Outback Meets Reef
The Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area is located in the very northwestern tip of Australia, which includes the areas of the Ningaloo Marine Park and the Cape Range National Park. It reaches almost 20 kilometres offshore and is where the cool ocean currents from the south meet the warmer currents from the north: the reason why this region supports a unique mix of tropical and subtropical species.
In Ningaloo Reef, you find one of the planet’s largest coral reefs and they can be accessed straight from the beach, something very few other coral reefs offer. It’s pretty much pristine and beyond them are the pelagic megafauna. Swimming with whale sharks (April to July) and humpback whales (August to October) are the highlights, but spotting other kinds of visitors, including dolphins, turtles, manta rays (June to July) and reef sharks, is also popular.
his speed alongside. For almost 30 minutes we swam side by side.
After the intimate encounter, suddenly he was gone, submerging on a deep dive into the ocean. I got back to the boat with the wonderful feeling of being out of this world. It’s the nature. And I wanted to do it again and again. Luckily the same whale shark returned to the surface and we had two more turns swimming together. It never failed to amaze.
So enamoured were we of the marine wildlife that we also joined a guided kayaksnorkel as well as a dive excursion. We snorkelled on the reef further offshore of Sal Salis at the Blue Lagoon, the best spot I have ever done this in my life. For diving, we went to the Lighthouse Bay area. Watching the life cycle of the reef with its corals, turtles, rays, reef sharks and hundreds of fishes was even more spectacular when seen through the crystal blue water.
For me, the Ningaloo Coast is wild Australia as its very best. Here I got the buzz of new frontiers: the nature is pristine and untouched. I wish I could thank the photographers I met in India for sharing one of Australia’s best-kept natural secrets. I went to Ningaloo on a journey to find whale sharks in their natural habitat and I ended up with that feeling of being stripped away to something bare. The sharks and the entire marine world made me remember that all that really matters is our ability to survive. Getting down to the essentials of our being is always a powerfully attractive idea.