Day 95 26/06/2011 3 Islands Whaleshark Tour – Ningaloo Reef

Day 95 26/06/2011 3 Islands Whaleshark Tour – Ningaloo Reef

My first glimce of the whale shark swimming towards us!!

Today was the day that our whole holiday had been planned around, the chance to snorkel with the majestic whale sharks. We were up early and off to meet the tour at the boat ramp about 50km’s from where we were camped.  We arrived at the boat ramp at 7:45am expecting to meet the tour group at 8am. Then we waited and waited, other tours came and boarded their boats and still we were alone.  I got so nervous that I even checked our receipt just to make sure that we hadn’t made a mistake with the date, but no, the receipt confirmed we were booked on the 26/6/2011. Just as we were giving up hope a young lady walked up the boat ramp and confirmed that we hadn’t missed the boat, rather there had been a problem in town with the bus and the tour group were running a little late. She invited us to join  the crew on the boat and have a coffee whilst we waited. We happily took up the offer as we were chilled to the bone.  At around 9:15am the rest of the group joined us and we started the tour.



Unbelievable!!



First stop was a beautiful snorkel over a bommie inside the reef.  We were treated to a beautiful snorkel with a plethora of fish and a turtle just hanging out.  The snorkel gave the guides a chance to check out everyone’s snorkelling technique and ability!! We all passed with flying colours and I was really impressed with how comfortable the kids were in the water.

Then we were off after the whale sharks, the boat had received confirmation that whale sharks had been spotted about 50km’s south of where we were so we settled back for a couple of hours of motoring on the Indian Ocean, but first we had to cross the reef through a small channel.  This was a “fun” experience as there was a 2m swell coming through the channel, so the boat lurched and dropped….luckily my tummy held on!!  As we motored on we had a chance to do some whale watching, and we learnt that Australia has the largest hump back whale migration in the world.  To support this claim the skipper called “humpback whale, port side on the bow”, we all dashed over and got to see a mother humpback whale and her relatively new born calf, with the boat idling it was surprising how close the humpback whales came to the boat and it was amazing to see these majestic and huge animals close up.  The crew could identify that the calf was a new born due to its light grey colour.



As she swam by....



It seemed like in no time we reached the area where there were other tour boats and we were suiting up for our first snorkel.  The instructions were simple, the boat would line us up in front of the whale shark, about 30m’s in front, then we were to gently lower ourselves into the water and look wherever the guide was pointing. Basically, keep our heads in the water and our eyes open.  When I first got in I couldn’t see anything even though I was looking in the right direction and then there was the whale shark right in front of me, mouth open and swimming right at me, I was in awe and almost forgot to take a photo.  Then as per our guides instructions we had to snorkel out of the whale sharks way as it slowly glided right by us.  We then could snorkel beside it and just admire the whale shark!! I got to swim with this whale shark for about 15mins before we had to stop so the next group could start.  When told, we quickly swam back to the boat so that we could be once again placed in the path of the whale shark.  This process repeated itself four more times and we got the opportunity to swim with 2 different sharks.  The boys did all the snorkels with us and were very competent in the water.  Claudia did the first swim and had a great time but she exhausted herself trying to snorkel beside the whale shark, so she sat out the other snorkels.  She was very happy to have had the whole experience.



Up close and personal



After five fun but physically exhausting snorkel’s, I was almost grateful when the crew announced that that was it for the day and lunch was going to be served.  In all we got to spend about an hour in the water with whale sharks, this was a magical experience and one that we all really enjoyed, some might say a once in a lifetime experience, certainly it was an experience that we will remember for a long time.

The additional bonus for us on the trip came with the announcement that because there was a problem with the bus this morning each group booking would receive a free DVD of the day!! Yippee, now not only do we have my dodgy photos but we will have a proper DVD. 



what a great day..



On the way back to the caravan we stopped to stock up on water for the shower. Here we were able to get up close and personal to a couple of emus who have obviously learnt that water is easily available after humans have been at the tap.  Having never seen emus drink before it was funny to watch them sit down and drink!! A fabulous end to a great day.

We all fell into bed exhausted!!  I can certainly recommend the 3 Islands Whale Shark Tours, the crew were fantastic and informative, they answered the kids hundreds of questions, the food was endless and yummy and they certainly knew how to maximise our experience when in the water with the whale sharks!! 

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