Coral Bay , Western Australia - June 2005.

Click all images to enlarge. Click here to view the Coral Bay image and video gallery.

Zerovisibility has recently returned from our latest diving trip which was to Australia. Throughout the trip we managed to take in some of the best diving Australia has to offer. Coral Bay was the second area visited after we visited Exmouth. To read this part of the report click here.

We were booked to dive with the Ningaloo Reef Dive which is located in Coral Bay, Australia. Coral Bay is a very small holiday resort in Western Australia which is around one and a quarter hours drive south of Exmouth. We visited Exmouth first and this meant our only way of getting down to Coral Bay was on the Greyhound bus. This service was around $60 Australian dollars per person but it was comfortable. We also learned a little about the area from our driver on the journey down. Many people prefer to hire a car to drive themselves down to Coral Bay and this gives some added freedom. It also makes the final airport transfer from Coral Bay to Learmonth cheaper as this cost us around another $65 dollars per person. It is only $19 from Exmouth.

Western Australia - Where is Coral Bay?

Coral Bay really is a very small holiday resort. It has all the necessary things needed for a quiet holiday with about three restaurants, 2 supermarkets and a bar and bottle shop. Most of the accommodation is provided by camping but there are backpacker accommodation and some nice apartments. Our time in Coral Bay was spent at the Bay View Coral Bay resort. This time we had spent around $135 Australian dollars a night on the Coral Bay Lodge accommodation and we had a very nice self catering style apartment. Our apartment would also be ideal for a family as it had a double and single bed and was clean and spacious. This accommodation was a far better choice than we made in Exmouth although it was around $40 Australian dollars more. The other alternative is the Ningaloo Reef Resort which is where the restaurant and bar are located. This resort provides good apartment style accommodation.

Bay View Coral Bay Resort - Coral Bay Lodge Accommodation

Coral Bay is known for the beautiful sandy lagoon that is situated a mere five minutes walk from our accommodation. The beach is very fine white sand and it very gradually gets deeper. This makes it ideal for children and a great family holiday destination. The lagoon itself has very clear blue water which is ideal for swimming. The other great thing about the location is that it is the closest you can get to the Ningaloo coral reef from the shore. This makes it ideal for snorkeling and means you can snorkel from the beach and see some very good hard corals. Actually much of the diving we experienced was inside the reef so snorkeling makes a lot of sense if you visit here. The quality of the snorkeling would rival most places and you can see small sharks, turtles and reef fish.

Our diving was again booked through the sister dive centre in Exmouth. Exmouth Diving Centre is run by Kristen Anderson, we contacted her many months before the trip and she was a great help deciding when to come, how to get there and where to stay. All the accommodation and diving in Coral Bay and Exmouth was booked through her company directly.

The weather conditions for our time in Coral Bay were generally very good. Some days were a bit cloudy but the air temperature was comfortable around 24-26C. It certainly felt one or two degrees cooler than when we were in Exmouth. This was mainly due to the wind conditions which were also going to cause us some issues with the dive sites we would be able to dive.

On arrival we booked into the dive centre and organized our equipment. First impressions were again very good, the staff were helpful and friendly and the dive shop and centre well equipped. This centre though was a fair bit smaller than that in Exmouth. Less people make the trip down to Coral Bay and many that do concentrate on snorkeling. Is this a mistake?

Ningaloo Reef Dive centre

Coral Bay Scenes

During June the whale shark trips in Coral Bay do not run due to more of the sharks appearing further north. This means you have to make the trip to Exmouth to see them at this time of year. That said Coral Bay still had plenty of diving and trips to be experienced. Our view was that this part of the trip would also allow us to relax in the beautiful surroundings of Coral Bay and also enjoy some relaxed diving and snorkeling. We had pre-booked in to do a number of local reef trips, a north reef safari and a manta ray interaction tour.

Diving in Coral Bay is logistically much easier than in Exmouth. The dive centre is only 5 minutes from the beach and the boat can be reached by wading out into the shallow water of the lagoon. Like Exmouth the boat is loaded with tanks and equipment when we arrive and everyone lends a hand. You do not have to but the more people that help, the quicker it gets done. The boat which was used all week was "Manta Magic". This boat was not large but had enough space for kitting up. Again the facilities all worked well and the boat was clean.

