coming Sunday (the 15th).
If you need assistance more quickly, please ring us between 0800 - 1700 at the dive centre on 08 9949 1201 or send us a fax on 08 9949 1680.
We apologise for the incovenience and hope to be running smoothly soon!
Thank you for your patience.
We are receiving your emails just fine, we just can't get our answers OUT to you! Once we have things sorted out, everyone should have a personalized response answering your questions and helping with your specific Ningaloo Reef holiday plans by this coming Sunday (the 15th).
If you need assistance more quickly, please ring us between 0800 - 1700 at the dive centre on 08 9949 1201 or send us a fax on 08 9949 1680.
We apologise for the incovenience and hope to be running smoothly soon!
Thank you for your patience.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Exmouth Dive report - Muiron Islands Sunday 1 November 2009
It was a little breezy when we first started out for our trip to the Muiron Islands today but the wind dropped off all day until there was just enough to take the edge off the day's heat. It turned into a picture postcard day.
We started at Cod Spot and there was big and little action all over the site. All of our usual cods & reef fishes were there. A big bull ray camped out in the sand, totally disinterested in the divers. Several well camouflaged wobbegongs rested out in the open and a multitude of colourful nudibranchs dotted the reef. Two nudibranch species were particularly abundant - Chromodoris coi flapping their mantles and the silky looking black with electric blue spots Tambja morosa. A big school of Benito swarmed through the site, their silver bodies reflecting beams of sunlight in all directions. Brittle stars were also unusually noticeable today - their spindly, spiky legs sticking out from under rocks & ledges and peeking between arms of coral.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone was covered almost end to end with schools of fusiliers; they looked like giant waves rolling back and forth as the bottom fish effortlessly rolled to the top of the school and then back down again. Mesmerizing! One of the biggest wobbegongs we've see in a long time lounged without a care - he was very rotund and just over 2m long! At the opposite end of the scale, several juvenile rock-mover wrasse danced erratically across the sand, grabbing our attention with their movements despite so much other action going on around us. Another fabulous fish-filled dive on a gorgeous, colourful site.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We cruised over to the east side of South Muiron for some lunch and big snorkel at East Side Bommies. This site never disappoints for divers or snorkellers. Today we had turtles, sharks, blue spotted rays, masses of small colourful reef fish, huge estuary cod, shy moray eels, anemonefish and a school of small barracuda - plus so much more we can't list it all!
Our trip back down Exmouth Gulf was glass and we could see whales miles away. We also had quite a few whales very close to us including one mother who decided to have a little rest after checking us out. Her calf wasn't ready for a nap and slapped the water with its tail & pec fins, did mini-spy hops, swam around and around and under its mom and generally had a whale of a good time entertaining us!
We started at Cod Spot and there was big and little action all over the site. All of our usual cods & reef fishes were there. A big bull ray camped out in the sand, totally disinterested in the divers. Several well camouflaged wobbegongs rested out in the open and a multitude of colourful nudibranchs dotted the reef. Two nudibranch species were particularly abundant - Chromodoris coi flapping their mantles and the silky looking black with electric blue spots Tambja morosa. A big school of Benito swarmed through the site, their silver bodies reflecting beams of sunlight in all directions. Brittle stars were also unusually noticeable today - their spindly, spiky legs sticking out from under rocks & ledges and peeking between arms of coral.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone was covered almost end to end with schools of fusiliers; they looked like giant waves rolling back and forth as the bottom fish effortlessly rolled to the top of the school and then back down again. Mesmerizing! One of the biggest wobbegongs we've see in a long time lounged without a care - he was very rotund and just over 2m long! At the opposite end of the scale, several juvenile rock-mover wrasse danced erratically across the sand, grabbing our attention with their movements despite so much other action going on around us. Another fabulous fish-filled dive on a gorgeous, colourful site.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We cruised over to the east side of South Muiron for some lunch and big snorkel at East Side Bommies. This site never disappoints for divers or snorkellers. Today we had turtles, sharks, blue spotted rays, masses of small colourful reef fish, huge estuary cod, shy moray eels, anemonefish and a school of small barracuda - plus so much more we can't list it all!
Our trip back down Exmouth Gulf was glass and we could see whales miles away. We also had quite a few whales very close to us including one mother who decided to have a little rest after checking us out. Her calf wasn't ready for a nap and slapped the water with its tail & pec fins, did mini-spy hops, swam around and around and under its mom and generally had a whale of a good time entertaining us!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Super Exmouth Diving Centre Deal
We've just launched an awesome November special for those of you visiting the Ningaloo Reef between now and next June. Head over to the Discussion Board on our Facebook page for all the juicy details.
Been putting off becoming an Exmouth Diving Centre Facebook Fan? Don't wait any longer coz the only way you can get this deal is to be a Facebook Fan!
Hurry - it's for a very limited time only!
Been putting off becoming an Exmouth Diving Centre Facebook Fan? Don't wait any longer coz the only way you can get this deal is to be a Facebook Fan!
Hurry - it's for a very limited time only!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Critter of the Day: Olive Sea Snakes (Aipysurus laevis)
Sea snakes have a bad rep. Many people are a little (or a lot!) scared of them and when we list them in our dive brief along with all of the other creatures we expect to see, there is always a little collective gasp and nervous looks. But we love our olive sea snakes (Aipysurus laevis)and really want you to love them, too.
Let's get the scary bits out of the way.
Yes, they are poisonous and their venom is nasty, even deadly. They have two small fangs at the front of their upper jaw and inject venom through these when they bite. And, yes, I did say at the front. It's common to hear that sea snakes have their fangs way way in the back that you'd really have to work hard to get a body part in there far enough to get bitten, but that's a myth.
But olive sea snakes are very rarely aggressive and you would have to seriously annoy one to be in danger most likely. Mostly, our olive sea snakes are inquisitive and mellow. They will approach us while we are diving to have a little look-see before wandering off on important sea snake business of their own. I would never be afraid or nervous of an olive sea snake here on the Ningaloo Reef and have had them hang out with me - sometimes wrapped around my neck, arm or leg - for an entire dive. Sea snakes should always be given respect but if you just do your thing, they seem happy to just do their thing. Don't want them to be so close to you? Simply rise a meter or two and they tend to wander back closer to the reef, leaving you alone.
See, that's not so scary, is it?!
Sea snakes give birth to live young and usually have 2-5 each time. The juveniles have darker olive patterns along their backs and these dark areas disappear as they mature. Most adults have creamy coloured, large scales though often they will retain a few darker scales, too. Olive sea snakes can grow to about 2m long.
