Ningaloo in October?

[Grajan]

We are finally coming home for a visit and celebrating with a road / dive trip from perth to Ningaloo.

We dived there a long time ago (the coral was pretty wasted then by a bad spawning but has hopefully recovered).

I know we will not see Whale Sharks in October but how will the rest of the diving be?

Is it worth stopping off to go over to the Abrolhos?

Thanks for any info / tips / etc.

 

[justleesa]

Alcina is the one you should ask, right now I think she is still in Coz, but she should be back any day now.

 

[hamilton]

Was diving in Ningaloo a few weeks back.
From my log....

C: Australia
T: Exmouth
O: Exmouth Village
P: Ningaloo Marine Park. Murion Island: JL 80, ??
D: Sept 1, 2004

MD.: 14m
Viz: 15m
Eq.: Good. New wetsuits, hoods & boots. BCD`s a bit ropy (e.g. not all straps adjustable). SPG.S work, some with bottom timers
St.: DM`s friendly.
Pr.: Thorough safety briefings, on boat. Excellent First Aid equipment. Dive briefings poor, little explanation of sites, routes, etc
Po.: Excellent. Pelagics, corla and fish varieties. Turtles, Mantas, sharks
Ac.: Average. Reasonable variety of fish life, but coral outcrops dissapointingly bare in places, lacking expected colour & variety

Summary: Had been expecting a `better than GBR` experience, and left wondering `just how bad is the GBR`. Flora & Fauna not a patch on Bunaken, and frankly not even as good as Nusa Penida. Some nice swim-throughs. Water a baltic 22c, requiring rashies and hoodies with the 5mm suits. DM`s very friendly, but not much knowledge transfer amongst them, so the `local` DM told us afterwards that if we.`d dived with him, rather than the `visiting` DM, we`d have had a much better dive. Not what we wanted to hear, having spent $175AUS ($60US) per dive.


C: Australia
T: Exmouth
O: Exmouth Village
P: Ningaloo Reef: Blizzard, 100`s & 1000`s
D: Sept 2, 2004

MD.: 13m
Viz: 15m
Eq.: Good. New wetsuits, hoods & boots. BCD`s a bit ropy (e.g. not all straps adjustable). SPG.S work, some with bottom timers. Rashies & hoodies avaliable.
St.: DM`s friendly.
Pr.: Thorough safety briefings, on boat. Excellent First Aid equipment. Dive briefings poor, little explanation of sites, routes, etc
Po.: Excellent. Pelagics, coral and fish varieties. Turtles, Mantas, sharks
Ac.: Good+. Sea snake, octopus, one out moving over reef. Huge moray eel (<>4" jaw width?) Reasonable variety of fish life, coral outcrops well populated. Good variety of nudibranchs. Manta glimpsed by one dive. Humpbacked whales heard during dive, and seen en-route to/from site.


Summary: Much better than Murion, although in part due to excitement of seasnake & octopus. Coral in greater varieties and amounts than Murion, with lots of reef ledges, crevices etc for fish to hide in. Fish varieties and numbers high, shoals of 200+ small fish, very tame. Excellent for hump-backed whale watching in/around dive area, and en-route.

Turquoise Bay: Snorkeling here is world-class; turtles, sharks, coral and reef life & fish variety outstanding, and all within 100m of shore.

 

[alcina]

I'm back if you need any help!

The diving this month should be great...sounds like it has been very active everywhere. Whales are still abundant and the mantas have been good, too.

Would suggest stopping in Coral Bay for the grey reef sharks and the mantas as they have been in clearer water recently. Muirons have more soft corals than the other dive sites out of Exmouth. All dive sites have abundant marine life. Coral Bay has far more hard coral varieties than Exmouth. Exmouth has more sea snakes

Abrolhos definitely worth doing if the conditions are good!! Do a search for dive shops in Geraldton for help...the owner is Trevor B, but I can't for the life of me remember the shop name right now!! PM me and I might remember later - brain freeze from the jet-lag, I think.

 

[Grajan]

I will email you.

 

[alcina]

It came to me in the middle of last night...Batavia Coast Dive in Geraldton should be able to help with your Abrohlos Islands needs.