skip to main |
skip to sidebar
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!
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 :)
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!
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!
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!
Time for another Christmas spirit savings from Exmouth Diving Centre!
Today's special:
Book a Whale Shark Adventure with Single Reef Dive for our upcoming 2011 Whale Shark Season and get the dive for FREE! Pay only $385 instead of $415!
How to book:
- email us -> bookings@exmouthdiving.com.au <- with the date you want and how many people you are booking for
- include the code EDCXMAS10WSDV
- complete the booking form we'll send you by return email
It's that easy!
Want to buy one for a Christmas present? We can provide a gift certificate for you!
Not sure of your dates? You can still take advantage of this special by purchasing an open dated voucher. You must take your tour between 25 March - 07 July 2011 if you purchase an open dated voucher.
Conditions:
- your payment must be received before 3pm 24 December 2010, Western Australia time
- no other discounts or specials apply
- each diver must be certified Open Water or higher and have dived within 12 months of the date of your booked dive
- you can take your tour anytime from 25 March - 7 July, 2011; subject to availability
- gift certificates & open dated vouchers must be presented at check-in and we recommend that you prebook your preferred date before you arrive in Exmouth
- you must include the code in your email; no code, no pressie!
- valid for new bookings only
What an exciting day!!
We started off as usual with a gorgeous dive at Central Station. There were fish galore of every size and shape, turtles sleeping, turtles swimming along the reef, octopus showing off, eels peering out at us, nudibranchs adding dashed of colour and, of course, manta rays! We even had an enormous 3+m manta ray circling the divers and then cruising through the cleaning station before circling the divers again.
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
The whale sharks were a ways away today so we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the scenery and humpback whales as we headed south for our first swims. We again had multiple whale sharks and multiple drops. Our last drop of the day was incredible - we stayed in the water for over 40 minutes straight, the whale shark swimming at the perfect pace for everyone to be able to move around and see him from every vantage point. Yes, we were pretty tired after such a long swim but it was just incredible.
On the drive back towards the mooring we came across a rare sight - a dead humpback whale being devoured by over 15 big sharks including a whole bunch of huge tiger sharks! It was riveting to watch. We stayed on the boat, of course, sticking cameras off the edge of the marlin board now again. This is one of the coolest things we've ever seen!
We know we've said that we've had magical, perfect, breath-taking days out before, but today put more than just icing on the cake!
We started with a fabulous dive at Central Station with sharks, potato cod, big turtles, lots of fish and manta rays! We'd tell you more, but we need to get to the rest of the day:
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
Breaching humpback whales, humpback whales coming within meters of us while we were snorkeling with the whale sharks, humpback whales spy-hopping to check us out.
Orcas feeding and showing off.
More manta rays!
THREE WHALE SHARKS around us at ONE TIME!! It was mind-blowing! The three were circling the boat and us while we were snorkeling - it was hard to keep track of which whale shark we were originally watching! They were devouring a big school of bait that was so thick in places we could barely see the whale shark through it. One of these guys was a whooping 9m and simply too big to describe!
There were also other types of sharks patrolling below the baitball and manta rays were cruising around and around us and the whale sharks, too.
Needless to say, we lost count of how much time we spent with the whale sharks, how many individual whale sharks (there were more than just those three!) we saw and how many drops we had :)
Just completely WOW!
We started at Central Station for an excellent dive and snorkel in clear blue water. From the time we dropped in to the time we got out we were surrounded by every kind & size fish you can imagine - the fish life was just thick on the whole site! We also had coral shrimp, octopus, cuttlefish (yay!), turtles, blue-spotted rays, big roughback rays and a wobbegong shark. Ningaloo Reef was going all out today for us!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
The whale sharks weren't going to be outdone by such a great start to the day. We swam with four different whale sharks ranging from 4m - 6.5m and there were lots of other sharks popping up all around us. Again today we had multiple drops on every shark we swam with and every one of the four was nice and cruisy, right at the surface so we had lots of opportunity to relax and enjoy.
The humpback whales are also becoming more prolific and we saw small groups of them all through the day. On the way back to our mooring, we even had a couple breeching over and over and over - SO COOL!!
Chalk up another fabulous day whale sharking here on the Ningaloo Reef in Exmouth!
Central Station was gorgeous today with a huge school of threadfin pearl perch, zillions of bright green, pink & purple parrotfish, blue-spotted stingrays, tiny moray eels, lionfish, turtles and two white tip reef sharks.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: moderate
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
What a way to kick off June! We hit the water with our first whale shark of the day around 1pm and the whole afternoon was awesome. We swam with three different whale sharks and all of them were in clear water, very close to the surface and - our favourite - slow! Whale shark #3 was 8.5m and H-U-G-E!
