skip to main |
skip to sidebar
We had another fabulous day today out on our Whale Shark Adventure. Our dive and snorkel at Central Station gave us sharks, rays, turtles, schools of fish, nudibranchs, eels - all of the usual creatures that make diving here so much fun!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 30m
CURRENT: very slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 15m
It was another day of multiple whale sharks and multiple long swims. We swam with three different whale sharks today including two small guys who took great delight in trying to round us all up. One of them kept showing off how easy it is for him to swim circles around us - literally! It was hilarious trying to scramble out of his way - we were laughing so hard we could barely get back on the boat. All three whale sharks had plenty of escorts - numerous big remora, pretty yellow juvenile trevally, kingfish... We had enormous grins the whole day.
We also had some extra special visitors while we were swimming with our whale sharks today. A huge eagle ray glided along near the bottom as we swam with one whale shark and then with our second whale shark a stunningly shimmery bronze whaler shark cruised along about 10m below us. Every day we are treated to something cool and today was a triple play!
The whale sharks here in Exmouth have been pretty fantastic all season so far, but today was just one of those days we dream about: flat seas, fun people, clear blue water, warm temperatures, gentle breeze, abundant marine life and fabulous whale sharks.
Dolphins accompanied us on our trek out to the Muiron Islands today so we knew it was going to be a great day! We started at the Block and were overwhelmed by the sheer number of fish covering the site and tucked into each swim-through. A white tip reef shark ignored us and several very large octopus got dramatic from their various perches and hidey holes. Clearly they don't realise that the more they change colour, shape and texture the more we want to watch them! A congregation of 9 good sized stingrays was collected on the sand and small schools of big barracuda cruised against the deep blue background.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two took us to Whalebone and it was warm and clear. Again, the amount of fish on this site was amazing...it's usually pretty packed but today was four times the usual density & variety! A very cool, huge pufferfish googled his eyes at us as we came in for a closer look - he spun in a little circle, but didn't seem too concerned by our curiosity. Quite a few glowing neon juvenile angelfish of several species were flitted to and fro. A lazy wobbegong shark laid motionless on a ledge while baitfish darted all around him. Such a good dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
The swell was huge today so we canned the dive and enjoyed a full day of snorkeling instead. The Ningaloo Reef was hopping to make up for the lack of a scuba dive: turles, rays, sharks and more sharks, masses of fish and dolphins. Loads and loads of dolphins - we saw them from the boat and while we were snorkeling - too cool!
We had two under 5m whale sharks today and they were a bit faster and a bit shyer than they have been most other days this season. We still got a couple of drops in and everyone had really good looks and swims so it was a happy day for all!
More snorkeling in the shelter of the reef to end the day gave us pufferfish, anemonefish, more stingrays, more white tip reef sharks and a big school of yellow convict surgeon making a huge racket as they tumbled over the reef.
The day started off a little windy and choppy but it cleared up and settled down by mid-morning, turning into a stellar day for our Whale Shark Adventure here in Exmouth. As usual we started our day with a dive and snorkel at Central Station. Most of the schooling fish were just hanging around being a little boring, if still pretty, but so much else was happening! A nice 2m blacktip reef shark cruised past, big painted crays teased us with their antennae wiggly from holes, three different types of moray eels swayed in the slight current and a whole variety of brightly coloured nudibranchs dotted the reef. Best sighting (though it was toss up with the blacktip reef shark!) was a school of about ten moblos - pygmy manta rays!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 15m
The whale sharks must have realised they had a lot to live up today. We had multiple long swims with three different whale sharks: 3.5m, 5m and 6m males. Two of them were right up on the back of the reef in shallow water so as we swam with them we could also see all of the reef structures, turtles, rays, trevally, barracuda and other miscellaneous marine life that seemed to be completely oblivious to the huge shadow crossing over. A dream day out - again!
Swell, Baby, Swell. We got your swell! Wannabe Cyclone Sean brought us some honking swell but the weather is clear and the fish don't care!
The entire west side of the Muiron Islands (actually, pretty much the entire west coast) wasn't fit for diving so we tucked around to the East Side Bommies to begin our diving day. This site always has so much life on it and today was no exception. Lionfish, schools of convict surgeons, blue-spotted stingrays, reef sharks, turtles, parrotfish, school of drummers, nudibranchs, a good sized moray eel - we had a fabulous long dive!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 9m
We took the opportunity to explore a new dive site today. We weren't terribly original with the name - East Side Ridge - but the site is way more exciting than its name suggests! Lots of colourful soft corals, small sea fans and sponges provided a nice backdrop for angelfish, butterflyfish, damsels, anthias and other bright fish. Bigger fish like trevally, drummers, snapper, barracuda and rankin cod were abundant. It was a very cool dive site!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 8m
Magical day! Flat, blue, clear ocean. Brilliant blue skies. A gentle breeze to keep the temperature perfect. Dive and snorkel at Central Station with all of the usual parrotfish, stingrays, eels, threadfin pearl perch, white tip reef sharks, goatfish. Another eagle ray today, too!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: very slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 15m
And then more wonderful whale sharks! Multiple sharks, multiple swims with each. All of the sharks were swimming pretty slowly again so we easily kept up and could even move from left side to right side in a single drop - very cool view from behind the tail! The whale sharks seemed curious again today and each one had many cobia and other hitchhikers following along.
