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Another fabulous day here in Exmouth out on the Ningaloo Reef on our Whale Shark Adventure!
We started with a great snorkel on Central Station and saw all of our usual favourites: turtles, sharks, blue spotted stingrays, parrotfish, stars & stripes puffers, boxfish, convict surgeons, trevally, threadfin pearl perch...and MANTA RAYS! It doesn't matter how many times we see these guys, we always get excited!
Again today we had multiple whale sharks and multiple swims with each one. Mostly they were pretty slow and they let us stay for quite a while. One of them was gliding up and down from the surface to about 10 meters below us and back up again, over and over - clearly feeding and enjoying the abundant food source while totally ignoring us. We spent a lot of time in the water with the big guys today!
We also had more humpback whales as we cruised along the back of the reef. Their plumes of exhalations were enormous and hung in the air for ages. Wonderful!
A bit breezy this morning and a good sized swell coming in, so we did not do a scuba dive today but did have a great snorkel first thing. Always so much to see: turtles, rays, parrotfish, barracuda, white tip reef sharks, fusiliers, sweetlips. Great way to start our day!
The whale sharks today were wonderful again. We swam with three different whale sharks and the first two were 6-7m each. They got progressively slower as we swam with them...the first couple of drops on the first shark got our blood pumping a little bit! By our last drop on the third whale shark - by far the smallest one - it seemed the whale sharks had figured out that we weren't nearly as quick as they were and he was nice and slow, so we barely had to fin at all! What a fantastic day again!!
Today is the first day of 2011 with the humpback whales!! They were cruising north on their annual migration and we saw them in the morning as we headed south for our whale sharks. At the end of our day several groups of humpbacks accompanied us almost the whole way back. Beautiful to watch them with the backdrop of the Nor'West Cape behind them.
Central Station started our Whale Shark Adventure off with a bang today. Stacks of fish everywhere we looked, some reef sharks, a turtle and manta rays! Yay!! We love manta rays! We saw two swimming along the reef during our scuba dive and the snorkelers had another one that they were able to hang out with in the shallows.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 6-9m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
We found our first whale shark well before noon again today and swam our little hearts out. We had a BIG 8m whale shark who was awesome to watch: we were in the water looking towards where we knew he was but couldn't really see him and then this enormous mouth started to appear and all of a sudden BAM there was this huge fish!
It's a bit mind-blowing how something so large and something you know is right there can be virtually invisible like that.
Such a great day with our mantas, multiple whale sharks, great people, yummy food, fantastic snorkeling and postcard perfect weather!
Labyrinth was fantastic today! One of our groups saw two manta rays as they were coming down the mooring line - nice way to start a dive! There are almost solid walls of baitfish in several spots along the site and tuna, mackerel, trevally, coral trout and rankin cods were shooting through gobbling snacks and scattering the glittering fish everywhere for a few seconds before they reformed. And turtles. Too many to count and almost all of them very mellow and willing to let divers get up close for some great shots. One turtle swam with me for 15 minutes, it was amazing!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: very slight
DEPTH: 15m
Blizzard Ridge didn't have the schools of baitfish, but had huge schools of slightly larger (but still juvenile) snapper, fusiliers and sea perch. The fish were packed so densely you couldn't see another diver only 2m away! Wobbegongs, white tip reef sharks, olive sea snakes, goatfish, batfish, coral cods, pairs of lionfish, moray eels of all sizes and a showoff octopus putting on a very cool display - great time underwater!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 15m
We saw a few dolphins on the way out and on the way back, too!
Another fabulous day out whale sharking here in Exmouth! No wind, calm seas, warm water and plenty of marine life!
We started with a dive at Central Station with turtles, white tip reef sharks, blue spotted lagoon rays, a big school of thread fin pearl perch, parrotfish, swarms of convict surgeons, a tawny nurse shark and tons more. The site was nice an active today!
DEPTH: 17m
TEMP: 27C
VIZ: 6-8
SURGE: none
CURRENT: very mild
We found our first whale shark pretty early and he was nice and slow to ease us into the day. We had multiple drops with him before finding two more sharks for more and more drops! One of our sharks was accompanied by about a zillion tiny to midsize fish swimming frantically under his chi in and all of the sharks had suckerfish under their bellies.
It was a very good day with beautiful conditions!
