13 September 2005 (Day 8)
Our first day of diving at Exmouth. We were up at 6.30am to get to the dive shop at 7:30am. When we arrived we sorted out equipment. They gave us two 3mm full size wetsuits to put on, but they mustn’t have many people the size of Daniel come through as the wetsuits were tight.
We were taken by bus to Bundegi Beach and helped unload all the gear onto the small jetty. The boat came around and everyone again helped to load the boat. How the jetty survived the weight of everyone with gear is a mystery!
It was a relatively short boat ride around to the west coast of Ningaloo Reef. The first dive was at Blizzard Ridge – aptly named because visibility was like being in a blizzard! But before we could go down, Daniel had to find a weight belt that was big enough. None of them seemed adequate until we found a pocketed weight belt which did the trick.
As a group of seven, we dived down to 14 metres. Our guide, Ben, is an instructor and did a degree in marine zoology. In the past, boat dives have ended up just being swimming around in a circle, but this time we were given a tour and only passed over the same spot to return to the anchor line. We saw endemic Sailfin Catfish, Olive Sea Snake, Lionfish, Reef Bannerfish, Blue Spotted Lagoon Ray, Batfish, Coral Cod, Tuskfish and Tassled Wobbegong.
The boat moved a little further out and we dived on an area known as The Labyrinth. This time we went down to 13 metres and saw two sleeping green turtles, pink anemone fish, black box fish, huge batfish, common octopus, cleaner shrimp and a white tip reef shark.
On the journey back to the jetty we saw a humpback whale and calf.
Upon making it back to the dive shop, we decided to make our way to Turquoise Bay – a renowned snorkel spot.
We drove for 50 minutes or so, stopping on the way for a goanna that was slowly crossing the road. When we got out to the Bay, we walked down the beach and it was blowing a cold breeze. As we entered the water to put our fins on, Helen said “The snorkelling better be good”, as it was so cold.
Within seconds of setting off, we saw a school of large fish – about 40 cm high and 60 cm long. It didn’t stop there – unicorn fish, orange-blotch surgeonfish, heaps of wedge tail triggerfish, a green turtle and as we were leaving, two HUGE fish in water that was about a third deeper than they were. They looked like trevally, but moved so fast we couldn’t tell. We’ve got to get back there to see them again.
We dried off and then took a little bit of time for Daniel to take some photos of the vegetation with the film camera.
We started driving back to Exmouth at about 5:30pm. Sunset was at 6:08pm. Driving along we came across a number of kangaroos at the edge of the road, but thankfully they hoped off as we approached. We stopped a few times to try and get photos, but they weren’t too helpful. We also stopped to photograph some Sturt Desert Peas that are everywhere on the side of the road out here.
At close to 6pm we made it to the Bundegie Lighthouse and watched the sunset and some whales off the coast before hightailing it back to the township before dark.
A long day, which resulted in Daniel falling asleep at 9pm!
We were taken by bus to Bundegi Beach and helped unload all the gear onto the small jetty. The boat came around and everyone again helped to load the boat. How the jetty survived the weight of everyone with gear is a mystery!
It was a relatively short boat ride around to the west coast of Ningaloo Reef. The first dive was at Blizzard Ridge – aptly named because visibility was like being in a blizzard! But before we could go down, Daniel had to find a weight belt that was big enough. None of them seemed adequate until we found a pocketed weight belt which did the trick.
As a group of seven, we dived down to 14 metres. Our guide, Ben, is an instructor and did a degree in marine zoology. In the past, boat dives have ended up just being swimming around in a circle, but this time we were given a tour and only passed over the same spot to return to the anchor line. We saw endemic Sailfin Catfish, Olive Sea Snake, Lionfish, Reef Bannerfish, Blue Spotted Lagoon Ray, Batfish, Coral Cod, Tuskfish and Tassled Wobbegong.
The boat moved a little further out and we dived on an area known as The Labyrinth. This time we went down to 13 metres and saw two sleeping green turtles, pink anemone fish, black box fish, huge batfish, common octopus, cleaner shrimp and a white tip reef shark.
On the journey back to the jetty we saw a humpback whale and calf.
Upon making it back to the dive shop, we decided to make our way to Turquoise Bay – a renowned snorkel spot.
We drove for 50 minutes or so, stopping on the way for a goanna that was slowly crossing the road. When we got out to the Bay, we walked down the beach and it was blowing a cold breeze. As we entered the water to put our fins on, Helen said “The snorkelling better be good”, as it was so cold.
Within seconds of setting off, we saw a school of large fish – about 40 cm high and 60 cm long. It didn’t stop there – unicorn fish, orange-blotch surgeonfish, heaps of wedge tail triggerfish, a green turtle and as we were leaving, two HUGE fish in water that was about a third deeper than they were. They looked like trevally, but moved so fast we couldn’t tell. We’ve got to get back there to see them again.
We dried off and then took a little bit of time for Daniel to take some photos of the vegetation with the film camera.
We started driving back to Exmouth at about 5:30pm. Sunset was at 6:08pm. Driving along we came across a number of kangaroos at the edge of the road, but thankfully they hoped off as we approached. We stopped a few times to try and get photos, but they weren’t too helpful. We also stopped to photograph some Sturt Desert Peas that are everywhere on the side of the road out here.
At close to 6pm we made it to the Bundegie Lighthouse and watched the sunset and some whales off the coast before hightailing it back to the township before dark.
A long day, which resulted in Daniel falling asleep at 9pm!
posted by Daniel & Helen at
8:59 PM
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