Mating season, which seems to happen several times a year here on the Ningaloo Reef, always provides crazy active sea snake action. The males, usually smaller than the female they are pursuing, coil, nip, rub, dart around and otherwise annoy the female as they twist together tumbling through the water and into the sand. It's hard to keep up with them and they often zip under coral or ledges.
Olive sea snakes eat small fish, prawns, crustaceans and fish eggs. They are reptiles and are related to turtles, lizards & land snakes. They've adapted to their fully aquatic existence by developing a flattened paddle tail and the ability to remain submerged for up to 30 minutes. They do need to surface to breath and it's not unusual to see them resting in the sun on the surface. Their nostrils have valves that they close while underwater so they don't get water up their noses.
We see olive sea snakes on a wide variety of our dive sites here in Exmouth. Blizzard Ridge in Lighthouse Bay has them on virtually every dive with Gulliver's and Labyrinth also having them more often than not. Our Exmouth Gulf sites will see them most dives while out at the Muiron Islands we see them about half of the time.
Olive sea snakes are very cool critters that you shouldn't be afraid of while you are diving. Enjoy them as they hunt for food, sleep under ledges, swim lazily along with you or poke at your buddy's fins! Once you dive with them you'll fall in love, too.
Let's get the scary bits out of the way.
Yes, they are poisonous and their venom is nasty, even deadly. They have two small fangs at the front of their upper jaw and inject venom through these when they bite. And, yes, I did say at the front. It's common to hear that sea snakes have their fangs way way in the back that you'd really have to work hard to get a body part in there far enough to get bitten, but that's a myth.
But olive sea snakes are very rarely aggressive and you would have to seriously annoy one to be in danger most likely. Mostly, our olive sea snakes are inquisitive and mellow. They will approach us while we are diving to have a little look-see before wandering off on important sea snake business of their own. I would never be afraid or nervous of an olive sea snake here on the Ningaloo Reef and have had them hang out with me - sometimes wrapped around my neck, arm or leg - for an entire dive. Sea snakes should always be given respect but if you just do your thing, they seem happy to just do their thing. Don't want them to be so close to you? Simply rise a meter or two and they tend to wander back closer to the reef, leaving you alone.
See, that's not so scary, is it?!
Sea snakes give birth to live young and usually have 2-5 each time. The juveniles have darker olive patterns along their backs and these dark areas disappear as they mature. Most adults have creamy coloured, large scales though often they will retain a few darker scales, too. Olive sea snakes can grow to about 2m long.
Mating season, which seems to happen several times a year here on the Ningaloo Reef, always provides crazy active sea snake action. The males, usually smaller than the female they are pursuing, coil, nip, rub, dart around and otherwise annoy the female as they twist together tumbling through the water and into the sand. It's hard to keep up with them and they often zip under coral or ledges.
Olive sea snakes eat small fish, prawns, crustaceans and fish eggs. They are reptiles and are related to turtles, lizards & land snakes. They've adapted to their fully aquatic existence by developing a flattened paddle tail and the ability to remain submerged for up to 30 minutes. They do need to surface to breath and it's not unusual to see them resting in the sun on the surface. Their nostrils have valves that they close while underwater so they don't get water up their noses.
We see olive sea snakes on a wide variety of our dive sites here in Exmouth. Blizzard Ridge in Lighthouse Bay has them on virtually every dive with Gulliver's and Labyrinth also having them more often than not. Our Exmouth Gulf sites will see them most dives while out at the Muiron Islands we see them about half of the time.
Olive sea snakes are very cool critters that you shouldn't be afraid of while you are diving. Enjoy them as they hunt for food, sleep under ledges, swim lazily along with you or poke at your buddy's fins! Once you dive with them you'll fall in love, too.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Sunday 18 October 2009
A little delay in getting this trip report up, sorry! Sunday was a glorious day here in Exmouth and the trip to the Muiron Islands couldn't have been better. We had a nice mix of divers and snorkellers on board today and all three sites really put on a show.
Keyhole was stunning with bright colours and blue water. Schools of fish including big barracuda, trevally, jacks, and surgeonfish were plentiful. White tip reef sharks were swimming around and around, with no clear purpose but enjoying the day too much to simply sit still. A couple of shy barramundi cod kept the diver amused playing hide and seek, in and out of the shelter of hard corals. Multiple turtles spread over the site: snoozing, cruising along, having a breath. There was some very cool little stuff like spider shells and a good variety of nudibranchs to keep even the most keen-eyed spotters entertained.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Whalebone was equally as colourful today, the sun was streaming through the water column and sparkling off the floaties giving a disco feel to our decent & ascent - very cool! The fish life was abundant and it seemed like most of them were moving in slow motion, no hurry at all: parrotfish, trumpetfish, damsels, butterflyfishes, angelfishes, trevally, juvenile barracuda. Scorpionfish in a great variety of camouflaged colours & patterns were scattered over the top of the reef and perched on sponges. Our coolest find today was a juvenile rock mover wrasse - spinning along the sand, waving back and forth like a leaf in a breeze.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
East Side Bommies never disappoints and today we had: turtles, blue spotted lagoon rays, more barracuda, anthias, parrotfish, convict surgeons, various tangs, southern drummers, rankin cod, coral trout, octopus, emperor angelfish and more!
Humpback whales serenaded us and showed off with lots of fin slapping. Exmouth Gulf glassed off for our return trip and it was so clear we had fabulous views of the humpback whales swimming right under the boat! Dolphins and flying fish also played around the boat - some of the flying fish gliding so far we wondered if they were ever going to land. It was one of those simply idyllic days here on the Ningaloo Reef.
Keyhole was stunning with bright colours and blue water. Schools of fish including big barracuda, trevally, jacks, and surgeonfish were plentiful. White tip reef sharks were swimming around and around, with no clear purpose but enjoying the day too much to simply sit still. A couple of shy barramundi cod kept the diver amused playing hide and seek, in and out of the shelter of hard corals. Multiple turtles spread over the site: snoozing, cruising along, having a breath. There was some very cool little stuff like spider shells and a good variety of nudibranchs to keep even the most keen-eyed spotters entertained.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Whalebone was equally as colourful today, the sun was streaming through the water column and sparkling off the floaties giving a disco feel to our decent & ascent - very cool! The fish life was abundant and it seemed like most of them were moving in slow motion, no hurry at all: parrotfish, trumpetfish, damsels, butterflyfishes, angelfishes, trevally, juvenile barracuda. Scorpionfish in a great variety of camouflaged colours & patterns were scattered over the top of the reef and perched on sponges. Our coolest find today was a juvenile rock mover wrasse - spinning along the sand, waving back and forth like a leaf in a breeze.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
East Side Bommies never disappoints and today we had: turtles, blue spotted lagoon rays, more barracuda, anthias, parrotfish, convict surgeons, various tangs, southern drummers, rankin cod, coral trout, octopus, emperor angelfish and more!