Central Station has cleared up a bit and more fish are moving in, too. We had great white tip reef sharks, rankin cods, coral trouts, threadfin pearl perch, stars & stripes pufferfish and a gorgeous schools of batfish with yellow fins circling in the blue water just above the reef. Octopus, nudibranchs and eels were abundant and a lone frogfish peered out at us from his hidey hole on the bottom edge of a ledge.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 6-9m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
It was a gorgeous day to be out on the ocean and it's a good thing because the whale sharks were late to pop up today! When they finally did, we hopped in for lots of good swims. They weren't fast today so it was easy to take a lot of time to watch the effortless movement through the water and most were surprised at how tired they were when we got back on the boat all tired after swimming!
Master Chompy, one of our favourite returning whale sharks, put in an appearance and let us swim pretty much forever with him. He's a very mellow & relaxed whale shark!
A good start to the big Easter weekend :)
Congratulations to our eight newest PADI Open Water divers!
They had an awesome dive course with two dives out at the Muiron Islands and two dives in Lighthouse Bay - all four dives were filled with so many different sea creatures there wasn't enough room in the log books to record them all!
One of our students has fallen so in love with diving with us here on the Ningaloo Reef that she's committed to several months of diving every day and training hard to achieve her PADI Dive Master certification - way to go, Constance!!
Thanks to Andreas for sending us this great group shot of Exmouth Diving Centre's newest PADI Open Water Divers - we hope you all get to dive again very soon!
You know it's going to be a good diving day when you are on the way to the dive sites and bottlenosed dolphins are leaping 20' into the air in your wake!
Gulliver's was hopping with shark action today - white tip reefies everywhere we looked and wobbegongs trying to pretend they were rocks. Turtles - hawksbills and greens - were popping up on the surface, swimming alongside the divers and giving themselves a good scratch on the reef. A couple of turtles were snacking away on some of the (overly) abundant red bell jellyfish. Barracuda, trevally, 6 banded angelfish, pink anemonefish, batfish, hawkfish, neon damsels and tons of gobies were just some of the fishes we enjoyed. Super dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was also full of good stuff. The giant moray eel made an appearance and swam along for about 30m before weaving his way through some gaps in the reef. The schools of glassfish and baitfish are starting to increase and there was some feeding action by a few predator fish. Looks like the Emperor Angelfish have been busy - there were heaps of psychedelic coloured juveniles flitted about as well as a few adults. Cutest juvenile firefish with the most delicate fringe on his fins. Mating nudibranchs. More wobbies, white tips and turtles plus all of the usual schools of perch, sea pike, bullseyes and clouds of anthias. We were all smiling ear to ear and talking over one another about the cool stuff we found on this dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Fabulous day with the whale sharks today!
We started with a stop on the Ningaloo Reef for some diving and snorkeling at Central Station. There was a lot of action to see with coral trout, estuary cod, turtles, white tip reef sharks, raccoon butterflyfish, strawberry cod, crocodilefish, blue spotted rays, nudibranchs, sailfin catfish, parrotfish, long fin bannerfish and so much more!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 3-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
The whale sharks were super cooperative today and we once again had so many drops and swam so much that everyone was too tired to do any more! We swam with three different sharks ranging in size from 3.5 - 7m and all of them let us spend a lot of time with them. A couple of them were very curious and kept doing little circles around us and coming right up to the boat - we love it when they pay attention to us!
Stunner of a day!
We started in crystal blue, flat water at Central Station for an awesome dive and snorkel. White tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, turtles, more fish than we could count, sting rays and octopus. A big leopard ray met us right at the bottom near the mooring and his spots were amazing! Later in the dive a huge cowtail ray rested half buried in sand while divers swam up nice and close. Just such an excellent site today!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 20-25+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
And the whale sharks were amazing, too. We swam with three today and had so many swims with them that we were all too exhausted to do any more! Our favourite whale shark today was actively feeding and standing on his tail. He would come right up to the back of the boat, mouth opening and closing, sucking down plankton for all he was worth! He even nose-bumped the marlin board and boat several times. Awesome doesn't even begin to describe our time with the whale sharks today, but it will have to do!
