The Johnsons' Journal

The main reason we wanted to travel through Western Australia was to get a chance to swim with a whale shark. From March to July the whale sharks migrate to the Ningaloo Reef and during that time boat tours take you onto the reef to swim with these large fish (actually the largest fish in the world).

We traveled north up the coast from Perth to the small town of Coral Bay, located right on the Ningaloo Reef. After a long drive we spent our first full day snorkeling off the beach. There was lots of cool looking fish and some really large coral to be seen.  Since the coral is mostly hard coral it’s not quite as colorful as the Great Barrier Reef, but we found it to be larger and more plentiful.

The next day we signed up to do a whale shark and snorkel tour. We got up bright and early to board the boat. After a short briefing we were off to our first snorkel site. On the first snorkel we got to see a some massive fish, a reef shark, and I even saw a turtle. Then we were off to find a whale shark. The spotting is done by a spotter plane and our guide reminded us that these are wild animals and it could take some patience to find one. We were very lucky because it only took about 30 minutes for the plane to locate a 5 metre whale shark. We arrived about 30 minutes later in luck because the shark was still swimming on the surface. We were assigned to two different groups of swimmers. Scott and I were in the second group and Henry and Alicia were in the first.

The first group got in the water to see the shark and then we got in a few minutes after. I got a pretty good glimpse of him and then he dove down into the darkness and disappeared. We got back in the boat hoping that he would resurface and that we would get another change to swim with him. Lucky for us he did and we got to spend the next hour with him swimming and playing around the boat. It was really an amazing experience to be in the water with such a large animal. It really was a highlight of the trip.

After we got out of the water the guides told us that usually they spend the day chasing the shark and that we were very lucky to be able to spend a full hour (the maximum time limit with one shark) and we didn’t even have to move the boat.

Later in the afternoon we stopped at one more snorkel site which we got to see another reef shark. And on the way home we even saw a humpback whale, dolphins, and a manta ray. What an amazing day out!

Enjoying the warm weather on the beach

In for a snorkel

Nope that’s not a whale shark

There’s the whale shark

The markings near the fin help to identify the shark

Enjoying a cold beer after a long day swimming with a whale shark

And finally just relaxing and enjoying the sunset

Also, I want to say thanks to Henry and Alicia for the underwater photos from their camera. It made the experience even more special with the photos to bring home.