Bliss!
Amazing day! Blue water, flat seas, perfect temperatures.
Cod Spot was jumping! Sharks were zooming through the divers and baitfish sending 100s of tiny fishes shooting out from their tight ball like fireworks. Triggerfish, surgeonfish and unicornfish were abundant. A big roughback ray kept a wary eye on his surroundings as he waited in the sand. Wobbegong sharks, moray eels, pretty yellow butterflyfish, rainbowed parrotfish. WOW what a dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
East Side Bommies had all the usual pretty reef fishes plus very cool octopus, painted crays, turtles, sharks, olive sea snakes and lionfish showing off their lavish fins. We had such an awesome time here that we stayed for hours and dive both a dive and a big long snorkel. It's a good thing, too, as we had feeding reef sharks and dolphins! This was a WOW WOW dive!
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 9m
Blizzard Ridge had quite a bit of fine white sand through the water column today so for those taking photographs it was a little tough in spots, but boy oh boy were there photo opportunities everywhere you looked! Olive sea snakes were snuffling along the sand and adopting divers, swimming along right next to them. Lionfish were floating just off the reef with their fins spread wide, occasionally yawning with lips fully extended. Nudibranchs were out in a good variety including a group of three Nembrothas: two were mating and the third was only a centimeter away, contentedly gobbling down a purple treat! Our two recent arrivals - the yellow anglerfish and the pair of banded pipefish - are still hanging out in their chosen spots. Sharks, turtles and the gigantic moray eel also put in appearances. Love this site!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth was hopping today, too. Masses of yellow sea perch and snappers. White tip reef sharks. Blue spotted rays. Nudibranchs, nudibranchs and more nudibranchs. Tiny moray eels. Big batfish. Rockcod on every ledge. Sweetlips hovering just over the sand and under almost every ledge. Pairs of Philippine butterflyfish. Fun dive!
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate to strong
DEPTH: 14m
It's hard to keep reporting that we're having another excellent whale shark season here on the Ningaloo Reef, but we have to do it! Today we started our Whale Shark Adventure at Central Station for a reef dive & snorkel. Our friendly group of threadfin pearl perch were drifting idly in the surge, blue spotted stingrays knocked up big clouds of sand as they ate, small wrasse darted here and there chasing scraps. A big painted crayfish wiggled his antennae at us and when we stopped for a closer look we could see the stripes on his legs glowing bright neon blue back in his hole. An enormous loggerhead turtle dwarfed us all as he swam past, in no hurry at all.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 15m
We had three beautiful whale sharks today again. All three were relatively small - under 5.5m - and all of them were nice & slow so we had multiple fantastic drops with each of them. Two of them were also pretty curious and really seemed to engage the snorkelers. We find that happens so often with the smaller whale sharks and it makes being in the water with them even cooler!
To top our day off, we saw a big manta ray from the boat but he was zipping right along so we couldn't get in the water with him (I think most of us were too tired to try anyway but it was great to see him against the blue water!
Off to the Muiron Islands today. We started at Cod Spot with tons of baitfish completely obscuring part of the reef. When we waved an arm through the baitfish, two big wobbegong sharks were catching a nap bum to bum with their tails overlapping. Rankin and mid-sized estuary cod roamed around the site and nudibranchs, eels and small crabs peeked from holes & from coral outcrops. A black tip reef shark came in for a little look at the divers and then wandered back out into the sea.
WATER TEMP: 24C
VISIBILITY: 5-8m; lots of fine sand & floaties
CURRENT: very slight
SURGE: moderate to strong
DEPTH: 17m
We weren't sure if Whalebone would have less surge and/or better visibility so we had Junko hop in for a look before we committed. She reported that it was quite blue and clear with only a light surge, so in we hopped. And boy are we glad we did! So many fish - parrotfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, sharks, rays, trevally, barracuda, surgeonfish, unicornfish, baitfish! And cool nudibranchs including several huge Tambja affinis searching for meals and a brilliant yellow Notodoris citrina tucked up on a matching yellow sponge.
WATER TEMP: 25C
VISIBILITY: 10-15m
CURRENT: very slight
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Whalebone was so good that we stayed there for our snorkel and saw even more fish, sharks and rays plus a few turtles. It was a gorgeous day.
