About Me. My fifth location in a multi-country, two-month dive trip brings me to Exmouth, Australia, for diving in Ningaloo. I’m a solo traveler with 700+ dives, and I made my own arrangements for the diving and hotel. My first three weeks were spent in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, followed by a 10-day stay in Puerto Galera, Philippines, then 6 days in Perth, Australia. I wrote trip reports for those stays.
Trip Report - Raja Ampat-Cove Eco-February 2025
Trip Report - Raja Ampat Dive Lodge-March 2025
Trip Report - White Manta Liveaboard-March 10-17, 2025
Trip Report - Puerto Galera, Philippines-March 20-30, 2025
Trip Report - Perth, Australia-March 31-April 6, 2025
In April, Exmouth is bustling with spring break vacationers and tourists coming to snorkel with the whale sharks and dive at Ningaloo reef. Australian families take to the road to vacation and explore this part of their country.
Getting There. Taking an Uber to the airport, I boarded a roughly 2-hour flight on Qantas Airlines from Perth to Exmouth. With no market competition and, as of July 31, 2025, the closing of JetStar Asia, Qantas is expensive. Once I arrived, I got on a prepaid shared shuttle from the airport to Ningaloo Lodge that took about an hour. The shuttle stops at various hotels for drop-offs along the way. There is no Uber in Exmouth, only taxis. I did not rent a car. Since I was just diving, free transportation was provided by Dive Ningaloo.
Ningaloo Lodge. Exmouth is small, so lodging is booked out way in advance for the busy season which includes April. Lodging is also expensive in the north here, so I wanted something relatively cheap but comfortable. I prefer traditional hotels, but this worked out well. I made my reservation nine months before arrival, and they sell out of their rooms till September. This is an interesting lodge. It’s set up like a motel/hostel where there are rows of rooms with interior hallways with nonlocking doors at the entrances, so, in effect, your room is not secured from intruders. I was in one of their smaller rooms with a double bed, a small fridge, a few shelves, a compact closet, and a small table with a metal folding chair. The bathroom was actually larger than expected. The bed was a bit soggy. I travel with a blow-up, camping-style single twin mattress, which has come in handy at the various hotels and resorts I’ve been staying in. The room was clean and cozy, and the A/C worked well and was most appreciated with outside temps in the low 90’s.
They have a communal dining room with full cooking facilities at your disposal. All dishes, pots, pans, utensils, and glassware are provided. Indoor and outdoor dining with a BBQ grill and pool is in a nice tropical setting. There’s a market about 10 minutes walking, so it’s easy to buy groceries and cook your own meals. Everything is self-serve and you’re required to clean up after yourself. Everyone was respectful of the rules. There’s a coin-operated laundry room ($2 AUD) with very long clotheslines and clothespins free to use.
It’s a family-run lodge, so the owners and their daughter are on site at varying hours, and are very friendly. The 6-night stay cost $836 USD. I would highly recommend this lodge.
One of the many things I love about Australia is the wild cockatoos. I had seen them in the Blue Mountains, but they were also up here in the desert of Exmouth. Very cool!
Dive Ningaloo. A dive guide in Australia is not the norm, so I needed to find a dive op that provided a free guide. Thanks to SB member feedback, I chose them. Scheduling and communication was very easy. I dived two days on the Ningaloo reef and two days at Murion Island with two tanks each day.
Water, BBQ lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers, fruit, and cookies were provided. Very much like a liveaboard, there’s a compressor with a long hose on board to fill tanks between dives. No nitrox is available. Two days, we had 25 divers and two days there were 18 divers. This is a large boat, but with 25 divers, it was crowded. All the benches are occupied with dive gear and there are a few seats around the food buffet area, but almost everyone had to sit on the floor. This is a single-level boat with no top deck in which to retreat. There were five guides for 25 divers.
Ningaloo Dive Boat
Compressor for Air Fills
The Diving. The daily schedule went like this: All divers were picked up by the transport bus from their individual hotels. I got lucky and I was the last to be picked up and first to be dropped off. We were then taken to a pier about 20 minutes away where we transferred to a dinghy boat to take us to the big boat. Since there were 25 divers, this took a while transporting 8 divers at a time. Once on board, we got a comprehensive briefing about the boat. The dive briefing was given once we were underway, as the captain chose the site based on conditions. I was dropped off at my hotel about 3:00-3:30 p.m. each day.
All the dives were shallow, 35-45 feet, so just a few people ran low on air. You could dive up to 60 minutes. Getting 25 divers onto the boat at the same time was a long process, so I’d stay down longer and be the last one up.
As a side note, I thought it was odd that I was the only diver with their own gear. The other 24 divers hired their gear, even wetsuits. Australia has stringent rules about sanitation, so at the end of the day, there was a production line of rinsing and hanging the rental gear by the guides. Nowhere else in the world have I seen such good hygiene procedures on a boat. It’s impressive. It’s also a lot of work for the guides, but they are very efficient and fast.