Humpback whales serenaded us and showed off with lots of fin slapping. Exmouth Gulf glassed off for our return trip and it was so clear we had fabulous views of the humpback whales swimming right under the boat! Dolphins and flying fish also played around the boat - some of the flying fish gliding so far we wondered if they were ever going to land. It was one of those simply idyllic days here on the Ningaloo Reef.
NEWS: Email problems - catching up today!
We apologise for our non-responsiveness over the past few days. We seem to have had a problem receiving some of your emails from 16 - 21 October and they have flooded into our inbox this morning.
We expect to have all of your emails answered by tomorrow morning (23 October, WA time), so if you haven't heard from us by then, please resend your email so we can help you with your Ningaloo Reef holiday planning.
Thanks for your understanding and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
We expect to have all of your emails answered by tomorrow morning (23 October, WA time), so if you haven't heard from us by then, please resend your email so we can help you with your Ningaloo Reef holiday planning.
Thanks for your understanding and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Thursday 15 October 2009
Yippeee! We're back to diving in Lighthouse Bay after another spell of decidedly snotty weather.
Blizzard Ridge welcomed us back with some very curious olive sea snakes poking around our fins and following us along the site for several minutes. The big schools of threadfin pearl perch, five lined sea perch and snappers didn't seem to care that we were back - they just drifted lazily around in circles. It appears that someone has been being quite naughty and taking food down for the fish because the big rankin cod are much more aggressive than usual. Hopefully whoever it was has left Exmouth (we just had school holidays so many many visitors) as these fish can bite and that's not good! Scorpionfish, wobbegong sharks and lots of eels were hanging out along the top edge. So many fish everywhere we looked!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was also active with masses and masses of schooling fish swarming every ledge and even out hovering over the sand. One of the big anemeones is playing host to about 15 little shrimps. A beautifully coloured painted crayfish enticed us in for a closer look by waggling his antennae at us as we cruised past. We saw more than ten white tips, a couple look overly round in the tum so perhaps there will be more little ones soon.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
There were a lot of humpback whales as we rounded the Cape today. Most of them were either swimming slowly or just lazing in the sun, but a couple were half-heartedly slapping their pectoral fins on the surface. They won't stick around much longer so we're enjoying them every chance we get!
Blizzard Ridge welcomed us back with some very curious olive sea snakes poking around our fins and following us along the site for several minutes. The big schools of threadfin pearl perch, five lined sea perch and snappers didn't seem to care that we were back - they just drifted lazily around in circles. It appears that someone has been being quite naughty and taking food down for the fish because the big rankin cod are much more aggressive than usual. Hopefully whoever it was has left Exmouth (we just had school holidays so many many visitors) as these fish can bite and that's not good! Scorpionfish, wobbegong sharks and lots of eels were hanging out along the top edge. So many fish everywhere we looked!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was also active with masses and masses of schooling fish swarming every ledge and even out hovering over the sand. One of the big anemeones is playing host to about 15 little shrimps. A beautifully coloured painted crayfish enticed us in for a closer look by waggling his antennae at us as we cruised past. We saw more than ten white tips, a couple look overly round in the tum so perhaps there will be more little ones soon.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
There were a lot of humpback whales as we rounded the Cape today. Most of them were either swimming slowly or just lazing in the sun, but a couple were half-heartedly slapping their pectoral fins on the surface. They won't stick around much longer so we're enjoying them every chance we get!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 14 October 2009
Pretty, pretty day after several days of annoyingly windy conditions! We started at Whalebone and the schools were plentiful: big-toothed Jacks, sweetlips, fusilers, surgeonfish and bannerfish. A couple of good sized barracuda kept watch over the reef while staying just on the edge of our vision for most of the dive. Nudibranch lovers were delighted to find multiple Notodoris citrina nudis showing off their bright yellow, bumpy selves. Colour, action, masses of fish - great location today!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
The swim-throughs at Keyhole were amazing - jam packed with baitfishes, rockcod & coral cods lining the walls, white tip reef sharks waiting for us on the other end. There was an expolosion of colour here today, too. Lots of different types of nudibranchs, soft corals with their polyps out, giant clams with mantles spread wide. More white tips all over the site and parrotfish munch munch munching away almost drowning out the whale song we could heear!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 10m
East Side Bommies put on a show for us over lunch and during our leisurely snorkel. We had turtles, sharks, blue spotted rays, big big schools of convict surgeons, a school of orange barred surgeonfish, numerous many spotted sweetlips, more green, orange & pink parrotfish, millions of sparkly damsels & anthias...
The humpback whales are still abundant and we watched them for almost the entire journeys out and back. One whale was doing a headstand for us...he would slowly lower himself so only the tip of his fluke was showing then suddenly he'd push straight up so he was standing out of the water almost all the way to his pectoral fins! It was amazing to watch; we've not seen one do this over and over like this before.
Yet another amazing day of diving on the Ningaloo Reef with Exmouth Diving Centre!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
The swim-throughs at Keyhole were amazing - jam packed with baitfishes, rockcod & coral cods lining the walls, white tip reef sharks waiting for us on the other end. There was an expolosion of colour here today, too. Lots of different types of nudibranchs, soft corals with their polyps out, giant clams with mantles spread wide. More white tips all over the site and parrotfish munch munch munching away almost drowning out the whale song we could heear!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 10m
East Side Bommies put on a show for us over lunch and during our leisurely snorkel. We had turtles, sharks, blue spotted rays, big big schools of convict surgeons, a school of orange barred surgeonfish, numerous many spotted sweetlips, more green, orange & pink parrotfish, millions of sparkly damsels & anthias...
The humpback whales are still abundant and we watched them for almost the entire journeys out and back. One whale was doing a headstand for us...he would slowly lower himself so only the tip of his fluke was showing then suddenly he'd push straight up so he was standing out of the water almost all the way to his pectoral fins! It was amazing to watch; we've not seen one do this over and over like this before.