Out to the Muiron Islands for a special Thursday trip and we saw tons! Cod Spot was showing off masses of baitfish, tiny eels, wobbegong sharks, tuskfish, emperor angelfish, rankin cod, white tip reef sharks, honeycomb cods and lots of small parrotfish. This site was very active with feeding, cleaning and territorial displays today - so much to watch!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone also had lots of action and even more densely packed fish life. Schools of convict surgeonfish, five lined sea perch, trevally and sea pike. Huge 6 banded angelfish and green parrotfish. Tiny colourful nudibranchs. A good-sized roughback ray partially buried in the sand. Goatfish, snapper, damsels, anthias, wrasses...fish, fish and more fish!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Oh what a glorious Sunday! Gulliver's was first up and we were greeted by a trio of mackerel darting back and forth as soon as we put our heads underwater. The white tip reef sharks were being cheeky: allowing us to creep up close then flicking themselves forward a few feet causing a big sand storm between us. A huge loggerhead turtle kept pace for a while before heading off into the distance. Schools of five lined sea perch, goatfish and bulleyes; many spotted sweetlips & rankin cods at the cleaning stations; crazy shrimp & bouncing anemonefish; moray eels; blue spotted rays; semi-circular angelfish and stacks more. Fabulous dive that we didn't want to end!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15-20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
The water when we pulled up to Blizzard Ridge was insanely blue. When we dropped over we discovered it was filled with tons of floaties (all food for the fishies!) but the blueness went on forever. Masses of glass & baitfish, a big roughback ray in the sand, wobbegong sharks under ledges, white tip reef sharks patrolling, olive sea snakes getting frisky with each other and us, nudibranchs, octopus, more cleaner shrimp action and clouds of bright pink anthias. A++ dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 20-25+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Another glorious day here on the Ningaloo Reef!
We dived and snorkeled at Central Station and the conditions were pretty nice. Blue water set a nice background for the unicornfish, trevally, small barracuda, snapper and cods. Moray eels, cleaner shrimp, nudibanchs and hermit crabs dotted the reef while blue spotted rays and one big cowtail ray took to the sand.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
The whale sharks were enthusiastically playing the game today and we had multiple drops on multiple sharks from very early on in our search! Most of the whale sharks we swam with today were from 4-7m and almost every one of them was swimming at a pretty leisurely pace which made tit perfect for spending lots of time with them.
A couple of the whale sharks we saw today did do the up and down thing a bit and it's so amazing to watch them move. They would swim along the surface, then dive gently & effortlessly disappearing into the deep...only to just as easily glide right back up in front of us again! Wonderful day out!
Woohoo!! Exmouth's whale shark season is starting with fantastic sharks popping up everywhere!
It was a little swelly first thing this morning, so we postponed our scuba dive and snorkeled on the reef instead. The Ningaloo Reef put on great snorkeling with all manner of reef fishes from tiny to huge. Afterward, we headed south towards where the whale sharks have been over the past few days and it wasn't long until we were on our first whale shark of the day.
We ended swimming with six different whale sharks ranging in size from about 3.5m - 8m! We even swam with Chompy, a returning whale shark who is missing most of its dorsal fin thanks to an attack several years ago.
A couple of the whale sharks were happily sucking down plankton with their mouths wide open and heads bobbing. Almost all of them were swimming pretty slowly today which made keeping up with them a whole lot easier after we'd been doing it a while.
We has awesome, long swims on almost every drop with every whale shark and, boy, were we tired by the time we left the whale sharks to head home!
On the way back, we stopped for a relaxing snorkel on the reef and the scuba divers jumped into much calmer and clearer conditions than we'd seen in the morning. Central Station was buzzing with parrotfish, scorpionfish, threadfin pearl perch, blue spotted lagoon rays, octopus, white tip reef sharks, mantis shrimp, convict surgeonfish, cardinalfish and tons more.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
An awesome day out on the Ningaloo Reef!
Magical day! Indo-Pacific Humpback and bottlenose dolphins escorted on our way out to the Muiron Islands today so things were off to a fantastic start before we even hit the water.