The crew were fantastic! They were from Australia and the United States. They took care of everyone and were happy to answer any questions. They were very good about grouping people by experience.
Cameras. There is no camera bucket on the boat, but at my request, they made one by filling one of the bins.
The Weather and Dive Conditions. The water temps were 82-84 degrees F. In early summer, January and February of this year, Ningaloo had a bleaching event from the high water temps. I was told it had been 10 years since a bleaching event hit Ningaloo. I chose Ningaloo in Western Australia because it was not prone to high water temps. But with global warming, there’s no guarantee of healthy reefs anywhere anymore. Unfortunately, the corals were bleached and it was very browned out and dull looking. From the beginning of the first dive at Ningaloo reef, it was obvious I’d be looking for critters versus enjoying healthy coral. Murion Island was only slightly better, but in the future, I wouldn’t spend 3 hours of boat riding to dive there. It’s not worth it.
Over four days, visibility was anywhere from excellent and clear to terrible and fuzzy. It was hot and sunny topside, 93 degrees F. The surface conditions varied from calm to choppy, especially the ride out and back to Murion Island. It’s 1 ½ hours each way. It’s too bad they don’t do three tanks at Murion Island, given how far it is to get there.
The Navy pier is closed indefinitely for repair, so all I got to see of it was a drive-by during the boat ride out to the reefs. I was told that there’s a two-year wait list to dive the pier.
The Critters. From my previous dive travels, I didn’t see anything extraordinary except a juvenile queen angel fish and a clown coris. These were new to me. There were the usual things, a couple of octopus, nudibranchs, a couple of turtles, a batfish, a couple of white tip sharks, a mantis shrimp. There were vibrant colors of soft coral at Murion Island mixed with bleached and dying coral and not many fish.
Would I Return? If I found myself in this part of the world again, I would mix diving and land exploration. Aussies are great people and I love Australia and all it has to offer.
Other Notes. It was whale shark season and you can snorkel with them at a cost of $500-$550 AUD. I’ve snorkeled with whale sharks in Isla Mujeres and La Paz, Mexico, and dived with them in Socorro, Mexico. There’s nothing like diving with whale sharks. It’s magical!
Pictures. I was using an Olympus TG-6 with a Sea & Sea YS-03 strobe and Kraken Hydra 4000 video light, but somehow between Perth and Exmouth, my brand new YS-03 strobe went dead and wouldn’t turn on, so I only had my video light. I saw a tiny amount of water in the front lens with no obvious indication of how it got there. It was still under warranty, and Sea & Sea sent me a replacement strobe once I got home.
Trip Report - Raja Ampat-Cove Eco-February 2025
Trip Report - Raja Ampat Dive Lodge-March 2025
Trip Report - White Manta Liveaboard-March 10-17, 2025
Trip Report - Puerto Galera, Philippines-March 20-30, 2025
Trip Report - Perth, Australia-March 31-April 6, 2025
In April, Exmouth is bustling with spring break vacationers and tourists coming to snorkel with the whale sharks and dive at Ningaloo reef. Australian families take to the road to vacation and explore this part of their country.
Getting There. Taking an Uber to the airport, I boarded a roughly 2-hour flight on Qantas Airlines from Perth to Exmouth. With no market competition and, as of July 31, 2025, the closing of JetStar Asia, Qantas is expensive. Once I arrived, I got on a prepaid shared shuttle from the airport to Ningaloo Lodge that took about an hour. The shuttle stops at various hotels for drop-offs along the way. There is no Uber in Exmouth, only taxis. I did not rent a car. Since I was just diving, free transportation was provided by Dive Ningaloo.
Ningaloo Lodge. Exmouth is small, so lodging is booked out way in advance for the busy season which includes April. Lodging is also expensive in the north here, so I wanted something relatively cheap but comfortable. I prefer traditional hotels, but this worked out well. I made my reservation nine months before arrival, and they sell out of their rooms till September. This is an interesting lodge. It’s set up like a motel/hostel where there are rows of rooms with interior hallways with nonlocking doors at the entrances, so, in effect, your room is not secured from intruders. I was in one of their smaller rooms with a double bed, a small fridge, a few shelves, a compact closet, and a small table with a metal folding chair. The bathroom was actually larger than expected. The bed was a bit soggy. I travel with a blow-up, camping-style single twin mattress, which has come in handy at the various hotels and resorts I’ve been staying in. The room was clean and cozy, and the A/C worked well and was most appreciated with outside temps in the low 90’s.
They have a communal dining room with full cooking facilities at your disposal. All dishes, pots, pans, utensils, and glassware are provided. Indoor and outdoor dining with a BBQ grill and pool is in a nice tropical setting. There’s a market about 10 minutes walking, so it’s easy to buy groceries and cook your own meals. Everything is self-serve and you’re required to clean up after yourself. Everyone was respectful of the rules. There’s a coin-operated laundry room ($2 AUD) with very long clotheslines and clothespins free to use.