Yet another amazing day of diving on the Ningaloo Reef with Exmouth Diving Centre!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 7 October 2009
Dolphins and humpback whales escorted us through Exmouth Gulf and out to the Muiron Islands for another great day of Ningaloo Reef diving here in Exmouth. We started at Cod Spot and were hassled by the overly friendly spangled emperors as we made our decent down the mooring line. The fish just got bigger and bigger after that! White tip reef sharks were everywhere and an enormous bull ray went from having a snooze in the sand to kicking up clouds of sand searching for a snack. Our best sighting today was the car-sized Queensland Grouper. It has staked out some territory and is charging all comers. We didn't exactly get charged, but he did come in pretty close to us with a clear message to leave! Very cool to be a part of that!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
We motored over to Whalebone for dive two and the green water had really brought in the fish life! There were jacks galore darting here there and everywhere with the largest jacks hanging out under the ledges. Sweetlips were schooling on the southern end and glassfish covered the reef edges. Brightly coloured and patterned nudibranchs crawled over soft & leather corals and peeked out from under staghorn. The whale skull has broken in half and the surge has pushed it up under one of the ledges. Really cool dive!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We had more awesome snorkelling at Turtle Bay and on our trip home a humpback whale calf rolled onto its side and waved to us repeatedly. We think Mom was thankful for us distracting her calf as she laid quietly keeping an eye on things while Jr waved & showed off for us for more than ten minutes!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
We motored over to Whalebone for dive two and the green water had really brought in the fish life! There were jacks galore darting here there and everywhere with the largest jacks hanging out under the ledges. Sweetlips were schooling on the southern end and glassfish covered the reef edges. Brightly coloured and patterned nudibranchs crawled over soft & leather corals and peeked out from under staghorn. The whale skull has broken in half and the surge has pushed it up under one of the ledges. Really cool dive!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We had more awesome snorkelling at Turtle Bay and on our trip home a humpback whale calf rolled onto its side and waved to us repeatedly. We think Mom was thankful for us distracting her calf as she laid quietly keeping an eye on things while Jr waved & showed off for us for more than ten minutes!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Sunday 4 October 2009
Muiron Islands here we come! Today was magnificent with great divers, lovely weather, fabulous marine life action and nice visibility. We started with a dive at Cod Spot and once again it was going off! Masses of fish of every shape, size and colour covered the reef. Big cod hung out in midwater just off the reef structures and barracuda would zip through balls of baitfish faster than speeding bullets. Nudibranchs, crabs, small eels and mantis shrimp were abundant. This was one of those all around great dives!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
We moved over to Keyhole for dive two and it was stunningly gorgeous. The water was a deep, jewel blue and all of the soft corals seemed to have a spotlight of sun rays beaming directly onto them. This is always a lovely site, but today it was an OOOOooooo AAAAaaaahhhh site! A couple of small white tip reef sharks were swimming random patterns over the sand and big groups of parrotfish were munching away on the hard corals. Stunning Emperor Angelfish seemed to be everywhere we looked (or there were two very fast ones always staying a step ahead of us!) and we also saw a couple still with their juvenile patterns. Our best sighting today was a rarity indeed: two Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins came in for a bit of a gander and a playful circle around one of our dive groups! Awesome!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Turtles, rays, anemonefish, schools of convict surgeons, big trevally and countless other types of fish joined us for yet another great snorkel at Turtle Bay. Humpback whales played alongside the boat and entertained us with their antics all along our route. It's good to be out diving in Exmouth!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
We moved over to Keyhole for dive two and it was stunningly gorgeous. The water was a deep, jewel blue and all of the soft corals seemed to have a spotlight of sun rays beaming directly onto them. This is always a lovely site, but today it was an OOOOooooo AAAAaaaahhhh site! A couple of small white tip reef sharks were swimming random patterns over the sand and big groups of parrotfish were munching away on the hard corals. Stunning Emperor Angelfish seemed to be everywhere we looked (or there were two very fast ones always staying a step ahead of us!) and we also saw a couple still with their juvenile patterns. Our best sighting today was a rarity indeed: two Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins came in for a bit of a gander and a playful circle around one of our dive groups! Awesome!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Turtles, rays, anemonefish, schools of convict surgeons, big trevally and countless other types of fish joined us for yet another great snorkel at Turtle Bay. Humpback whales played alongside the boat and entertained us with their antics all along our route. It's good to be out diving in Exmouth!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Friday 2 October 2009
Another fabulous day of diving in Exmouth! Today we dropped in at Labyrinth first and it was turtle mayhem - turtles sleeping, turtles gnawing on coral, turtles swimming alongside the divers, turtles on the suface, turtles heading up and down for a breath or a snooze in the sun. We saw turtles! When we weren't being distracted by all the turtles, we saw white tip reef sharks, schooling batfish, lots of cleaning action, masses of butterflyfish and plentiful nudibranchs. Fun, fun, fun!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was second on our list and we dived a different section than yesterday's visit. Again there were tons of schooling fish - trevally, sea perch, threadfin pearl perch, fusiliers, glassfish - and lots of cleaning action with the cleaner wrasse teaming up to give rankin & estuary cods multi-fish scrubs. Olive sea snakes are starting to feel a little frisky again and there were several individuals chasing other individuals who didn't seem overly interested in the attention! Action packed dive today.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Humpback whales were all along our route again today and we could hear them singing, especially at Blizzard. Spring is awesome!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was second on our list and we dived a different section than yesterday's visit. Again there were tons of schooling fish - trevally, sea perch, threadfin pearl perch, fusiliers, glassfish - and lots of cleaning action with the cleaner wrasse teaming up to give rankin & estuary cods multi-fish scrubs. Olive sea snakes are starting to feel a little frisky again and there were several individuals chasing other individuals who didn't seem overly interested in the attention! Action packed dive today.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Humpback whales were all along our route again today and we could hear them singing, especially at Blizzard. Spring is awesome!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Exmouth Dive report - Lighthouse Bay Thursday 1 October 2009
Fabulous start to a brand new month here in Exmouth on the Ningaloo Reef! Humpback whales were plentiful and playful as we watched from the boat on our way to and from the dive sites. We also had great dolphins playing on the bow and in our wake as we cruised up Exmouth Gulf and as we headed to our dive sites in Lighthouse Bay. There was so much happening on the surface that it was hard to pull ourselves away to kit up!
