Village Dive
July 2004, 5 days of diving
Ningaloo Reef and Exmouth have become famous in the diving world for the large numbers of Whale Sharks that visit each year from March to July. There are however plenty of other marine attractions to see including excellent coral reefs, migrating Humpback Whales & Manta Rays. The small town of Exmouth is the gateway to Ningaloo and offers a selection of restaurants, supermarkets, gift shops as well as a bank. There are only 3 or 4 dive shops operating here but during the Whale Shark season many other boats offer snorkelling trips with these gentle sharks (approx. 300 US$ per person!!).
Getting there is a 15 hour drive North of Perth or
Sky West offer a 2 hour flight from Perth to Learmonth Airport, 35 Km south
of Exmouth town. If travelling by road there are a couple of stop off
points up the coast such as Monkey Mia, Shark Bay (World Heritage Site) and
Coral Bay. Click Here for more details.
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US Navy Pier Shore DiveThe US Navy Pier is regarded as one of the best shore dives in Australia. This pier was constructed by the US Navy to service their communications base and has always been protected from fishing, making it a haven for marine life. The number of fish seen on this dive is quite staggering. Schools of Barracuda & Travalley, White Tip Sharks, Wobbygongs, Potato Cod, Stone fish........the list goes on. The only disappointing aspect of this dive is the visibility which averages only 4 - 8 M. We had 2 dives here and during our surface interval were lucky enough to see breaching Humpback Whales and some Indo-Pacific Dolphins. Only 1 shop in Exmouth is issued with a license to dive here. At the time of writing (Nov. 04) Coral Coast Dive holds the license but they have ceased trading. Currently it is not permitted to dive this site until a new agreement is in place with the US Navy. |
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Local Dive operators generally offer Lighthouse Bay in the Gulf of Exmouth for day trips. There are many dive sites here all offering a good selection of coral and aquatic life. Olive sea snakes, turtles, mantas, white-tips as well as the usual reef inhabitants were seen. Here we also witnessed the breeding display of octopus, quite a memorable event (pic. right). Almost every dive here was accompanied by the distinct sound of distant whale song. Whilst the vis was by no means perfect it
was much better than the Navy Pier, 8 - 15 M, but unfortunately lots of marine
snow made photography difficult. Most dives are 20M max. but some
sites do go as deep as 30M. |
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The Murion Islands are also offered
as a 2 or 3 dive trip for a supplement cost. Here we saw plenty
of Manta action, excellent coral dives and many whales on the journey.
Again lots of marine snow reduced visibility. Dives are rarely deeper
than 16M deep, often shallower.
Splash Diving offer a unique overnight trip to dive sites that other boats seldom visit. Overnight is spent sleeping on the beach in an Australian 'Swag'. A swag is a waterproof outer bag with a mattress and sleeping bag inside. |
OTHER POINTS.....
We dived with Coral Coast Divers (no longer trading) to dive the navy pier and Village dive for our local / Murion dives. Village Dive were very good in all aspects and are recommended, especially as they provide sweets between dives for that sugar / energy fix!!! We also spoke to Exmouth Dive Centre but found the management to be quite rude. Splash Diving offer some great value overnight trips on their fast boat, but appear to be aimed more at the backpacker market. The splash boat is also available for charter trips outside the Whale Shark season.
Water Temp. was 20 - 22 degrees C
The nearest recompression chamber is in Perth
There are facilities for charging torches, cameras etc. in the caravan parks, Australian 3 pin plugs.
There are fresh water dip tanks and a drying area at Village and Exmouth dive centres.
PADI dive courses are offered at all shops.
Splash also offer NAUI courses.
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All images were captured using a Minolta Dimage X and Minolta Marine Case. No external flash.
Jasc software has been used to enhance the images.