Cod Spot was teeming with big and little marine life today. Wobbegong sharks, white tip reef sharks, moray eels of all sizes, leatherjackets, parrotfish, baitfish, sting rays, schools of convict surgeonfish, barracuda, a stonefish...it was a feast for our eyes!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
Whalebone was also filled with fish and critters from top to bottom! Six-banded angelfish, Emperor angelfish, several species of butterflyfish, trevally, shrimps, drummers, many spotted sweetlips, snapper, perch, nudibranchs, scorpionfish, humbugs and bright neon damsels were just a few that we saw. Great dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 13m
We also had a terrific snorkel on the east side of the Islands, finally the visibility has gotten a whole lot better in this area. The Coral Gardens were amazing with the quantity of reef fish, blue spotted rays, Christmas tree worms, sea pike...but our best sighting of the snorkel site was THREE LEOPARD SHARKS!! So cool.
And then more dolphins on the way home. Fantastic!!
Another beautiful day here on Ningaloo Reef and we headed for Lighthouse Bay. We decided to check out Razor's as we haven't dived it since the cyclones have come through and wanted to see how the sea fans have held up. Not well. Most of them are only a fraction of their size pre-cyclones, which is sad, but it will be interesting to see how quickly they grow back. There were still plenty of fish - parrotfish, honeycomb cod, goatfish, anthias, surgeonfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, trevally, squirrelfish and lots more! Eels, small crabs, shrimps and tiny nudibranchs were tucked in every nook. The best sighting on this dive was a beautiful tawny nurse shark swimming past us!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Labyrinth was over-run with turtles again today! We love our green turtles. Octopus, nudibranchs, coral trout, rankin cod, batfish, anemonefish, moorish idols, white tip reef sharks, blue spotted lagoon rays...this site was pretty active today and everyone had a fabulous time!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 12m
Our first Whale Shark Adventure for 2011 was fabulous!
We started our day with a snorkel & dive at Central Station. The conditions were lovely and there were lots of fish to entertain us. Bluebone, Coronation Trout, Estuary Cod, Queenfish, Batfish, Threadfin Pearl Perch, Trevally, Sailfin Catfish, parrotfish, buttrflyfish, angelfish, anemonefish, moorish idols... Small reef octopus were also pretty cool!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 6-10m
CURRENT: mild
DEPTH: 18m
The first couple of whale sharks we found were doing the bounce thing -up and down, up and down - so it was tricky to get any good time with them. But then the next whale shark we found was happy to stay up with us and we had some excellent swims! And the next two whale sharks we had were great, too! Most of the whale sharks we saw today were in the 4-6m range and all were beautiful - yay for whale shark season again!!
We had an excellent snorkel on the way back to the mooring, too. A big roughback ray under a ledge, gorgeous nudibranchs, lionfish, bright Christmas tree worms and lots of small reef fish. After the dive, while we were cruising along, we saw some dugongs - an awesome end to the day!
Attention all PADI Dive Masters & Instructors on the Ningaloo Reef!
The 2011 PADI Member Update is happening next Monday - 28 March at the Novotel Ningaloo!
6.30pm for drinks & chatting before the Update begins.
This year the format is slightly different as we will have a drink & canapes before the one hour update and then another drink afterwards - so now there are two great reasons to attend: getting all the gos' about the new PADI stuff you need to know and having a free drink with some great people!
David Oliver has asked if you can please let him know if you will be attending so he can organize catering. You can contact him directly or drop us a note with ATTENDING PADI MEMBER UPDATE in the memo line - EMAIL US HERE.
What a beautiful day to be out on the ocean!
We headed out to the Muiron Islands, confident that the visibility was finally clearing up and were rewarded with great blue water on dive one at Whalebone. The colours of the soft corals were vibrant blues, yellows, oranges, pinks and purples. A big school of drummers spun a flashing silver funnel from the bottom almost to the surface as we hovered nearby trying not to get dizzy. The swim thrus had a little bait action and some medium sized cods hanging out in the shadows. Nudibranchs, sailfin catfish, yellow flutemouths, mangrove jacks and blue spotted lagoon rays caught our eyes and a funny batfish weaved back and forth across the sand. We had a lovely dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: mild; current & chop on surface
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
The breeze started to come in, so we tucked around to the other side of the Islands for the rest of the day and did dive two at East Side Bommies. Unfortunately, the visibitliy wasn't as great, but the water was still blue and there were 1000s of small things to see up close: eels, Christmas tree worms, damsels, anthias, firefish, blue spotted rays, shrimps, porcelain crabs and anemonefish. We also had some white tip reef sharks, pairs of moorish idols, lots of bright yellow butterflyfish, purple, orange & green parrotfish and many other pretty reef fish. A relaxing & enjoyable dive!