Blizzard Ridge was full of fish life again today. The 5 lined sea perch population has expanded and there were several huge schools, each with at least 100 individuals. They formed huge walls of yellow and blue, it was impressive. White tip reef sharks, big schools of thredfin pearl perch, lots of rankin cod getting cleaned, wobbegong sharks lazing on ledges, octopus pretending to be invisible - great dive!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's Wall entranced us immediately with two huge manta rays putting on a spectacular show. Our PADI Open Water Course was out for their first two ocean dives and now they've been totally spoiled! The mantas circled us, rubbed a wingtip on heads, played in the bubbles, got a little scrub-a-dub-dub over the cleaning station then circled back to the divers. Needless to say we didn't cover much ground at all on this dive as everyone was riveted! We did pull ourselves away long enough to find mating octopus - always cool, more white tip reef sharks, schooling snapper, several really bright nudibranchs and a couple of big cod lolling around on the sand. Very special dive!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was full of fish life again today. The 5 lined sea perch population has expanded and there were several huge schools, each with at least 100 individuals. They formed huge walls of yellow and blue, it was impressive. White tip reef sharks, big schools of thredfin pearl perch, lots of rankin cod getting cleaned, wobbegong sharks lazing on ledges, octopus pretending to be invisible - great dive!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's Wall entranced us immediately with two huge manta rays putting on a spectacular show. Our PADI Open Water Course was out for their first two ocean dives and now they've been totally spoiled! The mantas circled us, rubbed a wingtip on heads, played in the bubbles, got a little scrub-a-dub-dub over the cleaning station then circled back to the divers. Needless to say we didn't cover much ground at all on this dive as everyone was riveted! We did pull ourselves away long enough to find mating octopus - always cool, more white tip reef sharks, schooling snapper, several really bright nudibranchs and a couple of big cod lolling around on the sand. Very special dive!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Dive report - Muiron Islands Sunday 25 September 2009
A beautiful day in Exmouth took us out diving to the Muiron Islands again. All along the way we saw humpback whales jumping and playing and having a grand old time being whales. During our dives and on our snorkel we could hear them singing away - that is just one of the coolest sounds underwater.
We dived Cod Spot to start our day and it was hopping - it was so busy that we didn't even mind the slight drop in water temperature! All of the usual Ningaloo reef fish, turtles, stingrays, eels and crabs were abundant but this site really put on a show with special creatures today. Olive sea snakes were lazing on the surface, sniffing for morsels and curiously eyeing the divers. White tip reef sharks circled the site endlessly in big looping, lazy circles. We had two different sights vie for the "best of day" - a gorgeous manta ray taking its sweet time, checking us out, meandering along the reef and a humongous Queensland Grouper! The Queensland Grouper was an easy 3m and looked to be as big around as our bus. LOVE IT!
WATER TEMP: 20C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone never disappoints but it had a lot to live up to today. We think all of the fish knew that they'd better put on a special show for us because they were out in force, just blanketing the reef in shimmery colours. The soft corals were also showy as most of them had their little tentacles out feeding in moderate surge and light current. Pinks, reds, oranges, bright yellows...soft corals are always beautiful but there's something entrancing about watching them when they have their tentacles extended. Small damsels and anthias darted in and out, most of the time their bright colours clashing dramatically with the colours of the corals they were dancing in front of - no camouflage for them today! The swim-throughs were jam packed with small glassfish and more medium sized cods than we've seen in a while. Every crevice held something cool today.
WATER TEMP: 20C
VISIBILITY: 7-8m
CURRENT: very light
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
We dived Cod Spot to start our day and it was hopping - it was so busy that we didn't even mind the slight drop in water temperature! All of the usual Ningaloo reef fish, turtles, stingrays, eels and crabs were abundant but this site really put on a show with special creatures today. Olive sea snakes were lazing on the surface, sniffing for morsels and curiously eyeing the divers. White tip reef sharks circled the site endlessly in big looping, lazy circles. We had two different sights vie for the "best of day" - a gorgeous manta ray taking its sweet time, checking us out, meandering along the reef and a humongous Queensland Grouper! The Queensland Grouper was an easy 3m and looked to be as big around as our bus. LOVE IT!
WATER TEMP: 20C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone never disappoints but it had a lot to live up to today. We think all of the fish knew that they'd better put on a special show for us because they were out in force, just blanketing the reef in shimmery colours. The soft corals were also showy as most of them had their little tentacles out feeding in moderate surge and light current. Pinks, reds, oranges, bright yellows...soft corals are always beautiful but there's something entrancing about watching them when they have their tentacles extended. Small damsels and anthias darted in and out, most of the time their bright colours clashing dramatically with the colours of the corals they were dancing in front of - no camouflage for them today! The swim-throughs were jam packed with small glassfish and more medium sized cods than we've seen in a while. Every crevice held something cool today.
WATER TEMP: 20C
VISIBILITY: 7-8m
CURRENT: very light
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Dive report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 23 September 2009
Exmouth has been unusually windy with a big swell and it has limited our diving over the past few weeks, but happily we've been able to head out to the Muiron Islands every few days for some great diving and snorkeling.
Today we started at Keyhole for some awesome soft corals, tons of fish, a few turtles and a couple of huge sting rays. The sailfin catfish appear to have had more babies recently as there were 5 or 6 separate balls of rolling babies tucked up next to ledges. A big fat moray eel was having a dentist appointment - amazing how wide they can open their mouths! Beautiful parrotfish loudly crunched coral but they couldn't come close to competing with the humpback whales singing for volume!
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m
We headed around to the East Side of South Muiron Island for some snorkelling and our second dive. East Side Bommies are always interesting and today was no exception. Most of the site is very shallow, but everything - including big guys - seem to come in and hang out. Today we had a group of four huge barracuda slowly circling the site, stacked one on top of each other. There's been an explosion of humbugs with 100s of the pretty black & white fish darting in and out of the safety of the staghorn coral in perfect synchronization.
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 10m
Today we started at Keyhole for some awesome soft corals, tons of fish, a few turtles and a couple of huge sting rays. The sailfin catfish appear to have had more babies recently as there were 5 or 6 separate balls of rolling babies tucked up next to ledges. A big fat moray eel was having a dentist appointment - amazing how wide they can open their mouths! Beautiful parrotfish loudly crunched coral but they couldn't come close to competing with the humpback whales singing for volume!
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m
We headed around to the East Side of South Muiron Island for some snorkelling and our second dive. East Side Bommies are always interesting and today was no exception. Most of the site is very shallow, but everything - including big guys - seem to come in and hang out. Today we had a group of four huge barracuda slowly circling the site, stacked one on top of each other. There's been an explosion of humbugs with 100s of the pretty black & white fish darting in and out of the safety of the staghorn coral in perfect synchronization.
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 10m
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Dive report - Muiron Islands Sunday 20 September 2009
It was a little rough and windy today as we set out for our full day tour to the Muiron Islands but it was totally worth it once we got underwater! Cod Spot was first up and there were fish everywhere! The cod were in two phases - lazing on the sand and darting furiously through the mid-sized schools of baitfish that decorating almost every coral outcrop. The humpback whales were singing up a storm and we could hear them so loud and clear that it sounded like they were right next to us. All of the usual reef suspects were plentiful and active: eels, sharks, rays, turtles, parrotfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, trevally and more. Our best sighting today was the enormous manta ray that swam right over our heads! It was gorgeous and completely blocked out the sun as it glided over us. Magnificent!
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone had a special visitor today - one of the biggest potato cod ever! He was so cool, coming right up to the divers with his big fat lips and googly eyes. The visibility was a little poorer here and it muted some of the fabulous colours on this site, but there was still enough vibrancy coming through to make it pretty. Lots and lots of small damsels, fusiliers and anthias darted in and out of the coral while large silver trevally and barracuda patrolled very close to the ledges. It was a really engaging dive being able to get so close to everything.
