DAY 27 – CORAL BAY

Today was yet another brilliant day. We are at Coral Bay having just seen the sun set over the ocean at our almost waterfront camp site.

I don’t have any photos of the best part of the day because I didn’t take my underwater camera when we went snorkelling off the beach this afternoon but this is yet another really special place.

We are near the southern end of the Ningaloo Reef which stretches for several hundred kilometres just a few kilometres off the beach creating an inshore lagoon in which is contained some of the best coral we have seen. It is different from but similarly spectacular to GBR coral and seems to go on forever. The entire area appears to be no more than five metres deep so we didn’t see any of the big fish, sharks, rays etc that are seen in the deeper water.

One walks off a beautiful sandy gradually sloping beach until it is deep enough to swim and the coral  starts once the water is two metres deep.

Notwithstanding that we are in the middle of nowhere, a long way from anywhere, this is a very popular spot. With a water temperature of 26 degrees at this time of year and brilliant weather, one can understand why.

Tomorrow we go to Exmouth, about 200 kilometres north of here where we have an appointment to swim with the Whale Sharks on Friday. Before we head off in the morning, we will be having another snorkel off the beach.

It's my sister's birthday tomorrow. I'm not sure how old she is but her younger sister recently celebrated her 50th birthday. Happy Birthday Trish.