Gorgeous day to be out on the ocean!
Labyrinth greeted us with green turtles everywhere! This has been a very good year for turtles, it seems, and we've got every size imagineable. Batfish, cleaning stations, hunting coral trout, tuskfish digging in the sand, blue spotted sting rays, tiny mantis shrimp, octopus and a big, fat cowtail ray were just the tip of the iceberg on all we saw today.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 6-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge had more consistent visibility and excellent creatures. Wobbegong sharks, lionfish, anemonefish, olive sea snakes, trevally, barracuda, snapper, more octopus, nudibranchs, banded cleaner shrimp and lots of rankin cod. In one of the crevices four enormous estuary cod hunkered down, their eyes rolling up to keep an eye on us as we cruised overhead. Great dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
After some nice water close to the Cape this week we thought we'd head out to the Muiron Islands for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately, the clear water didn't quite make it out here!
We stopped at Whalebone for dive one and it was dirty. Very dirty. Luckily there were masses of fish - trevally, surgeonfish, bluebone, damsels, parrotfish, butterflyfish, angelfish, sea pike, various wrasses - but you had to be pretty up close to see them! The brilliantly coloured corals couldn't compete with the murky water and looked like muted blobs of oranges, pinks and yellows. It was still an OK dive thanks to the marine life, but we would like it a bit clearer for next time!
WATER TEMP: 30C
VISIBILITY: 2-4m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We trekked around to the other side of the Islands to see if the water was any better. It wasn't much. Nor'East Bommies was active with lots of zooming trevally, some barracuda, lionfish pressed up against the bommies and blue-spotted stingrays trying to make things even dirtier as they kicked up sand looking for afternoon snacks.
As so often happens here on the Ningaloo Reef, even on a really yucko viz day we were treated to something awesome - a brilliant yellow & electric blue ribbon eel!! Definitely not something we ever expect to see and once again proves that it can never be too dirty and you can never dive a site enough times!!
WATER TEMP: 30C
VISIBILITY: 2-3m
CURRENT: none; slight surface chop
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Rumor had it that the water in Lighthouse Bay was clearing up so we headed out with positive spirits. We weren't disappointed as we found the clearest water we've had in weeks!
Dive one took us to Blizzard Ridge and the clear blue water set off all the lionfish, olive sea snakes, schools of snapper & threadfin pearl perch, wobbegongs, sting rays, white tip reef sharks, moray eels, nudibranchs, rankin cod, anemonefish, damsels, anthias and other fishies very nicely, thank you! Can't wipe the smiles off our faces after this dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
We checked out Labyrinth next and it was super active! Turtles, turtles and more turtles. Batfish everywhere - in schools and at the cleaning stations. Coral trout shooting this way and that, tormenting small shoals of baitfish. Nudibranchs, octopus, morays, shrimps and tiny crabs adorned the reef. A huge estuary cod watched us without much interest from the comfy hole he'd carved in the sand. If possible, we were all smiling even more than we were after the first dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
The reports on the water conditions out at the Muiron Islands were not good, so we headed into Lighthouse Bay today instead. On the upside, the reef was active; on the downside, you had to get pretty close to things to see them - luckily our marine life seems to love divers!
Blizzard Ridge had lots of schools of trevally, threadfin pearl perch, snappers and baitfish tucked in tight formations today and mostly they just swayed in the water column as one. The octopus seem to love these conditions and there were countless number of them out and about, bravely standing straight up and even walking proudly across bits of reef. The nudibranchs weren't as diverse as normal - we saw five different species - but there were quite a few scattered here and there. Olive sea snakes, lionfish, white tip reef sharks and blue spotted rays went about their business as usual. Best find today was a gorgeous big whiptail ray - unbelievable how long those tails can get!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 3-5m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
We had a good surface current at Labyrinth for dive two, but it disappeared as we reached the site underwater. The turtles were everywhere again and we ended up losing count about half way through the dive! White tip reef sharks were alternately lazing on the sand ignoring us or swimming small, seemingly aimless circles before crashing back into the sand. An unusually pretty wobbegong shark was hanging out under a ledge and tiger cardinalfish wafted over his head and in front of his nose with impunity. Trios of butterflyfish and duos of moorish idols added little spots of bright yellow throughout the dive.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 2-4m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Exmouth finally got off Red Alert at around 7 a.m. this morning - yay!!