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 5-7m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: strong
DEPTH: 14m
We saw plenty of humpback whales on our trips out and back, but most of them were simply sunning themselves or swimming slowly along, doing big blows every third breath or so. Very peaceful day!
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone had a special visitor today - one of the biggest potato cod ever! He was so cool, coming right up to the divers with his big fat lips and googly eyes. The visibility was a little poorer here and it muted some of the fabulous colours on this site, but there was still enough vibrancy coming through to make it pretty. Lots and lots of small damsels, fusiliers and anthias darted in and out of the coral while large silver trevally and barracuda patrolled very close to the ledges. It was a really engaging dive being able to get so close to everything.
WATER TEMP: 21C
VISIBILITY: 5-7m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: strong
DEPTH: 14m
We saw plenty of humpback whales on our trips out and back, but most of them were simply sunning themselves or swimming slowly along, doing big blows every third breath or so. Very peaceful day!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Trip report - Sunset Humpback Cruise Thursday 17 September 2009
Exmouth Gulf was gorgeous this afternoon and early evening as we cruised out of the marina to look for humpback whales. We had barely cleared the heads when we saw our first whales cavorting off in the distance. As we drove closer to them, we also got to see several whales lazily swimming along near the surface, the spray from their exhaled breath hanging in the still air.
We spent a while with a few different mellow whales, watched several different calves breach repeatedly and observed a couple of small groups of whales circling each other & doing mini-spy hops. Then we started a leisurely cuise back towards the marina. Not long into our return journey we had a big manta ray feeding at the surface so we stopped to watch it swim in a straight line one way, then gracefully flip over and swim back along the same line.
Right after the manta ray we were joined by two humpback whales who seemed curious about us. They came right to the boat, swam under us, swam around us, spy hopped, slapped their pectoral fins on the water, spy hopped some more, took big loud breaths not 5m from the boat and generally kept us glued in place for about half an hour! They caused us to stay out a little longer than we expected but what a fantastic way to end the tour!
We spent a while with a few different mellow whales, watched several different calves breach repeatedly and observed a couple of small groups of whales circling each other & doing mini-spy hops. Then we started a leisurely cuise back towards the marina. Not long into our return journey we had a big manta ray feeding at the surface so we stopped to watch it swim in a straight line one way, then gracefully flip over and swim back along the same line.
Right after the manta ray we were joined by two humpback whales who seemed curious about us. They came right to the boat, swam under us, swam around us, spy hopped, slapped their pectoral fins on the water, spy hopped some more, took big loud breaths not 5m from the boat and generally kept us glued in place for about half an hour! They caused us to stay out a little longer than we expected but what a fantastic way to end the tour!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Diver Bites NEWS: Grey Nurse Shark rescue
Score one for the good guys! Local Sydney divers Mark & Tatiana went the extra mile to help one of Australia's endangered sharks have a chance at survival. The Grey Nurse Shark - Carcharias taurus - is the first shark to receive protection from the Australian Government and the species is listed as Critically Endangered. This species is also known as the Raggytooth in South Africa and Sandtiger in the U.S.
Julian Rocks in Byron Bay, New South Wales, is an extremely popular spot for divers to encounter the Grey Nurses. We do get Grey Nurse Sharks here on the Ningaloo Reef at some sites, at some times of the year, but they are not as numerous or as reliable as at The Rocks.
Head on over to ScubaBoard to check out the story and some photos - here's the direct link -> Grey Nurse Rescue I don't think you have to be a member to see the link, but it's free to join anyway :)
Big kudos to Mark, Tatiana, the team from Sea World and those in government who actually pushed the paperwork through to get this done! Well done, All!
Julian Rocks in Byron Bay, New South Wales, is an extremely popular spot for divers to encounter the Grey Nurses. We do get Grey Nurse Sharks here on the Ningaloo Reef at some sites, at some times of the year, but they are not as numerous or as reliable as at The Rocks.
Head on over to ScubaBoard to check out the story and some photos - here's the direct link -> Grey Nurse Rescue I don't think you have to be a member to see the link, but it's free to join anyway :)
Big kudos to Mark, Tatiana, the team from Sea World and those in government who actually pushed the paperwork through to get this done! Well done, All!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay Thursday 17 September 2009
Yay! A short window of low winds and swell saw us sneak out for two fabulous Exmouth dives today. We trekked into Lighthouse Bay and checked Blizzard Ridge first. Much better visibility than the other day and just as much action. Moray eels must have heard that we were talking about them as they were everywhere in all sizes. All of the usual schooling fish, sea snakes, snapper, cod, white tip reef sharks were out and about, too. It felt like every lionfish that's ever lived on Blizzard Ridge was back for a reunion today - and many of them were out hunting, too. Awesome dive, too much to list!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was up next and WOW the action! White tip reef sharks all over the sandy areas, big snapper and rankin cod mid-water being very curious about the divers, stingrays galore including a giant bull ray. The giant clams had their mantles way out today and the electric blues and purples shone in the distance like neon signs in Vegas - it was surreal. So many schooling sea perch it made us dizzy. Cleaning stations were rockin' with many spotted sweetlips, more rankin cod and even some large angelfish. Fabulous!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was up next and WOW the action! White tip reef sharks all over the sandy areas, big snapper and rankin cod mid-water being very curious about the divers, stingrays galore including a giant bull ray. The giant clams had their mantles way out today and the electric blues and purples shone in the distance like neon signs in Vegas - it was surreal. So many schooling sea perch it made us dizzy. Cleaning stations were rockin' with many spotted sweetlips, more rankin cod and even some large angelfish. Fabulous!
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
NEWS: Welcome our newest diver!
This little cutie scampered into the dive centre this morning and we're looking for its human
Its just the sweetest, softest, snuggliest little kitten ever & those blue eyes - awwwww! Please spread the word and if you know someone in Exmouth who's missing one, please have them get in touch with us!
Its just the sweetest, softest, snuggliest little kitten ever & those blue eyes - awwwww! Please spread the word and if you know someone in Exmouth who's missing one, please have them get in touch with us!