"Manta Magic" - click to enlarge

Our first day started at around 8:00am and would involve a manta ray interaction tour. This tour was very similar to the whale shark adventure that we experienced in Exmouth. Click here to read this report. This time the snorkeling was to be the first part of our day. A spotter plane is used to locate the manta rays from the air. In this case the manta rays were inside the reef in a lagoon. We were told that this was because they chase their food through the opening in the reef. This meant that the visibility was not that great because of the plankton and the sandy bottom. Literally we were only around 30-40 metres away from the shore when we were dropped into the water.

Our first experience was with two rays around 3 metres across. When we entered the water we managed to stay with them briefly before losing sight. We were then picked up by the boat and quickly dropped again with another two rays, similar in size to the first two. This time we were lucky and the manta rays were not bothered by our presence. We hovered around and snorkeled with them for around 15 minutes. These rays were an amazing site and were looping and rolling in the water feeding on the plankton. This trip again was worth the expense and cost around $155 Australian dollars.

Once back on the boat we cruised to our dive site for the second part of this trip. This site was named the Canyon. This site was on the inside of the reef. Here the dive sites are not deep but still have some great fish life and very nice corals. This site is one that is inside a marine reserve. This means no fishing and you are not allowed to take anything from the site. A good policy which was underlined by the large spangled emperor fish that appeared under our boat at the end of the dive!

One small drawback of diving in Coral Bay is that if the weather is not great then you are limited to diving these sites and there are only 4 or 5 to choose from. There are a number of sites outside the reef on the outer wall but these sites are open to the weather conditions and the conditions can be rough. This obviously means they cannot always get out here. The dive centre are also exploring other areas on the outside reef and are discovering new places to dive all of the time. This is helped by the spotter plane that is used on the manta ray interaction tours spotting suitable sites from the air!

The visibility here was fairly poor only 8 metres. This was not a major problem though because much of the site was less than 6 metres in depth. The maximum depth was only 10 metres. This site gets its name from the hard coral canyons which run through the site. Everywhere we looked there were different types of hard coral and most of it was in pristine condition. During the dive you would find yourself diving through fairly narrow channels with hard coral on each side and underneath you. The coral we saw had suffered almost no bleaching.

One interesting fish which we encountered was the pink damselfish. This small fish feeds on the algae gardens on the sea floor and is very territorial. If it feels it is threatened it will try and push you away by rushing at you. Quite surprising the first time and quite fun after that! Also on this dive we again saw a large shoal of convict surgeonfish feeding on algae on rocks. Other than that there was some nice reef fish on the dive but not large numbers.

On this dive at times the surge and current was quite strong. This was probably due to the water pushing through small gaps in between the coral walls. All in all a nice dive site and it proves you do not have to go deep to have a good dive! The water temperature was 26C and this was the case for the entire time in Coral Bay for all dives.

Our second day was a local reef trip, again these sites are on the inside of the reef. For this trip we met at the dive centre at 8:30am. Our first site of the day was Lottie's lagoon. This site was generally deeper than the Canyon site. The sea today was quite choppy and made for a bumpy ride especially considering we were inside the reef and sheltered from the worst of the conditions.

Lotties's Lagoon consisted of a sandy bottom with various coral pillars and bommie's scattered around. This made a very pretty dive site which was nice to explore. The coral at this site was again mostly the hard varieties but was not as prolific as the Canyon site. On this dive we saw a number of interesting species such as the white eyed moray eel, the sail fin catfish as seen in Exmouth, a small lionfish and a large puffer fish. Other small reef fish were also very nice too.

White toothed Moral Eel

Sail fin Catfish

The second dive of the day was at Asho's gap. This dive site was quite similar to the Canyon site and the hard corals once again were everywhere. This site is again in a protected area and our guide mentioned that there were over 130 different species of hard corals recorded in the area. This I would say is no exaggeration as everywhere you look is another type and formation of hard coral. Again this dive was not deep and was around 11 metres at its deepest. On this dive we managed to spot a turtle, a nice blue spotted stingray and some large spangled emperor fish. This dive site also has the opportunity to see reef sharks that come into the inside of the reef to be cleaned. On this occasion though we were unlucky. Visibility here was not great and was only around 8 metres.

