Manta Ray - Majestic Creatures of the Ocean

Another day another tour! As our tour meeting place was next door to the caravan park reception, it was lovely to have a leisurely wake up and breakfast. No rushing to pack up in the dark was needed. We arrived at the said venue early and waited patiently while the 16 others were fitted out with gear. Following this we waited for the bus to arrive when Ella exclaimed I forgot my camera! We sent her running the 150m back to the car to grab her camera hoping the bus didn't arrive. Unfortunately within a minute or so of Ella dashing off, the bus came!! Thankfully, it took several minutes for people to place their belongings into the trailer and then board the bus by which time Ella appeared and we were the last to climb aboard.

It was a short journey to the boat ramp where we took off our shoes and boarded the boat. The skipper Asho had lived in the area for 45 years and his crew included Rachel, Chelsey and the photographer Ash. We went through the normal info and safety briefing before motoring out to the inner reef for the first snorkel.

As a whole group we were led by Rachel and Chelsey around the reef. The amount and variety of fish was absolutely amazing. I felt like we'd stuck our head into an aquarium! As these waters are sub tropical, the coral in this region takes on darker hues of purple, brown and reds. A few splashes of pink and blue could be seen.

As we float and swim we spot a reef shark who quickly darts away. Katy who's imagination gets the better of her, has been petrified of sharks and the thought of swimming in deep water, manages to keep her cool during this encounter! From there we swim through Asho's gap - yes Ahmed after our skipper - a narrow channel between two sections of the reef.

 

Back on the boat, we begin to motor north. The spotter plane is now circling in the sky looking for Manta Rays. Asho is informed of their location and aims for that area then begins to look for their dark shadows.

We spot three manta ray all frolicking in the shallows - super close to the beach and far too shallow for our boat to go. Our family is in team 1 and begin to kit up before sitting on the marlin board. Ash the photographer goes in first to find the manta ray and indicate all is good and which way it is swimming. Then we get the call - go, go, go! We slip into the water and follow our swimmer's instructions.

Faces in and there he is - gliding effortlessly through the water. This manta ray is a juvenile male with a 2.5m wing span. He arcs gracefully back towards us filtering the krill and plankton from the water. We swim with him for several minutes before our swimmer calls out stop. This indicates this swim is over, we group up and wait for the boat to return where we climb back on to the marlin board.

Once all on board, we motor off for the next drop however team 2 has lost the manta ray so we all have to climb back on deck so they can have another go. Once they are back in we clambered back down onto the marlin board and wait for the signal.

This process occurs 5 times. Each swim is different but we all agree that the first and third were the best. Swimming along with this manta ray you can see why they are called eagles of the sea. Such a special experience.

On the way back, we spot dolphins and a 2.5m Tiger shark! Ash tells us that the sharks are her favourite animal to swim with and they are not to be feared as they are too well fed at Ningaloo. In fact they are also very skittish and as soon as one is spotted it quickly dashes off. There had been two shark attacks recently in Coral Bay. Both were associated with people spear fishing and having their catch attached to them.

Back on dry land we go straight to the cafe for food as we are ravishingly hungry. Now all cooled off and refuelled we return to the campsite in order to do a few housekeeping jobs - clothes washing while the girls check out the pool!!

Funnily enough as I was in the laundry, I bumped into an old school friend whom I hadn't seen for 30 years!! I knew, thanks to facebook, that she was in Coral Bay and was hoping to catch up. We chatted away until Andy insisted if i wanted to go running with him we had to go now as the afternoon was fast disappearing.

As for most of our runs on this trip, it was an out and back affair - see what tracks or roads are around, follow them and see what happens. For this one we ran along  a track behind the sand dunes and landed at the boat ramp before continuing on to snapper headland then returned on the beach. A post run swim at Billy's Beah was essential as the sun was setting.

My friend Tracey, dropped around to our campsite for a quick pre dinner drink and to pursue our camper set up. We compared notes of our trips and picked up some hints for our up coming time at Karijini. Given our remoteness in the next 5 days, we opted to have dinner at the local cafe.