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay Tuesday 15 September 2009
Exmouth was a little breezy and choppy today but we pushed through it and had two great dives in Lighthouse Bay. Blizzard Ridge was insane with action! As descended, big spangled emperor challenged us all the way down the line coming right up to our masks and nipping at our hands. Naughty fish! Olive sea snakes are at it again, mating everywhere we looked. White tip reef sharks, a huge roughback stingray, tons of schooling fish and nudibranchs made every inch of space interesting to look at. We also had juvenile batfish, lionfish and cleaning action. Extremely active dive.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 3-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was just as busy, but without the renegade snapper on the line! Two chunky estuarine cod were just hanging out at the bottom of the mooring line when we arrived and didn't seem inclined to move. They were still there when we returned, swaying gently on the sand. We had an extra member in our dive group once we got to the main site - an enormously fat olive sea snake followed us for virtually the entire dive. He wasn't aggressive at all, though he was a little intimidating for those who haven't dived with one before! We had numerous turtles all along the site, colourful nudibranchs waving in the surge and tumbling balls of sailfin catfish under every ledge. So much happening!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 3-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
We also watched a group of about 8 bull humpbacks harassing a single female humpback whale. It was quite the spectacle!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 3-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was just as busy, but without the renegade snapper on the line! Two chunky estuarine cod were just hanging out at the bottom of the mooring line when we arrived and didn't seem inclined to move. They were still there when we returned, swaying gently on the sand. We had an extra member in our dive group once we got to the main site - an enormously fat olive sea snake followed us for virtually the entire dive. He wasn't aggressive at all, though he was a little intimidating for those who haven't dived with one before! We had numerous turtles all along the site, colourful nudibranchs waving in the surge and tumbling balls of sailfin catfish under every ledge. So much happening!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 3-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
We also watched a group of about 8 bull humpbacks harassing a single female humpback whale. It was quite the spectacle!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Critter of the day: Moray Eels
Moray eels are found on every dive site we have here on the Ningaloo Reef. Most of the time you will see just their heads, or even just their noses, sticking out a hole or ledge to clue you in that there is some cool critter lurking. Often, as you get closer, the eels will actually come out farther to check you out a little bit better!
Most eels have extremely sharp teeth (and poor eyesight) so waving fingers in front of them is not a good idea, though they are not considered "dangerous" as unprovoked attacks are virtually unheard of. An eel bite can be very nasty and is prone to infection; I've seen infection set in over a matter of hours and the diver had to can the rest of his planned dives!
All of the eels we encounter are quite happy to let you get in nice and close so you can see all of their teethies or so you can get a really nice photo. The exception is our humongous giant morays - they're simply scary with their sheer size and have no fear! You just need to learn to be calm, respect the eel's space and not accidentally get too close.
Exmouth gets a great variety of eels on our Ningaloo Reef sites. Not only do we get a diverse selection of gorgeously patterned eels, we get bright yellow dwarf morays, almost pure white morays and other bright colours, too. Most of the eels we encounter are alone but sometimes you will find two or three snuggled in a crevice.
Gymnothorax melatremus - Dwarf morays tend to be some of the shyest we come across and if your shadow falls across one or it feels you in the water it will often retract deep into its hole. It's unlikely it will pop its head back out during the duration of your dive, so its important to give them a little more space.
These pretty guys have several common names: Leopard spotted, Tesselated eel, Giraffe moray or Black-blotched - Gymnothorax favagineus
Some eels are no bigger around than your finger while others can grow so large you wonder if you could actually even get your arms around them! It's often hard to tell how long an eel is as they usually prefer to keep most of their bodies hidden but we know we get eels that can be up to 3m! Usually the fatter they are, the longer they are.
Often there are bonus creatures hanging out in the same hole with eels: crabs, shrimps, nudibranch and small fish. Eels also seem to be a dirty lot - cleaner wrasse and a variety of cleaner shrimps seem to be constantly working hard. Sometimes the shrimp are almost bigger than the morays!
Snowflake or Starry eels (Echinda nebulosa) are a pretty rare sight here on the Ningaloo Reef so it's always exciting when someone reports seeing one. They differ from our other eels not only by their beautiful markings, but also by their blunt teeth which are perfect for eating their favourite food - crustaceans (they will also eat fish, of course).
Chances are very good that you will be able to observe several different species of moray eels when you dive with us at Exmouth Diving Centre. Remember to talk with your guides if you are particularly interested in them and they will do their best to find more eels and hopefully a cleaning station or two for you!
Most eels have extremely sharp teeth (and poor eyesight) so waving fingers in front of them is not a good idea, though they are not considered "dangerous" as unprovoked attacks are virtually unheard of. An eel bite can be very nasty and is prone to infection; I've seen infection set in over a matter of hours and the diver had to can the rest of his planned dives!
All of the eels we encounter are quite happy to let you get in nice and close so you can see all of their teethies or so you can get a really nice photo. The exception is our humongous giant morays - they're simply scary with their sheer size and have no fear! You just need to learn to be calm, respect the eel's space and not accidentally get too close.
Exmouth gets a great variety of eels on our Ningaloo Reef sites. Not only do we get a diverse selection of gorgeously patterned eels, we get bright yellow dwarf morays, almost pure white morays and other bright colours, too. Most of the eels we encounter are alone but sometimes you will find two or three snuggled in a crevice.
Gymnothorax melatremus - Dwarf morays tend to be some of the shyest we come across and if your shadow falls across one or it feels you in the water it will often retract deep into its hole. It's unlikely it will pop its head back out during the duration of your dive, so its important to give them a little more space.
These pretty guys have several common names: Leopard spotted, Tesselated eel, Giraffe moray or Black-blotched - Gymnothorax favagineus
Some eels are no bigger around than your finger while others can grow so large you wonder if you could actually even get your arms around them! It's often hard to tell how long an eel is as they usually prefer to keep most of their bodies hidden but we know we get eels that can be up to 3m! Usually the fatter they are, the longer they are.
Often there are bonus creatures hanging out in the same hole with eels: crabs, shrimps, nudibranch and small fish. Eels also seem to be a dirty lot - cleaner wrasse and a variety of cleaner shrimps seem to be constantly working hard. Sometimes the shrimp are almost bigger than the morays!
Snowflake or Starry eels (Echinda nebulosa) are a pretty rare sight here on the Ningaloo Reef so it's always exciting when someone reports seeing one. They differ from our other eels not only by their beautiful markings, but also by their blunt teeth which are perfect for eating their favourite food - crustaceans (they will also eat fish, of course).
Chances are very good that you will be able to observe several different species of moray eels when you dive with us at Exmouth Diving Centre. Remember to talk with your guides if you are particularly interested in them and they will do their best to find more eels and hopefully a cleaning station or two for you!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Dive report - Muiron Islands 9 September 2009
What better way to spend 09 09 09 than underwater out at the Muiron Islands?! The morning started off with a fresh breeze that dropped to almost nothing as the day went on - it was a stunner!
We cruised, watching humpbacks play along our route, to Cod Spot for the first dive of the day and it was teeming with big fish. There were lots of white tip reef sharks, masses of schooling fusiliers and very large jacks spinning around the main bommie. An enormous roughback stingray ignored us as he lazed in the sand. Unusually big semi-circular angelfish seemed to be everywhere, but if you looked carefully you could also see quite a few tiny juveniles dancing in and out of crevices.
