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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!
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
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!!
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!
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
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
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
We love the Muiron Islands so much we had to head out again! We went to Whalebone first and it was fabulous again, but the visibility was quite a bit lower than yesterday. We still had more than enough to see: raccoon butterflyfish, honeycomb cod, reindeer wrasse, many spotted sweetlips, unicornfish, green turtles, moray eels, nudibranchs, batfish, black tipped rock cod, big estuary cod, Nor'West snapper...
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 4-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: strong
DEPTH: 12m
As the swell was creating quite a lot of surge & the wind was giving us a bit of surface chop after the dive, we tucked around to East Side Bommies for dive two. It was a great choice as the water was much clearer than yesterday and the marine life was rocking! Sharks, rays, turtles, schools of convict surgeonfish, firefish, grouper, coral trout, Christmas tree worms, nudibranchs, barracuda, porcupinefish, pink anemonefish - so many fishes!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 10m
Whalebone was hopping with lots of emperor angelfish including quite a few juveniles, big trevally buzzing the divers, white tip reef sharks circling on the sand, damsels & anthias in every hue and moorish idols zipping here and there. The swim throughs had just enough baitfish to add sparkle and big rankin cod patrolled the exits. We had a lovely dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: mild-moderate
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
The wind was forecast to come in pretty strong, so we trekked to the more sheltered east side of the Islands for dive two at North East Bommies. It was a little dirtier here, but the fish life was great. Lionfish, sailfin catfish, butterflyfish, wrasses, pufferfish, sea pike, moray eels, snapper and so much more!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 4-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 8m
Happily, the wind didn't come in as expected so we had a lovely cruise back down Exmouth Gulf in the afternoon and were greeted by a small pod of dolphins at the mouth of the marina - perfect end to the day!
Happy Boxing Day! It was a HOT day here in Exmouth and on the boat at the Muiron Islands was the place to be to keep cool.
Whalebone had lots of parrotfish action today. Big ones, little ones, purple, orange, blue and yellow ones! They were munching the corals, darting after each in games of chasey and were just everywhere we looked. The swim throughs had quite a few baitfish in them and lots of blacktipped rockcods along the walls. Many spotted sweetlips hung under ledges and trios of batfish swam above our heads. Our cute reindeer wrasse was busy wafting here, there and everywhere over the sand. It was a very active dive site today!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild-moderate
DEPTH: 12m
Keyhole was also pretty active and we saw tons of nudibranchs, small moray eels, three kinds of shrimps and many tiny hermit crabs. Big schools of fusiliers sparkled in mid-water and four big mackerel patrolled the perimeter, occasionally darting in towards us for a better look. White tip reef sharks, giant trevally, neon damsels, longfin bannerfish, coral trout, rankin cod - the variety of fish was excellent!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild - moderate
DEPTH: 12m
After a week of wild, windy, rainy weather we were finally able to head out diving again and since it was a Wednesday, that meant the Muiron Islands! The water was very muddy all the way out but we were confident that there would be some nicer water once we got there - and we were right!
Whalebone's water was slightly more green than blue, but the visibility wasn't terrible and the fish life was fantastic. It's always fun to see Reindeer Wrasse in the week before Christmas! We also had: starry toadfish, emperor angelfish, juvenile emperor angelfish, barramundi cod, barracuda, white tip reef sharks, green turtles, trevally, parrotfish, schools of surgeonfish and sparkly baitfish in the swim-thrus.
And our snorkellers saw a dugong!!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m
During our surface interval it looked like the water was clearing up close to the Island, so we did Keyhole next and were rewarded with even better visibility and tons of excellent fish and nudibranchs. Lots of snapper, trevally, barracuda, sea pike and small rankin cod hung out in mid-water. Teeny juvenile yellow boxfish danced in and out of small holes in the reef and a variety of happy bright butterflyfish flitted everywhere we looked.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m
Fantastic day!