There seems to have only been a little damage here or there around town and we are all thankful for that. Cleanups are going strong and business is back to normal.
And speaking of back to normal - we have email and our computer system up and running again!! Double YAY!
We expect to be working late tonight to try to catch up on everything, so please be patient a while longer. We foresee having all emails answered and bookings confirmed by the close of business on Friday. If you have not heard from us by 5 p.m. Friday, Western Australia time, please email us again - we don't think we lost any data, but we aren't 100% sure and don't want to miss anyone.
The 9 a.m. BOM map shows Tropical Cyclone Carlos right over Exmouth.
It's pouring rain but right at the moment the wind is relatively light - the rain is finally coming straight down instead of sideways! Looks like it's going to be a long, gray, yucky day.
Exmouth remains on red alert this morning as Category 2 Cyclone Carlos comes over the top of us.
So far it's been windy, torrentially rainy & noisy all night, preventing any kind of real sleep! But we don't seem to have excessive damage as yet, though there are stronger winds predicted for this morning - along with more rain.
Pretty much all the roads in the area are closed thanks to this system so please make sure you check Main Roads before traveling.
Burkett Road Gascoyne ALL CLOSED
Coral Bay Road Gascoyne ALL CLOSED
Karratha Road Pilbara ALL CLOSED
Minilya-Exmouth Road Gascoyne ALL CLOSED
North West Coastal Highway Gascoyne Carnarvon to Karratha CLOSED
North West Coastal Highway Gascoyne/Pilbara Carnarvon to Great Northern Highway turn-off CLOSED
Warlu Road (Karratha-Tom Price Rd) Pilbara ALL CLOSED
Tropical Cyclone Carlos has moved back up to a Category 2 and Exmouth has just gone onto red alert.
The police have just started with the sirens and announcements. Everyone should be taking shelter until the all clear is given.
Right now, we only have a moderate breeze and a few showers coming through but overnight that is expected to intensify.
Stay safe all those in the path!
Attention Everyone Waiting for Emails:
As we started answering emails and sending out confirmations this morning, our hard drive went kablooey!
We are working hard to try to recover the data and to get a second system up and running so we can get back to giving you fantastic customer service.
Please be patient as so far today we have been unable to recover the data and will continue working on it tomorrow. So if we told you that we would have something to you today or tomorrow morning, that will be pushed back by about 24 hours at this stage.
You can contact us via phone on 08 9949 1201 between 0800 - 1700 daily if you need assistance more urgently and can't wait!
We'll keep you up-to-date with our progress - fingers crossed we can get things in order fast and with no loss of information!
Cyclone Carlos has reformed and the current BOM track has it heading directly over Exmouth. We are on Blue Alert and expect to go to Yellow by tomorrow morning and Red during Tuesday sometime.
It is currently predicted to be a category 2 when it reaches us and we are all hoping for no serious damage!
If you are thinking about traveling up this way in the next day or so, please don't! If you're out on the roads already, make sure you are checking the latest road conditions at Main Roads. There's bound to be more road closures due to heavy rainfall so please be careful.
The dive centre will be closed once we are on yellow alert and we expect to be closed at least for Wednesday, as well. You can still contact us by phone 08 9949 1201 from 0800 - 1700 daily.
Well, the weather here in Exmouth has been exceptionally strange for the last few weeks! We haven't ever seen a February with so much wind, so much rain, so many cyclones and storms and such dirty, dirty water.
The forecast for the next week isn't that crash hot either, so we have decided to do all the maintenance on the boats and other bits and bobs that we usually spread out over a bit of time all in one fell swoop since we can't get out diving anyway.
This means we will not be offering any dive courses or dive tours for the rest of the month of February.
We expect to be running tours and courses again - weather permitting, of course - on 1st March.
The dive centre itself is open for all of your hire gear and purchasing needs. Please see our big white board outside the shop for daily hours.
Our email and phones are business as usual and we are busily taking bookings for all of our diving & courses and the fabulous 2011 Whale Shark Season which will be starting in a short few weeks! There's still time to hop on our tours so drop us a line or give us a ring on 08 9949 1201.
We look forward to seeing you all soon!
We are currently accepting applications for more crew for our upcoming Whale Shark Season!