WATER TEMP: 22-23C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none to mild
DEPTH: 16m
Dive two was at Key Hole and again there were numerous white tip reef sharks all over the site. The coolest sight today had to be the schooling barracuda - streaks of silver with big menacing jaws just circling and circling endlessly. It was awesome. A group of 150+ convict surgeons flashed their yellow selves over and over the reef, first tumbling over the top and then cascading down the side of a ledge. They move so fast it's amazing they don't bump into each other! This site also had lots of small critters: nudibranchs, sailfin catfish, little coral crabs, moray eels no bigger around than an index finger. One of those great dives!
WATER TEMP: 22-25C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We enjoyed a huge lunch and a big snorkel through Turtle Bay. It was very active with turtles, rays, sharks, parrotfish, small cod and tons of sparkly small reef fish in all colours of the rainbow. Extremely pretty today.
We cruised, watching humpbacks play along our route, to Cod Spot for the first dive of the day and it was teeming with big fish. There were lots of white tip reef sharks, masses of schooling fusiliers and very large jacks spinning around the main bommie. An enormous roughback stingray ignored us as he lazed in the sand. Unusually big semi-circular angelfish seemed to be everywhere, but if you looked carefully you could also see quite a few tiny juveniles dancing in and out of crevices.
WATER TEMP: 22-23C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none to mild
DEPTH: 16m
Dive two was at Key Hole and again there were numerous white tip reef sharks all over the site. The coolest sight today had to be the schooling barracuda - streaks of silver with big menacing jaws just circling and circling endlessly. It was awesome. A group of 150+ convict surgeons flashed their yellow selves over and over the reef, first tumbling over the top and then cascading down the side of a ledge. They move so fast it's amazing they don't bump into each other! This site also had lots of small critters: nudibranchs, sailfin catfish, little coral crabs, moray eels no bigger around than an index finger. One of those great dives!
WATER TEMP: 22-25C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We enjoyed a huge lunch and a big snorkel through Turtle Bay. It was very active with turtles, rays, sharks, parrotfish, small cod and tons of sparkly small reef fish in all colours of the rainbow. Extremely pretty today.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
NEWS: Dead humpback whale in Exmouth Gulf
A few days ago an adult humpback whale was found floundering just off the inter-tidal zone in the Bundegi Sanctuary in Exmouth Gulf. The whale was clearly in distress and not doing very well so it came as no surprise when yesterday's news of its death reached us.
The humpback has ended up right up in the shallows that are dry during low tides. DEC has decided to leave the whale carcass there for nature to dispose of over time.
Already the predators are making their presence felt and all people are advised not to enter the water near the whale. Several 2.5m+ tiger sharks, along with a variety of other species of shark, have been seen feeding. Sharks can feed in extremely shallow water so everyone needs to be aware that approaching the whale when there is any water at all is potentially dangerous. You can see some of the damage already done to the whale by predators (down the side and underneath) along with the blistered skin from being stranded in the sun (along the top)
DEC has closed the moorings in Bundegi Sanctuary for the next six weeks. This will not effect our diving plans as we do not usually access the area for diving at this time of year. All of our diving sites in Lighthouse Bay, VLF Bay, the Muiron Islands and further south along the coast are still accessible and not considered to have any increased risk.
The humpback has ended up right up in the shallows that are dry during low tides. DEC has decided to leave the whale carcass there for nature to dispose of over time.
Already the predators are making their presence felt and all people are advised not to enter the water near the whale. Several 2.5m+ tiger sharks, along with a variety of other species of shark, have been seen feeding. Sharks can feed in extremely shallow water so everyone needs to be aware that approaching the whale when there is any water at all is potentially dangerous. You can see some of the damage already done to the whale by predators (down the side and underneath) along with the blistered skin from being stranded in the sun (along the top)
DEC has closed the moorings in Bundegi Sanctuary for the next six weeks. This will not effect our diving plans as we do not usually access the area for diving at this time of year. All of our diving sites in Lighthouse Bay, VLF Bay, the Muiron Islands and further south along the coast are still accessible and not considered to have any increased risk.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Dive report - Muiron Islands Monday 31 August 2009
Sunday was too windy to head out on our usual tour, so we postponed until Monday and what a good choice! It was a gorgeous trip at the Muiron Islands here in Exmouth! Humpback whales were cavorting all along our path both in the morning and in the afternoon with several spyhopping very close to the boat. We had glassy conditions for the return voyage and the clear conditions really showed off the amazing colours of the Nor'West Cape.
The dives were also fantastic with very pretty blue water, tons of activity and pretty good visibility. Our first dive site was Fraggle Rock - one of our favourites - and boy were things hopping! The soft corals had their polyps out, white tip reef sharks cruised around & around and a good sized school of large batfish floated on their sides over the sand as they got cleaned. All of our usual reef fish like butterflyfish and angelfish were out in force as were nudibranchs. It was outstanding for colour today.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two was at Key Hole and it vied for the brightest colours of the day, too! On this site we had balling catfish and sailfin catfish everywhere. They just blanketed the lower ridges. A nice school of barracuda hung motionless but seemed to follow us along the site - it was a little disconcerting, but very cool! The swim throughs were magnificent: filled with cod and baitfish, brightly coloured with sea fans and darting reef fish, illuminated with the most beautiful streaming sunlight. The whole dive was simply stunning.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
After some lunch we headed to Dinner Plates for some more snorkelling action where multiple turtles, blue spotted rays, small sharks and millions of fusiliers showed off for us.
The dives were also fantastic with very pretty blue water, tons of activity and pretty good visibility. Our first dive site was Fraggle Rock - one of our favourites - and boy were things hopping! The soft corals had their polyps out, white tip reef sharks cruised around & around and a good sized school of large batfish floated on their sides over the sand as they got cleaned. All of our usual reef fish like butterflyfish and angelfish were out in force as were nudibranchs. It was outstanding for colour today.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two was at Key Hole and it vied for the brightest colours of the day, too! On this site we had balling catfish and sailfin catfish everywhere. They just blanketed the lower ridges. A nice school of barracuda hung motionless but seemed to follow us along the site - it was a little disconcerting, but very cool! The swim throughs were magnificent: filled with cod and baitfish, brightly coloured with sea fans and darting reef fish, illuminated with the most beautiful streaming sunlight. The whole dive was simply stunning.
WATER TEMP: 22C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
After some lunch we headed to Dinner Plates for some more snorkelling action where multiple turtles, blue spotted rays, small sharks and millions of fusiliers showed off for us.
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