We started at Cod Spot and had probably the best visibility we've ever seen there. Now, we don't normally care too much about viz as the reef is so active it doesn't matter much how far you can see coz there's so much to see right in front of you but today, WOW! The colours in the soft corals were jaw-droppingly vivid and you could see the bright colours for miles underwater - it was truly remarkable. Of course, there were also tons of fish around: trevally, mackerel, pink anemonefish, green parrotfish, moorish idols, emperor angelfish, 6 banded angelfish, many spotted sweetlips, white tip reef sharks... Best sight today: 3 grey reef sharks! They came in pretty close and didn't seem inclined to dart away from the area like they usually do. We spent ages just watching them circle and cruise. Fantastic, for sure!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 25+m
CURRENT: very slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
We headed to Keyhole to see if we could find the juvenile grey nurse shark that we found last Sunday, but couldn't find her anywhere. There were tons of different species of nudibranchs out and about including four different species on one small (about the size of an esky) coral bommie! So pretty! The swim-thrus had masses of red soldierfish adorning the ceilings and walls. Two big razorfish did their funky dance over the sand for us and three big barracuda patrolled over our heads for almost the entire dive. This was an outstanding dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 12m
The water around at Turtle Bay, where we stopped for lunch and a big snorkel, was rich blue & green - and so clear you didn't even need to get off the boat to see the fish! There were masses of turtle tracks on the beach - looks like the Mama Turtles were super busy last night digging nests and laying eggs.
An unusual day for us here in Exmouth - we had overcast skies almost all day! A few drops of rain and a bit of humidity, too. But overall it was lovely with fairly calm seas and lots of marine life. It also didn't get nearly as hot as it could have!
We started at Keyhole and were treated to tons of fish over the whole site from the moment we put our heads under. Painted sweetlips, emperor angelfish, white tip reef sharks, blue spotted stingrays, surgeonfish, lots of big parrotfish, moorish idols, barracuda...great dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m & a little cloudy
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 11m
The west side of the Island was getting a little choppy, so we cruised to the other side for nicer surface conditions. North East Bommies was awesome again today! Huge painted crays, cleaner shrimps everywhere, cute porcupinefish, a big green turtle, more white tip reef sharks, several different nudibranchs, moray eels, anemonefish, lots of butterflyfish and more!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 11m
We enjoyed lunch and a big snorkel at East Side Bommies. Lionfish, trevally, sea pike, turtles, rays, damsels, convict surgeons, blue-green chromis, Christmas tree worms, sailfin catfish - tons to see!
What a gorgeous Sunday to be out at the Muiron Islands! Keyhole was first up for us and the water was so blue and the sun beams were streaming down on the brightly coloured soft corals like spotlights - it was magical! Plenty of sea creatures cruising around, too: many spotted sweetlips, white tip reef sharks, barracuda, emperor angelfish, yellow trumpetfish, green turtles, sailfin catfish, ornate surgeonfish, batfish and tons of sparkly damsels. Best find today was a ginormous potato cod that adopted us - he would float right in front of us and just stare into our masks. Very cool!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
North East Bommies was up for dive two and again the fish & marine life was great. Bannerfish, sea pike, lionfish, snapper, white tip reef sharks, moray eels, monocle bream, rankin cod, coral cod, squirrelfish, nudibranchs, blue spotted rays, slingjaw wrasse - the list is almost endless!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 11m
We had lunch and a big snorkel around East Side Bommies. Schools of convict surgeons, lots of big parrotfish, more turtles, lionfish, lots of little groups of balling catfish, sergeant majors guarding their nests - it was a perfect afternoon!
We had such a great trip on Sunday that we decided to head out a day earlier than usual again! We started at Keyhole and had just tons of fish life. Trevally, barracuda, drummers, surgeonfish, parrotfish and rankin cods. White tip reef sharks, turtles, moray eels, cleaner shrimp and hermit crabs. We always love this site, but today it seemed to be extra active!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Whalebone had a lot to live up to and we weren't disappointed. There were some great curtains of baitfish, tons of bright pink & purple anthias, more butterflyfish and angelfish than we could keep track of and our dear little reindeer wrasse was flitting happily along the sand. Another couple of green turtles and a white tip reef shark circling then crash landing on the sand for a bit of a snooze. Some rankin cods that were even bigger than those on dive one and bright orange coral cods lined the ledges in the swim thrus.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We popped around to East Side Bommies for some more snorkeling and the water was super blue! It really made the colours of the corals, sponges and fish jump out. Absolutely stacks to see here today: barramundi cod, lionfish, blue spotted sting rays, sea pike, neon damsels, trumpetfish...
A breezy day today for our Muiron Islands trip! Dive one was at Cod Spot and it was fish, fish, fish! It looked like the rankin cods were having a big party as they were everywhere we looked. Gorgeous tiera (tall fin) batfish flitted here and there. The sandy parts of the site were covered in gobies standing guard while bulldozer shrimp worked tirelessly to clean their homes - down the hole, pop back out, spit out the debris, pause, back down the hole,repeat! So fun to watch. Lots of splashes of colour from the wrasse, parrotfish, butterflyfish, damsels and angelfish.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild - moderate
DEPTH: 16m
Whalebone was up next and despite slightly lower than usual visibility, it was still a delight. It's such a colourful and interesting site with its swim-thrus and soft coral gardens! And tons of fish, of course. White tip reef sharks, a juvenile reindeer wrasse, huge orange and green parrotfish, a big school of sea pike, green turtles, brilliant blue neon damsels, bannerfish, moorish idols and fat scorpionfish. We love it!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild+
DEPTH: 12m
We headed to East Side Bommies for our snorkeling. Turtles, blue spotted stingrays, a school of big southern drummers, estuary cod, lionfish, sailfin catfish, anemonefish, Christmas Tree Worms and so much more - beautiful way to relax in the afternoon!
It was a little windy first thing this morning but as we headed out the wind calmed and we ended up with a lovely day! Whalebone started us off with masses of baitfish around the reef and in the swim-thrus. A 3m black stingray was camped out on the bottom of one of the swim-thrus, his wingtips almost touching the walls on either side. Potato cod were hanging near the exits, just keeping an eye on things. Mating octopus, four kinds of angelfishes, cute morays, colourful nudibranchs - including a mating pair of neon marked Nembrotha purpureolineatas - and tons of reef fish really put on a show. We also had a grey reef shark cruise by a few times!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We headed around to the east side of the Muiron Islands to snorkel at Turtle Bay - and it really lived up to it's name with over 20 turtles all in a tiny area, all trying to find a special friend to mate with! It was awesome!
Keyhole was action packed with cobia, trevally, barracuda, turtles, schooling surgeonfish, roughback stingrays, white tip reef sharks and all colours of parrotfish zipping this way and that. We have a new juvenile reindeer wrasse pretending to be a bit of drunken weed weaving all over a little patch near a rocky outcrop - he's mesmerizing to watch! Big batfish were getting cleaned near the bottom and smaller batfish followed us all the way up the mooring line at the end of our dive.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We started our day at Cod Hole today and it really lived up to its name with tons of rankin and estuary cod all over the site. The dive started with a big shovelnosed ray lazily swimming past right at the bottom of the mooring! The fish life was excellent: lionfish, coral trout, six banded angelfish, all sorts of butterflyfishes, 100s of neon damsels & blue-green chromis, masses of red squirrelfish and lots of sea pike cruising around. Quite a few colourful nudibranchs and a few moray eels dotted the reef scape and a huge roughback stingray blew great plumes of sand up and over himself. Along the tops of the reef we had numerous green turtles. It was a gorgeous dive.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 12+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
Keyhole was up next and the colours were outstanding. There were even more angelfish covering this site than we'd seen on dive one, no mean feat! Barramundi cod, batfish, blue spotted rays, sailfin catfish, small porcelain crabs, cleaner shrimp, more turtles and some white tip reef sharks gave us plenty to look at as we enjoyed the warm, blue water. We were having such a great dive that we had to hang out for a few extra minutes!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
The afternoon was perfect for a big snorkel at East Side Bommies. Turtles, sharks, rays, anemonefish, lionfish, emperor angelfish, octopus, nudibranchs, schools of trevally, coral trout, Christmas Tree Worms...this site is awesome every time we visit!
What a perfect day for our first day back diving after our short break in October and after our long blogging break!
We couldn't have asked for bluer skies, nicer temperatures, more perfect light breezes or better diving that our tour to the Muiron Islands gave us. We started the day at Jaws and were surrounded by an incredible amount of marine life before we even got to the bottom! Green turtles, schools of trevally and barracuda, coral trout hunting & hanging under ledges, colourful nudibranchs, curious batfish and adorable tiny yellow boxfish were just some of vast variety on this site.
WATER TEMP: 25-26C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Whalebone was next up and it had all of the usual suspects set against a backdrop of gorgeous blue water and stunning soft corals in red, yellow, orange, pink & purple. This is such a beautiful site it wouldn't even matter if there were any fish! Happily, there were plenty: barramundi cod, scorpionfish, white tip reef sharks, flowery cod, rankin cod, sailfin catfish and roughback stingrays. The octopus were out and about enjoying the beams of sunlight, too.
WATER TEMP: 25-26C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
We stopped to snorkel around at Turtle Beach and there were plenty of turtles for everyone. Our gentle drift showed us anemonefish, bluw-spotted stingrays, small eels, multitudes of neon damsels & sergeant majors, cascading schools of convict surgeonfish, Nor'West Snapper, lazy estuary cod and more angelfish than we could count!
Not enough for you? We also had humpback whales to keep us entertained both on the trip out and on the way back. All in all a pretty perfect day!
