Coral Bay / Whale Shark Adventures

It’s always an adventure. We started at 7.45am with wetsuit and fins fitting. At 9am we left the boat harbour and by 9.30 we all in the water at the outer edge of the Ningaloo lagoon for a snorkel. This I can say was a highlight for me. The coral was much more substantial and really pretty. We swam with two turtles, a white tipped reef shark and Will saw a huge starfish. Back in the boat and outside the lagoon in the open water. At 10am we have been notified by the spotter plane of some whale sharks in the region and we are off in pursuit. It gets very exciting. The boat takes off and everyone gets onto the floor to put on their fins and masks and snorkels. We are divided into two groups so that one gets dropped in front of the shark for a swim and the other gets dropped down the way as the shark swims along, the boat doing loops as it picks everyone up. So were all ready. The kids are all set and really excited (nervous). Then the boat stopped in a cloud of black smoke and there we wallowed for the next two hours while we waited for a recovery (rescue) boat to come out from Coral Bay.

And it did………but In the meantime the wind had come up and the swells were 1 – 1.5m (which I reckon was underestimated) and people (me) were starting to feel a little worse for wear.

The plan was to continue on as the sharks were still in the area which was fantastic – we would still get to see a whale shark, but we still had to get on the other boat. This was a charter fishing boat and was considerably bigger than our whale/shark chasing number so a side by side transfer wasn’t possible. We had to swim from our boat to the other, which on your average day in the middle of the ocean would be ok, I guess? Then I factored in three kids and two parents…hmmmmm. OK, melodrama. We did the swim, dragging the kids. The hardest bit was getting onto the other boat in the swell. This was a fishing boat, not custom made for swimmers/divers to get in and out of the water.

We’re off again and in search of the whale sharks with our new boat and new skipper. After a little while of ‘cruising’ through the swells to the vicinity of the sharks, we were ‘on’ again. On the floor, all kitted up and in pursuit, but sitting on the floor didn’t work for me and burley over the side was the only option. I’m really not good at these sea based things!

After the boat transfer, Will was feeling a little cold and worse for wear. He decided not to swim with the sharks. He said “I’m not afraid of swimming with the sharks; I just don’t like getting back into the boat”. Wise man our Will.

We were in the second group to swim. We finally got in the water – Lochie with Kim and Sophie with me. Once in the water it is actually OK. Our group leader popped her head up and yelled “turn around” and as we did there was a whale shark, side on and so gracefully swimming away from us you could hardly see it move. Sophie is pointing and furiously shouting at me through her snorkel in excitement. This one was maybe 5-6 metres and was awesome. 

Then we had to get back in the boat!

I was always told (by people who dive) that nausea goes away when you’re in the water. Perhaps they mean when you’re ‘under’ the water, cos it didn’t happen for me. I sat out the next swim with Sophie and Will, but Kim and Lochlan went in and had a much better experience with the shark, getting a much longer swim and better view as it appeared beneath them and swam towards them.

Now the day was getting long. Everyone had seen a whale shark both from the boat and while in the water, so given that exiting the water was difficult it was decided to head back to Coral Bay. I continued to feed the fish all the way home.

Well. Things don’t always go as you worked through them in your mind’s eye. If the first boat had not have broken down we would have been swimming with sharks by 10.30am, all happy. As it happened, we had an awesome experience but one with a little more family adventure than what we had bargained for. I would much prefer to remember an experience with such as awesome creature as a whale shark but will remember the day for all that it was. Our children are amazing, courageous, adventurous, trusting and faithful, and we love them dearly.

To see any photos you willl all have to come over and watch the DVD.