It’s a family-run lodge, so the owners and their daughter are on site at varying hours, and are very friendly. The 6-night stay cost $836 USD. I would highly recommend this lodge.
One of the many things I love about Australia is the wild cockatoos. I had seen them in the Blue Mountains, but they were also up here in the desert of Exmouth. Very cool!
Dive Ningaloo. A dive guide in Australia is not the norm, so I needed to find a dive op that provided a free guide. Thanks to SB member feedback, I chose them. Scheduling and communication was very easy. I dived two days on the Ningaloo reef and two days at Murion Island with two tanks each day.
Water, BBQ lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers, fruit, and cookies were provided. Very much like a liveaboard, there’s a compressor with a long hose on board to fill tanks between dives. No nitrox is available. Two days, we had 25 divers and two days there were 18 divers. This is a large boat, but with 25 divers, it was crowded. All the benches are occupied with dive gear and there are a few seats around the food buffet area, but almost everyone had to sit on the floor. This is a single-level boat with no top deck in which to retreat. There were five guides for 25 divers.
Ningaloo Dive Boat
Compressor for Air Fills
The Diving. The daily schedule went like this: All divers were picked up by the transport bus from their individual hotels. I got lucky and I was the last to be picked up and first to be dropped off. We were then taken to a pier about 20 minutes away where we transferred to a dinghy boat to take us to the big boat. Since there were 25 divers, this took a while transporting 8 divers at a time. Once on board, we got a comprehensive briefing about the boat. The dive briefing was given once we were underway, as the captain chose the site based on conditions. I was dropped off at my hotel about 3:00-3:30 p.m. each day.
All the dives were shallow, 35-45 feet, so just a few people ran low on air. You could dive up to 60 minutes. Getting 25 divers onto the boat at the same time was a long process, so I’d stay down longer and be the last one up.
As a side note, I thought it was odd that I was the only diver with their own gear. The other 24 divers hired their gear, even wetsuits. Australia has stringent rules about sanitation, so at the end of the day, there was a production line of rinsing and hanging the rental gear by the guides. Nowhere else in the world have I seen such good hygiene procedures on a boat. It’s impressive. It’s also a lot of work for the guides, but they are very efficient and fast.
The crew were fantastic! They were from Australia and the United States. They took care of everyone and were happy to answer any questions. They were very good about grouping people by experience.
Cameras. There is no camera bucket on the boat, but at my request, they made one by filling one of the bins.
The Weather and Dive Conditions. The water temps were 82-84 degrees F. In early summer, January and February of this year, Ningaloo had a bleaching event from the high water temps. I was told it had been 10 years since a bleaching event hit Ningaloo. I chose Ningaloo in Western Australia because it was not prone to high water temps. But with global warming, there’s no guarantee of healthy reefs anywhere anymore. Unfortunately, the corals were bleached and it was very browned out and dull looking. From the beginning of the first dive at Ningaloo reef, it was obvious I’d be looking for critters versus enjoying healthy coral. Murion Island was only slightly better, but in the future, I wouldn’t spend 3 hours of boat riding to dive there. It’s not worth it.
Over four days, visibility was anywhere from excellent and clear to terrible and fuzzy. It was hot and sunny topside, 93 degrees F. The surface conditions varied from calm to choppy, especially the ride out and back to Murion Island. It’s 1 ½ hours each way. It’s too bad they don’t do three tanks at Murion Island, given how far it is to get there.
The Navy pier is closed indefinitely for repair, so all I got to see of it was a drive-by during the boat ride out to the reefs. I was told that there’s a two-year wait list to dive the pier.
The Critters. From my previous dive travels, I didn’t see anything extraordinary except a juvenile queen angel fish and a clown coris. These were new to me. There were the usual things, a couple of octopus, nudibranchs, a couple of turtles, a batfish, a couple of white tip sharks, a mantis shrimp. There were vibrant colors of soft coral at Murion Island mixed with bleached and dying coral and not many fish.
Would I Return? If I found myself in this part of the world again, I would mix diving and land exploration. Aussies are great people and I love Australia and all it has to offer.
Other Notes. It was whale shark season and you can snorkel with them at a cost of $500-$550 AUD. I’ve snorkeled with whale sharks in Isla Mujeres and La Paz, Mexico, and dived with them in Socorro, Mexico. There’s nothing like diving with whale sharks. It’s magical!
Pictures. I was using an Olympus TG-6 with a Sea & Sea YS-03 strobe and Kraken Hydra 4000 video light, but somehow between Perth and Exmouth, my brand new YS-03 strobe went dead and wouldn’t turn on, so I only had my video light. I saw a tiny amount of water in the front lens with no obvious indication of how it got there. It was still under warranty, and Sea & Sea sent me a replacement strobe once I got home.
