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 Reef 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 Ningaloo Reef 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 tour operators and accommodation.
What Are Corals? There are about 220 species of coral in Ningaloo Reef. 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 Reef Western Australia 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.
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.
Other Coral Reef Creatures in Ningaloo Reef Western Australia 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).
Dangerous Coral Reef Creatures in Ningaloo Reef Western Australia 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.
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.
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 rare places in the world where you can see large fish that don’t like shallow waters, so close to the coast, and Ningaloo Reef Western Australia is the only place in the world where whale shark migration happens so close to the coast every year. Tour operators such as Coral Bay Adventures and Ningaloo Reef Dive in Coral Bay; and Exmouth Diving Centre, Ningaloo Blue and Three Islands Marine in Exmouth will take you for a swim with whale sharks, and although there is no whale shark feeding, occasionally you can see a baby whale shark. Outside the whale shark season, you can swim with manta rays.
Coral Bay Accommodation and Tours in Ningaloo Reef Western Australia Coral Bay the small one-street town south of Exmouth has supermarkets and internet access, and in addition to the whale shark and manta ray tour operators which were listed above, snorkelling is offered by Coral Bay Eco Tours, reef cruises by Coral Breeze and scenic flights by Coral Bay Adventures. Glass Bottom Boats and Sub-sea Explorer will show you the underwater life if you don’t want to get wet; and Coral Coast Tours will take you for a 4WD trip to Cape Range National Park, where there are a lot of emus and kangaroos. Places to stay in Coral Bay are Bayview Hotel, Ningaloo Reef Resort and Peoples Park Caravan Village.
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. In addition to the whale shark and manta ray operators which are listed above, there are Learn to Surf, Southern Cross Safaris, and Ningaloo Coral Explorer that take you out to the water; and Capricorn Kayak Tours and Ningaloo Coral Explorer that offer water-based tours as well as trips to the Cape Range National Park. Places to stay in Exmouth are Best Western Sea Breeze Resort, Blue Bones Holiday Homes, Cape Holiday Park Hotel, Excape Backpackers, Ningaloo Lodge, Ningaloo Reef Retreat Hotel, Pete’s Exmouth Backpackers, Potshot Resort Hotel and Sal Salis Hotel.
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.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
