Exmouth and Whale Sharks

We arrived in Exmouth bright and early, took the camper off and drove Bruce to the mechanic, all by 8.30 in the morning.  We were once again legging it, however it was a lot easier in Exmouth given the size of the town. We spent the majority of the day lazing around and utilising the kitchen. I made some chocolate muffins, we ate some chocolate muffins and before long it was happy hour. We did manage to go for a stroll along the beach that day, which was nice.

Three Islands Tour Boat and us snorkeling!

The next day we were up at the crack of dawn and soon found ourselves waiting at reception for the courtesy bus to our Whale Shark Tour. That’s right folks we were going to swim with the largest fish in the sea! Soon after we were at Tantabiddi Boat Ramp, being ferried over to our cruise ship for the day by a glass bottom boat, with a very eccentric skipper. We had already met Meg and Alex on the bus ride out and were shortly greeted by Josh, Nat and Tom, our crew for the day. I should also mention we met Neville, our tender (boat) for the day. It didn’t take long before we were kitted out in wetsuits, flippers and snorkels, which meant time for our first snorkel. As the weather conditions were perfect (what a change!) we were able to go to the outer reef, where more soft corals and bigger sea creatures, eg sharks, can be seen.  The water on the outer reef was also a stunning 27 degrees!

Getting ready to go - gosh we look good in wetties!

Our first swim heralded some stunning scenery with beautiful bright corals and fish in abundance. Eventually it was time to reboard the boat and start the real adventure! Spotter planes were sent up to start looking for whale sharks whilst we had the staff explain all the safety instructions as a puppet show. Part way through we were rudely interrupted by a whale shark swimming under the boat – a fair uncommon occurrence! It didn’t take long before another whale shark was spotted and then we were off trying to find its location. Along the way we managed to spot a Manta Ray and a Sea Snake.  This “little guy” (roughly 6 metres)  was found near the reef, this does not usually happen as they prefer the deeper waters of the open ocean. Before long we were swimming next to this gentle giant and absolutely gobsmacked by the majestic scene in front of us. Suddenly from out of the blue a logger head turtle appeared (roughly 1.5 metres) we were all taken aback by this, including the Whale Shark who took a double take before continuing on its way. I will say that flippers are a must when swimming with these guys as then can move very swiftly. You seem to forget how much you’re swimming to keep up as the sight is mesmerising, you also forget about any possible dangers such as sharks, who pale in comparison to the size of a whale shark.   

Sometime later saw us back of the boat trying to avoid the wind at all costs, wetties are great for the water, not so good for the wind. Our previous conversations with tourists on these tours were generally about two things, the whale sharks and the food, morning tea certainly didn’t disappoint and had us full of energy ready for our next venture. The spotter planes had found something not to be missed – a pod of Orca Whales, rarely seen on Ningaloo reef. With the crew as excited as we were (they hadn’t seen the orca whales on Ningaloo) it was full speed ahead to try and catch these guys in action. Luckily we didn’t see them in full action, as apparently they come to the reef to hunt baby humpback whales to eat their tongues and play with their carcasses. That lovely thought aside, we eagerly watched them show off.

Part of the Orca pod, with Neville the Super Tender in the far left.

There were two males with the pod, another anomaly.  They had massive dorsal fins and at times had us thinking we were a part of the next free Willy film. We continued watching these guys for a while, as they scare off wild life on the reef, and enjoyed eating lunch heading northward towards other marine life found by the spotter plane. So far it’s felt like we’ve been on our own in the waters, to begin with there was not a boat in sight and eventually when they were spotted they were so far from the action – the benefits of a company utilising their own spotter plane.

Free Willy eat your heart out!

Along the way we saw a hammerhead shark and even some humpback whales, one springing into the air and swiftly snapping back into the water – amazing, though impossible to photograph! Next up, more swimming with Whale Sharks.  The shark was spotted surfacing in the deeper waters off Ningaloo. When we hopped in the water we found out that the shark was circling in an attempt to catch its feed – krill.  Turns out some of these guys mistake the bubbles made by swimmers as schools of krill, which was the case when we entered the water – our bubbles look delicious. This made for a much easier swim, although a tad confusing of who was following who. After what seemed like ages it was time for the next group to have a go, however the shark decided it liked us and had to be persuaded by one of the instructors to go the other way. It didn’t take long before we were back with the whale shark again. Whale Shark, being negatively buoyant,  tend to drift downwards as then swim, often not rising again for several hundred metres, this one however found ten seconds enough – she seemed to be as scared of the dark as we were, which resulted in a long swim, some awesome photos and an amazing glimpse of how huge a whale sharks mouth is!

With the day drawing to a close this turned out to be our last swimming with these fascinating creatures. This was our chance to get out of our wetties, into some dry clothes and enjoy our final feast – afternoon tea. On our way back to the boat ramp we kept our eyes peeled and were rewarded with the sight of a humpback whale and her calf, this was once again a great sight, and was also nice knowing the orca whales were several kilometres to the south.  We said goodbye to the reef, wonderful staff and all the animals we saw.

We were dropped back at the van park and were exhausted. After a lovely long shower and a quick feed we were off to bed.

The next day we picked up Brucie, did some more cooking – Devonshire tea was in order – and just enjoyed the laid back feel of Exmouth. We absolutely enjoyed our time here and will happily return one day.

Lesson of the week: Sometimes you need to splurge.