Ningaloo Reef Western Australia

"Ningaloo Reef stretches 260km along Western Australia’s Coral Coast between Coral Bay and Exmouth."  

Unlike the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, which takes hours to get to from mainland Australia, Ningaloo is amazingly accessible – it is only 100m off the coast and you can see corals not far from the beaches. Most people come here to swim with whale sharks, but there are also manta rays and colourful corals and fish to discover. Here is some information about the reef's fish and coral; and some whale shark facts. In the end of the page is a map of the area, and Exmouth and Coral Bay accommodation.

Listing by Chitika



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What Are Corals?
There are about 220 species of coral in Ningaloo. Corals may look like plants but in fact they are animals. They always attract fish, mainly small fish that can get protection from predators when hiding amongst corals, but also large fish that come to feed or mate in corals. While many world’s coral reefs are degraded by human impact, Ningaloo is still pristine because there isn’t much land development in the area, and there will not be either, because the coast along Ningaloo Reef is protected by Cape Range National Park.


Coral. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.
 
Fish in the Coral Reefs
Because corals are colourful, coral reef fish are too - to be able to camouflage between corals. Coral reef fish are very territorial and they spend their entire lives in and around the same coral, which they aggressively protect from other fish. Our Hollywood star Nemo - Clown Fish (Amphiprion bicinctus) has a very special relationship to its territory – sea anemones, which contain stinging cells similar to those of Box Jellyfish. Clown Fish is the only fish that has adapted to these cells and doesn’t get stung. All other fish keep themselves away from those stinging anemones so clown fish have the sea anemones all for themselves. You can always see these fish in sea anemones where they are perfectly protected from predators.



Clown fish and sea anemones. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved.
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Other Coral Reef Creatures in Ningaloo Reef
There are other interesting creatures in coral reef, such as sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, sponges, sea shells and crustaceans, but also some less known groups such as hydrozoans, sea slugs and nudibranchs, and the obvious ones: octopus, sea snakes, sea turtles, large fish such as groupers and sharks, and large mammals such as dugongs and whales (dolphins are also whales).



Sea turtle. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Dangerous Coral Reef Creatures in Ningaloo Reef
There are also some dangerous creatures in coral reef. You don’t want to step on sea urchins, but they are not as bad as stonefish which are not only painful to step on, but also poisonous. Other poisonous coral reef creatures include firefish, sea snakes, cone shells, blue-ringed octopus, Irukandji jellyfish, and the world’s most poisonous animal – Box Jellyfish. Don’t let this discourage you – 20 million people live happily in Australia with these animals but take care and don’t ignore warning signs, particularly those of Box Jellyfish.



Stonefish. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Whale Shark Facts - Killer Whale vs Shark
Thanks for your patience – we’re finally talking whale sharks. Firstly, whale sharks are not whales but sharks, which means they are fish, not mammals (the big difference is that fish are primitive animals compared to mammals such as whales and dolphins which have got much larger brains). Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish weighing up to 21 tonnes and growing up to 18m in length. But the good news is that the world’s largest sharks are totally harmless – they are filter feeders that eat plankton and would not be interested in, or able to kill humans.


Whale Shark. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.
 
Swimming and Scuba Diving with Whale Shark
It so happens that the bottom depth in the Ningaloo Reef’s northern end drops suddenly to 100m only 6km off the coast. Ningaloo Reef is therefore one of the very few places in the world where you can see large fish that don’t like shallow waters, so close to the coast, and Ningaloo Reef is the only place in the world where whale shark migration happens so close to the coast every year. Tour operators will take you for a swim with whale sharks, and occasionally you can see a baby whale shark. Outside the whale shark season, you can swim with manta rays.
 

Swimming with whale shark. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved.
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Coral Bay Accommodation and Tours in Ningaloo Reef Western Australia
Coral Bay is a small one-street town south of Exmouth with supermarkets and internet access, and in addition to the whale shark and manta ray tour operators there are snorkelling tours, glass bottom boats, scenic flights and reef cruises, and even trips to Cape Range National Park, where there are a lot of emus and kangaroos. Places to stay in Coral Bay are Bayview Hotel, Ningaloo Resort and Peoples Park Caravan Village.


Turquoise Bay. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Tours and Accommodation in Exmouth Australia
Exmouth in the northern end of Ningaloo Reef is a bit bigger, has a shopping centre and an airport, internet access and lots of tour operator offices in the town centre.


Places to stay include Blue Reef Backpackers Village, Exmouth Cape Holiday Park Cabins, Exmouth Escape Resort, Ningaloo Lodge, Novotel Ningaloo Resort, Potshot Resort, Sal Salis Accommodation and Sea Breeze Resort.


Turquoise Bay. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Places to stay in Exmouth are Best Western Sea Breeze Resort, Blue Bones Holiday Homes, Cape Holiday Park Hotel, Excape Backpackers, Ningaloo Lodge, Ningaloo Retreat Hotel, Pete’s Exmouth Backpackers, Potshot Resort Hotel and Sal Salis Hotel.


Turquoise Bay. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Here's a map of Ningaloo Reef Western Australia, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.




 
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