Mercer Travels: Ningaloo Coast.

We left Carnarvon on a cool and breezy day, we were in WA (Windy Always) after all, first stop was to be a place called Quobba where there are some blowholes and also an opportunity to camp. When we arrived we checked out the campgrounds which were quite full and with the weather not being great we had some lunch and checked out the blowholes, we then decided to keep moving and head to Coral Bay further north.

Coral Bay is somewhere we had being wanting to see for some time, stories of snorkelling off the beach and seeing turtles and fishes of all types. Coral Bay started life back in the 1960’s as a small coastal retreat for hardy persons wanting to get away, it was only late in the 1960’s a family opened a caravan park and shopping village which has grown into what you see now. The name comes from the coral that is just off the beach and is the southern section of Ningaloo Reef which runs north towards Exmouth. There are two caravan parks, a resort/hotel and a couple of surf shops, grocery shops and tour booking shops. We checked in to Bayview Caravan Park as the other was full and for the first time this trip booked for a full seven nights, knowing there was only a few things to do it was going to be a relaxing time, the park had a jumping pillow for the kids so that kept them amused most of the time when not on the beach. So we basically spent a week on the beach, having a snorkel amongst the coral just metres out, one day we drove down the beach to an area called Five Fingers (lines of rock running out to sea) and rescued a guy bogged in the sand but other than that we did very little.

After Coral Bay we continued on north, due to availability we had book five nights in Exmouth at the caravan park, then the next seven nights we had booked a site in Cape Range National Park. The USA and Australian army built a base back in the 1950’s which main purpose was to provide the missing link in the global communications with US submarines, they communication towers are still in use today although the base is no longer in operation. The town of Exmouth was born out of the need for somewhere for families to live close to the base, it also became an important site for oil exploration after WW2.

Another major attraction between May and September each year is the arrival of Whale Sharks, they come each year and feed off the Ningaloo Reef with the continental shelf only 7km out from the reef it is thought they like the area for the ease of accessing deeper water. And so on a cloudy day we joined the team at www.kingsningalooreeftours.com.au for our adventure snorkelling with these amazing creatures, they day started well with a sighting of a large eagle ray and a couple of Dugongs, we were able to snorkel with the ray but the Dugongs are a little more shy so swam off. Next we made our way out to the open ocean just west of the reef in deeper water, spotter planes started to arrive looking for the Whale Sharks and before too long we were all in the water swimming with these magnificent creatures, at upto 12m long and 30 tonnes they are quite imposing but harmless as they are filter feeders living off plankton and krill. We jump in the water just ahead of the shark and as it glided along we would take chase swimming, once it had got too far ahead we then climbed back in the boat before doing it all again. We were all having such a good time it was not until 3pm when we finished swimming and had lunch, on the way back we follow a couple of humpback whales heading north so all in all it was an amazing experience and well worth the expense.

Our next week was spent in Cape Range National Park which runs down the west coast from Exmouth, this is right on the reef but with no power of water you need to take everything in with you. Our site at Kurrajong was a good size but with rocky base made it hard to get any pegs in but we managed and after weathering some heavy rain and winds the week cleared up for us to enjoy the local snorkelling sites and Yardie Creek gorge walk.