We also saw dolphins, manta rays AND a minke whale who popped up right in front of the boat as we were cruising along the reef. Excellent day again!
It's not too late for you to head up to Exmouth for the mighty whale sharks in 2010. We expect great sightings all through June and well into July, so give us a ring on 08 9949 1201 or drop us an email to arrange your Ningaloo Reef visit now!
Another gorgeous day here on the Ningaloo Reef. We started at Central Station for our dive and reef snorkel and it was a magical day! An enormous shark swam just on the edge of our vision, we waited to see if he'd come back, but it wasn't to be. Lots of fish, octopus, sting rays, nudibranchs and eels. Happiest of all were the MANTA RAYS! They are so awesome as they glide over us, pause to get a little cleaning action, cruise off into the distance and then swing around to do it all again.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: strong
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
We were all abuzz after the awesome manta rays so the whale sharks had a lot to live up to and they did it effortlessly. We swam with three different whale sharks again today and they ranged in size from 4m - 7m. All of them were pretty cooperative: right on the surface, moving fairly slowly, allowing us to have multiple nice long swims. Beautiful whale sharks and a fabulous day!
A little windy and rough today again but surprisingly nice clean blue water on Central Station. It even rained for a very brief period! We had a lovely dive with more mantis shrimp out of their holes, octopus sitting out on top of small coral outcrops, big schools of trevally and barracuda, a couple of green turtles, blue spotted rays, two white tip reef sharks and 1000s of colourful reef fish.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: moderate
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 15m
The whale sharks were great today! We spent our time with two different whale sharks. Our first one was about 4m long and was cruising happily in a pretty straight line, the tip of his tail breaking the surface as he'd ride the swell up. He would dive deep for a few minutes, then glide back up to the surface to swim along with us for a while longer. Shark #2 was about 7m long and pretty chunky with it. He, too, was swimming really slowly just under the surface. He didn't do as much up and down as our first guy and we swam and swam and swam on multiple drops with him.
A little choppy as we started our Whale Shark Adventure, but the Floats had plenty of marine animals to make us forget about the short bumpy ride out. Sweetlips and big snapper hung out at the top of the peaks, unicornfish and surgeons tucked under overhangs and parrotfish made a racket as they gnawed on coral. A brave mantis shrimp scuttled from one hole to the next, his bright green back standing out like neon against the reef.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: strong
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 15m
The whale sharks were loving the rolling seas today. We swam with four different whale sharks and multiple long, slow drops with most of them. One of the whale sharks kept trying to get a better look at us so kept circling around, rounding us up. They were all in pretty blue water. The sharks today were about the same size as the majority of whale sharks we've been seeing here on the Ningaloo Reef: 3m-7m. It's amazing how much bigger a 7m whale shark is compared to a 5m whale shark!
We love whale sharks!!
It was like someone flipped a switch today after a couple of very rough and windy days. The day turned lovely here on the Ningaloo Reef. We started at Central Station and had schools of trevally, big cowtailed stingrays, blue spotted rays, curious spotted pufferfish getting cleaned, a variety of nudibranchs and lots of balls of glassfish covering the reef.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 15m
And whale sharks. We had so many whale sharks today we lost count! And we had multiple, long, leisurely swims with each one. Several of them were circling us so we didn't even have to swim sometimes - just lay on the surface and let the whale sharks come to us! Now that's awesome.
We were swimming along happily with a 6m guy when he decided to dive deep. We kept following until he was out of sight and then signaled for the boat to come pick us up and move us to the next shark but just before we were about to get back on board a NEW whale shark swam right up to surface next to us! Now that's double awesome!!
What a terrific day out on our Whale Shark Adventure again! May is shaping up to be a wonderful month and we expect the whale sharks to be abundant all through June, too. Don't miss out - drop us a line and make your booking now!
Rough start on the way to the dive sites, but the day improved the longer we were out and the dives were crazy active! We started at Blizzard Ridge...actually we started by driving past an enormous whale shark on the way to Blizzard Ridge...and the site was rockin'. Honeycomb cod, rankin cod, coral trout, trevally, mackerel, barracuda patrolled mid water. Three different kinds of moray eels, including a black and white blotched one, waved in the slight current. Flatworms, nudibranchs, shrimps, hermit crabs. And DOLPHINS! Two dolphins came up behind a group of divers to check them out, flashed a smile and then effortlessly zoomed off.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 7-9m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth had a lot to live up to and it did so without breaking a sweat. Multiple turtles, white tip reef sharks, huge batfish, active cleaning stations, anemonefish darting in and out of their anemones, octopus showing off, scorpionfish blending in to the reef, schools of convict surgeons and parrotfish and snapper. MORE DOLPHINS! Seeing dolphins underwater is just unbelievable and we had them on both dives!!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 7-9m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 13m
