Coral Bay 16 - 18 October 2013

Well, Coral Bay may look like a sleepy little coastal village, but it's been action a plenty since we arrived!

We started with the obligatory walk around town. Ten minutes later we were back at camp perusing the tour brochures, and five minutes after that we had parted with the necessary readies for a  ATV quad bike sunset tour that very afternoon and a Manta Ray Experience cruise the next morning.
The quad bike tour was heaps of fun. I think Hazel has added one to her christmas list :-) Up and down and round and round the dunes we went, stopping off to snorkell at Five Fingers (which was a bit choppy and cloudy but still worth it), try to see turtles feeding on seaweed below the cliff tops (did see one briefly in the swell), at an old aboriginal midden site and atop a tall dune to watch the sunset. While we were waiting for the sun to do it's thing Hazel spotted a plastic chair on the next sand dune over, so the tour guide sprinted off to collect it for her to sit on. Very regal.

There's a chair in there

Her Maj

The guide was very good - he picked up every it of rubbish we saw and took it back to town, so the company name "Coral Bay Ecotours" would appear to more than just a slogan. Good to see. Then it was back to town central in the twilight, dodging kangaroos along the way.

Up at sparrows the next day for the Manta Ray cruise. Once everyone was fitted out with wetsuits, fins and masks we all piled onto the bus for the short ride to the jetty and the good ship Kurni Ku. This was no three hour cruise on the SS Minnow! We cruised out to the first dive site on the edge of the Ningaloo reef and it was all overboard to see the sights. Heaps of coral, fish and green and loggerhead turtles.

Loggerhead Turtle

Green Turtle

Then it was off to find a Manta Ray. They have a search plane up every day to look for them, but sometimes it can take a long time, and sometimes there are none to be found. Luckily for us they did find one after 2 and a half hours and we steamed off to meet it. Along the way we saw several dolphins, an eagle ray and a Steve Irwin type Sting Ray, and the amazing sight of flocks of birds diving on bait fish which were also being pursued by bigger fish which were jumping out of the water in their efforts to catch a feed. These fish in turn were being pursued by a seal or a dolphin (we weren't close enough to tell which). Anyway, we arrived at the Manta Ray site and had three drops from the boat to snorkel over and behind the magnificent beastie as it fed. Unfortunately, the water was rough, and a bit murky at this site, and the Manta mostly stayed deep, but hey, we were swimming with a three metre Manta Ray!!!!!!!!!!! How cool it was.

From here it was off to another part of the reef for the last dive of the day. A much more sheltered area with crystal clear water. Just magic.

Saw a couple of tough trucks the next day which might just satisfy Stan's requirements for a go anywhere motor home. They had come all the way from Germany, so you would have to put up with the left hand drive: