Bubbles and the deep blue. That’s all I can see as I float just below the surface of the Indian Ocean, a mile or so off Western Australia’s coast. I pop my head above the water to check my bearings; Lynn, our snorkel guide, is rising and falling with the waves, but her left arm remains steadfast, pointing behind me like a signpost.
I align myself with her outstretched fingers and then peer again into the sun-filtered depths. A swirl of silver flashes out of the darkness ahead, a shoal of baitfish sparkling in a shaft of sunlight. Behind them, a seismic shadow looms. The baitfish dart and dip, like flashy courtiers heralding the coming of a king. And then the whale shark emerges, gliding towards me with its broad mouth agape, filtering the water between us for microscopic plankton.
The world’s largest fish just breezes right past me. It’s the size of a bus, but its movement is effortless, silent and hypnotically slow. And it is beautiful, the shark’s hulking body lit up with white spots that shine like constellations in the night sky.
Whale sharks drift through the waters around Mexico, the Maldives, the Philippines and Mozambique, but nowhere do they reliably gather in such large numbers as Ningaloo Reef, 745 miles north of Perth. “The mass coral spawning brings them in,” explains Lynn, a snorkel guide for Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo, when we’re back on board the company’s boat.
“The currents along this coast push all the nutrients together and keep the whale sharks’ food – and the whale sharks – here for a longer time than anywhere else.” Up to 500 of these magnificent creatures aggregate at Ningaloo each year.
Importantly (and unlike in other parts of the world, unfortunately), whale-shark tours at Ningaloo are run by a small group of licensed operators, who follow a strict set of protocols. Before entering the water, Lynn talked us through sight formations and etiquette using a whale shark soft toy and some Weebles figures, lining “us” up in a row along its flank – swimming around the front of the whale shark is forbidden, as is swimming above the whale shark or below it.
There are also limits on the number of swimmers (a maximum of ten alongside the whale shark at a time) and on how close swimmers (and boats) can get. Duck-diving is not allowed, nor flash photography.
We go into the water four times in total, swimming with two different whale sharks, both of them males and both of them – like 95 percent of the whale sharks spotted in Ningaloo – juveniles. Each time, we line up with Lynn, keep our distance and steadily kick alongside.
On our last swim, as Lynn moves in to take a photo of the shark’s gill slits (its “fingerprint”) for identification purposes, I stop kicking and let the whale shark move ahead of me, my parting view its enormous rudder-like tail fin, gently propelling it through the water until even the fizz of bubbles left in its wake have disappeared.
Stretching over 180 miles from the Red Bluff cliffs at Carnarvon to the Muiron Islands north of Exmouth, Ningaloo is the largest fringing reef in the world. Its pristine waters support an abundance of life, including more than 300 coral species and over 700 species of reef fish, despite the climate crisis placing it under extreme pressure – a severe marine heatwave in March this year caused parts of its coral to whiten in a mass bleaching event.
As well as whale sharks, Ningaloo is also home to the highest concentrations of humpback whales and manta rays in the southern hemisphere. This extraordinary biodiversity is recognised by the Ningaloo coast’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Unlike the more famous Great Barrier Reef, which lies up to 90 miles off Australia’s east coast, the reef at Ningaloo can be accessed directly from the beach. I get my first taste of its wade-in wonders at Coral Bay, south along the coast from Exmouth, where Five Fingers Reef stretches out into the sea.
It’s 4WD-only along a soft-sand track to get to the reef, so after bumping around the dunes on an ATV behind Jackson, my guide from Coastal Adventure Tours, I stand on the shoreline squeezing myself into a wetsuit as fast as I can, while Jackson tells our group that this is “some of the best snorkelling you can get straight off the beach – anywhere.”
I take a few steps and dip below the surface. A scene from Finding Nemo is playing out among the shallows. Angelfish, triggerfish and butterflyfish flit around the staghorn outcrops, and I spy a bluespotted fantail ray puffing up clouds of sand as it wafts along the seabed. Giant clams, with iridescent blue lips, poke up from in between the coral.
Nothing beats the sight of a green turtle, though, leisurely paddling along the reef. “We’ve never not seen a turtle,” shrugs Jackson with a smile when I enthusiastically report my sighting back on the beach.
Coral Bay’s claim to fame, though, is its manta rays. Mantas can be spotted all along the reef, but only in Coral Bay do they gather in large numbers. So early the next morning, I’m chugging out into Batemans Bay with Frazer McGregor, a manta-ray expert and co-owner of ecotourism company Ningaloo Marine Interactions.
Frazer moved to Coral Bay 25 years ago, armed with a degree in marine biology and an intrigue in the area’s permanent population of mantas. He began photographically cataloguing them, identifying individuals by the unique spot patterns on their bellies. What started out as personal research has since expanded into Project Manta, a citizen-science program whose sightings database now features over 1350 individuals.
We don’t have too far to go. As well as oceanic manta rays, Ningaloo is home to reef manta rays, which dwell in the shallows, so we’re still in just 20ft of water when Fraser kills the engine. As with my whale-shark swim in Exmouth, we’re run through a series of rules: keep a set distance; swim on the surface only, so we don’t assume the position of a predator; and form a U-shape between us if a manta approaches.
We slip into the water just as two females float into view. Where the whale sharks were sheer size and passive beauty, these mantas are all artistic elegance. They fly along the seafloor, pulsing their wingtips in perfect unison. Occasionally, the lead female swings up through the water in a curving arc and her companion follows suit, like they’re engaged in some kind of telepathic dance. They bank and glide and swoop until we can keep up with them no longer.
Back on board, Frazer explains the acrobatic feeding behaviour of mantas (he is currently studying for a PhD in manta-ray ecology) as we cruise the lagoon’s gin-clear waters in search of other marine animals. We spot dozens of turtles, dugongs grazing on seagrass beds – Frazer quips that they’re mostly solitary animals but they sometimes like to travel in “dugangs” – and several humpback whales.
Frazer takes photographs of their tail flukes, for another database he is compiling. When whaling ended here in the mid-1960s, the population measured just 300; now, an estimated 40,000 humpbacks migrate along the coast each year. It’s a remarkable turnaround. But then Ningaloo is a truly remarkable place.
Need to know: Ningaloo
Getting there: Qantas flies direct from London to Perth, taking around 17 hours. From Perth, Qantas flies daily to Learmonth, the closest airport to Ningaloo.
Getting around: Exmouth is 25 minutes’ drive north of Learmonth Airport, while Coral Bay is just over an hour to the south. Buses run between the two towns. Tour operators pick up from hotels, but you’ll need to hire a car at the airport if you want to reach the best snorkelling spots.
Best time to go: Manta rays can be spotted in Ningaloo year-round. Visit between March and August to swim with whale sharks.
Where to eat: Craft beer and tasty wood-fired pizzas make a crowd-pleasing combo at the al-fresco Whalebone Brewing Company (whalebonebrewing.com.au) in Exmouth. Italian dishes dominate the menu at laidback Reef Café (facebook.com/reefcafecb) in Coral Bay, although the signature seafood platter is always a winner.
Where to stay: Set amid tropical gardens, Exmouth Escape Resort (exmouthescaperesort.com.au) is a great base for swimming with whale sharks; Coral Bay Peoples Park (peoplesparkcoralbay.com.au), right opposite the town beach in Coral Bay, is well located for manta trips in Batemans Bay.
Further information: Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo exmouthdiving.com.au / Coastal Adventure Tours coralbaytours.com.au / Ningaloo Marine Interactions ningaloomarineinteractions.com.au