We are looking for fabulous PADI Dive Masters and Instructors to join our team. You will dive our great sites, swim with whale sharks, play with manta rays and work with some excellent people.
You need to email us so we can send out all the details on how to apply.
We will accept applications only until this Wednesday so don't wait too long!
Finally there is going to be some competition and you are no longer restricted to Skywest for your flights!
Qantas has officially opened bookings for Perth to Learmonth (the Ningaloo Reef's airport, located about 45kms south of Exmouth and just over 100kms north of Coral Bay)!
They currently have an introductory price on ONE WAY travel for these dates:
30/03 - 20/04 2011
and
10/05 - 07/07 2011
There are flights three times a week Wed, Fri & Sun.
This sale is only on from 02 - 09 February 2011 so don't miss it!!
These are perfect dates to visit to catch the mighty whale sharks this season. Email us now to organize all of your Whale Shark Adventures, snorkeling and scuba diving tours.
We are having beautiful & hot days lately and so a couple of us headed off for a bit of a snorkel in Exmouth Gulf after work today.
As we headed back to shore, we got to watch a big band of red dust swoop up into a towering pillar - it was very cool and definitely not something we get to see every day!
Thankfully Tropical Cyclone Bianca turned out to be a dud.
We had a couple of squalls and some moderately high winds but very little damage. We are very thankful that she didn't turn into anything nasty!
She did stir things up pretty good and the water is dirty, but hopefully a few days of calm will help settle things down and we can resume diving and enjoying our underwater time again soon.
Exmouth is now on RED ALERT for Cyclone Bianca and everyone has been advised to take shelter immediately.
As I write this the wind is picking up a bit, but it's still relatively OK outside. We are expecting stronger winds, a big storm surge and rain as the afternoon and evening progress.
Updates are available on the BOM site.
Exmouth is currently on yellow alert thanks to Cyclone Bianca skimming the coast just north of us.
We are not expecting any serious damage or threat from this storm at this stage, though as with all cyclones, that could change and we will be keeping an eye on things!
We will definitely not be diving Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Depending on what happens with Cyclone Bianca over the next 24-48 hours we may be able to head out on Sunday and we will try to keep the blog and our Facebook up-to-date.
You can check the latest weather updates and cyclone track at the BOM site.
We finally have a real internet connection back after almost two weeks of it being so slow we could barely check the mail! We'll be getting to some of the backlog of dives soon we hope.
Another beautiful day here on the Ningaloo Reef! We headed to Blizzard Ridge to get the action started and all of the fish came out to see us. Lionfish were scattered along the entire site and there was one group of four snugged up on a ledge while another floated just above them with his fins spread right out. Huge estuary cod floated behind us as we checked out the masses of schooling threadfin pearl perch, snapper and sea pike. Several octopus were out and about putting on a show, colourful nudibranchs displayed their garish colours and juvenile sailfin catfish wriggled just outside their lairs. A friendly olive sea snake adopted our fins and poked around from diver to diver for several minutes before getting bored and wandering off on more interesting business. Great dive!
WATER TEMP: 30C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: mild to moderate on the surface, mild underwater
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Green turtles were everywhere on Labyrinth from the time we stopped the boat to the time we left! Underwater they were getting cleaned, scratching their shells on bits of reef, swimming along lazily beside us and snoozing as we came in for a close up. A 2m leopard spotted whiptail ray was half buried in the sand right where we dropped in and a fatty wobbegong shark draped over the reef just a few meters further down the reef. Bannerfish, emperor angelfish, 6 banded angelfish, raccoon butterflyfish, pink anemonefish, neon damsels, blue-green chromis and hot pink anthias added color to the deep blue water. Nudibranchs, hermit crabs and white mouth morays were tucked in here and there all over the site. This dive was amazing for the amount of things we saw everywhere we looked!
WATER TEMP: 30C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was an excellent first choice for us today! White tip reef sharks were cruising, green turtles were abundant and curious, batfish of all sizes were crowding the cleaning stations, blue spotted rays were making a mess in the sand and various brightly coloured wrasse were darting in to help tidy up. Octopus were being coy and peeking out of their holes and extending a single tentacle before wildly changing colours and zipping their arms in close again. Tuskfish, coral trout, Nor'West Snapper, cardinalfish, trevally, barracuda, mackerel, parrotfish and many spotted sweetlips were out to be seen. When we stopped to take a closer look we found bubble coral shrimps, tiny hermit crabs with bright yellow antennae, multi-hued nudibranchs, little moray eels and gobies staring at us as they defended their territory. Fabulous dive!