The third diving day of our Coral Bay stay was meant to be a North Reef Safari. We were looking forward to this trip as there is a good chance of seeing the year round manta rays here. Unfortunately the weather conditions meant that we would be too exposed in this area so this trip was cancelled in favour of another local reef trip. This was disappointing for us and unlucky. The guides mentioned that the weather conditions had been poor compared to normal and they had not been able to get outside the reef for some time. A refund was given though to those that wanted it. Instead we decided to dive inside the reef again.

The first dive of the day was at Black Douglas. This was quite a small dive site which consisted of two bommie's. Around the bommie's were some smaller rocks and coral surrounded by sand. The site again was shallow but interesting marine life. On this dive of note we saw a cuttlefish underneath an overhang, octopus, two large lionfish, sea urchins, white eyed moray eels and a large blue spotted stingray. Visibility here was around 10 to 12 metres.

The second dive of the day was again at the Canyon site. Nothing new was spotted and the visibility was around 10 metres.

Our final days diving was again local reef dives. We were concerned that we had already visited all of the sites on the inside of the reef. However we should not have been worried because the weather had improved and the wind had dropped. This meant that we could for the first time venture outside of the reef and see what the dive sites were like out there. The dive site we visited was The Elbow. This site was just on the entry to the bay and had potential for manta ray visits. Again we were very hopeful for seeing them for the second time this week!

This site was very much like those we had dived in Exmouth. The site was mainly made up of a rocky area which consisted of some nice overhangs and swimthroughs. Coral was not prolific but there were some nice examples in the area. Marine life on the dive was excellent with a large honeycomb moray, other morays, large reef fish and lots of nudibranches.

Moray Eel

After around ten minutes a 3 metre wide manta ray passed overhead. Some of the group missed the ray and were initially disappointed. The manta ray however re-appeared and stayed around the group for around 10 to 15 minutes, hovering over the reef and getting cleaned. While we were watching the ray the surge was strong due to the waves breaking on the outer reef. All in all this site was excellent and it was a shame we did not have more opportunity to dive the outside of this reef. Visibility here was slightly better but still only around 12 metres.

Before moving off from our second dive we again saw two humpback whales from the boat. Another great treat which we were happy to see.

Our final dive in the Coral Bay area was again Asho's gap. The water temperature on this dive was noticeably colder at 24C but was still fine for our 5mm wetsuits. Again we were hopeful of seeing some reef sharks but again we drew blank on this dive. On this dive we managed to see a small moray, pink damselfish and spangled emperors. Other than that the dive was fairly quiet.

All in all Coral Bay is a very nice place for a relaxing holiday. The diving may not be deep or that varied inside the reef but it is still very good. The hard corals here really rival those I have seen anywhere else. If the weather conditions are good then you can get outside the reef and you have an excellent chance of seeing the year-round manta rays. The snorkeling here is also fantastic and it is rare for the reef to be so close to the beach.

At the right time of the year you can also see whale sharks. The season here is late March to May. Ningaloo Reef Dive looked after us very well, their guides were excellent and very friendly and the centre is recommended.

A visit to both Coral Bay and Exmouth should be on all divers lists who are visiting Australia. Especially since the Western Australian Government have given the green light to a $60 million hotel development at Coral Bay. The project will be managed by the Hilton Group and will include 260 beds, accommodation for workers and a pedestrian mall. This will be a five star resort and I for one am disappointed this development was approved. We can only hope that the environmental impact is minimized.

Once we were finished in Coral bay we then flew back to Perth to begin the next part of the trip. We were booked into the Spirit of Freedom liveaboard dive boat for a trip into the Coral Sea!

View towards the Supermarket and other shops

Manta Rays on the manta ray interaction

Large spangled emperors

Nice hard coral formations

Bat fish

Nudibranch

Manta Rays seen at the Elbow

Sunset in Coral Bay