Log One Hundred and Forty Five – It’s all About the Whale Sharks

1 August 2026

There are many must sees up here on the WA coast and one of the biggest draw cards is swimming with the whale sharks.

The whale sharks move along the outside of the Ningaloo Reef. They are sufficiently slow moving that you can swim along with these magnificent fish whilst they remain near the surface.

The tour pick up is at 7:00am. Off to the boat for a safety briefing and an explanation about how to get on and off the back deck of the boat. Next it’s fitting into full length wet suits and trying on your face mask and snorkel. Everyone is very unsteady on a moving boat.

We head off to some coral bommies for some practice at slipping off the back of the boat and then propelling yourself back up. Have you ever seen how penguins propel themselves out of the ocean and onto the ice? No, that wasn’t us. How about a beached whale? That’s getting closer, uncoordinated, awkward and inelegant.

After swimming around the coral, the trevally and lots of parrot fish we were back on board. Morning tea and then outside the reef to find whale sharks. Do you remember when we were told you can’t swim for an hour after to eating! It doesn’t apply up here.

There are aircraft overhead searching for the whale sharks. We are all sitting down at the back of the boat waiting for the command. Suddenly the captain calls out Go! Go! Go! We all obey and slip off the boat into the Indian Ocean. It’s about 40m deep out here and the bottom is well out of sight. Our guide is in the water and she tells us where to look. There it is, right in front of you a massive fish with its attendant courtiers, quietly swimming past your group.

I was able to swim around the whale shark, past its tail and to stare into its eye. Amazing. Our group left the whale shark for another group and now it was time to get back on the boat. Ugh!

With both groups back on board we were off to find another big fish. We did this four times after which getting back on board was far more challenging. The body was loosing its penguin like abilities.

Lunch and then off to see a dugong, a hump back whale and dolphins. A big day that won’t be forgotten. A snooze on the bus back to town was well earned.

Consistent with past experience our guides and the photographer were from Italy, Argentina and the UK. The Captain was probably the only local.

Back to Coral Bay for a few days and then time to plan for the trip home. We have nearly 5,000kms ahead of us.