March 24: Cruising Indian Ocean

Temperature 86 and overcast. Wind 15-20 mph so seas are pretty choppy with 8-foot swells.

Good sunset tonight.

 

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Ship anchored in harbor; at about 8:45 took tender to the marina, which is extremely nice.

Temperature 92; sea temp 86. Glad we are spending the day in the water.

Exmouth Diving Centre van picked up our group of 14 at the marina. Interesting history and sights during the hour drive through town and around the northwest Cape. 

      "Exmouth, which is on the tip of the northwest Cape, was established in 1963 to support a VLF communications station (the world's largest Very Low Frequency transmitter) by the US because of the rapidly escalating Cold War."  Now Exmouth is a tourist destination for the Ningaloo Reef, which is 186 miles long and is one of the closest coral reefs to land in the world.

Cape Range National Park. The landscape looks very much like the Arizona desert. Drove around the tip of the Cape passing the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse and arrived at the Tantabeddi Boat Ramp where we boarded a shuttle boat to the big boat moored on the reef.

Drift snorkeled across the patch reef. Very fast current and poor visibility. Saw large sting ray, unusual blue coral, some tiny star fish. The strong current made it very difficult to "hover" over the coral so didn't see much sea life. Good thing the boat picked us up; impossible to swim against the current. 

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Whale Shark Snorkel

Sooooooo excited!!! Snorkeling with the world's biggest fish--WOW. From March-August, whale sharks congregate here in large numbers. A plane locates the whale sharks, and the boat proceeds out beyond the reef.

Oh my gosh are the seas ever rough! Only ten people at a time can be around the shark. This excellent staff made sure everyone had plenty of time to have the unforgettable thrill of swimming right beside several different whale sharks. So excited to swim with one that you forget all about the rough seas, which weren't so bad once in the water. Thanks to the wonderful staff for their hard work and emailing all the great pictures they took. Still can't believe we got to swim so close to this majestic creature with its spectacular, distinctive markings. The most extraordinary experience!!

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Driving back saw 3 emus walking along the highway. Stopped at the dive shop since everyone wanted t-shirts.

    **Note about the Exmouth Diving Centre--Highly recommend this company and their competent staff. Very safety conscious; did a roll call every time the boat got ready to move. We had our own masks and snorkels; however, they do provide them. There were noodles for people not comfortable in the water, and the staff even used them to drag people closer to the whale sharks.

So exhausted we went to bed after dinner at about 8:00.