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was just as active, but the visibility was about half. No matter, there was more than enough to see up close and we didn't even miss the clearer water! Rankin cod and snapper were zooming through small congregations of baitfish, a porcupinefish bobbed along beside us for a few minutes before twirling his fins and motoring off back the way we'd come, longfin bannerfish waved in formation and fusiliers opened their mouths wide so the cleaner wrasse could get in deep for a thorough clean. Every ledge held something cool: nudibranchs, eels, crabs, juvenile fish. Several of the tiger cardinalfish had mouths filled with eggs. Everyone had a very nice dive and came back eager to check the books as we tried to remember everything.
WATER TEMP: 30C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
What a lovely day to head out to the Muiron Islands! We stopped at Cod Spot for dive one and were treated to some amazing grey reef shark action! One did a tail-stand as cleaner wrasse hurried about their jobs and three other grey reefies patrolled the perimeter. Two of the patrol kept darting in to take pot shots at the various small fish scurrying for cover along the reef. It was very cool! We also had a big bull ray who was so thick through the body that he looked like a small mountain in the middle of the sand. A big cobia checked the divers out making us all wonder where his usual Big Friend was. All of the usual fish - angels, butterflys, trevally, barracuda, wobbegong sharks, baitfish, batfish, snapper, damsels - were abundant and the colors of of the leather corals made a lovely backdrop to the action.
WATER TEMP: 31C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
Nor'East Bommies was next up for a fabulous dive! Crazy amount of fish life! Schooling drummers, trevally, sea pike, and convict surgeons. Lionfish. Big estuary cod & a potato cod. Orange, yellow, red, purple, blue damsels, anthias & other small reef fish. Wobbegong shark under a ledge & sleeping white tip reef sharks out in the sand. Coral trout & rankin cod. Christmas Tree Worms, nudibranchs and sparkly shrimp. Trumpetfish Fantastic!
WATER TEMP: 31C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 10m
We had a lovely trip home and on the way we saw a big & a little minke whale!
Woohooo! We love the Muiron Islands! Cod Spot was our first dive site and we were greeted by a fantastic variety of cods and other fishes: flowery cod, estuary cod, rankin cod & black tipped rock cod, emperor angelfish, 6 banded angelfish, butterflyfish, sea pike, moray eels, many spotted sweetlips, baitfish, parrotfish and Nor'West Snapper. We also found the gray reef sharks again - they are so awesome!!
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
North East Bommies had a bit lower visibility but again, the marine life put a smile on everyone's face! White tip reef sharks, lionfish, Christmas Tree Worms, barracuda, trevally, convict surgeonfish, unicornfish, nudibranchs, Stars & Stripes Pufferfish, batfish and more! We saw an outstanding amount of stuff tucked in every hole and under every ledge - less visibility helps us really slow down and explore each inch more closely.
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 3-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Yay! The road is open again to all traffic, but you still need to use caution and respect the road signs. Keep up to date with any changes by clicking over to the Main Roads website!
The North West Coastal Highway will be CLOSED to ALL TRAFFIC from 6pm tonight (Wednesday 5 January 2011) from Maniliya to the Shark Bay turnoff. At this time they are predicting the road to be closed for the next 48 hours.
Please check the main roads website for more updates before you travel!
We headed out to the Muiron Islands after a few days of pretty windy weather and tucked in to the east side of the southern island for our trip. We started out at Northeast Bommies and had fabulous fish life, but pretty low visibility. Lionfish, batfish, trevally, octopus, white tip reef sharks, sailfin catfish, moorish idols and bright green mantis shrimps. Our best find was a little guy we don't see very often on our sites at the Muirons - a frogfish! So cute with his big googly eyes and frilly bits.
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 3-5m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 11m
East Side Bommies was up next and was also thick with marine life. Estuary cod, rankin cod, coral trout, juvenile firefish, green turtles, painted crayfish, giant moral eel, bright yellow flutemouth, longfin bannerfish, flatheads and a crown of thorns.
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 4-5m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 10m
