A very cool and overcast start to the day. We’re not use to these 12 deg starts. Thankfully by 9 am the clouds had cleared, the sun came out and it started to warm up.
We were deceived, the wind here in Coral Bay seems to never let up. Yesterday we had booked up for our glass bottom boat and snorkelling trip and they quite clearly stated there were no refunds! So at 11.45 we duly fronted up and I selected my snorkelling gear, mask,snorkel and flippers and we made our way down to the beach with a few other hardy souls. Thankfully the sun was shinning and when sitting on the right side of the boat in the sun we found it to be a lot more comfortable. We cruised around looking at the coral which at Ningaloo reef is hard coral so there is much less colour in comparison to the Barrier reef which is soft coral and much more colourful.
Then the time came when we made fast to the buoy and snorkelling instructions given, where we should swim, not to go behind the boat as we could end up floating off with the fast running tide and finally who would like a noodle to support them. I declined the noodle and then along with a few of the others we slowly slid into the choppy cool water. It was about 22deg and very clear with the cauliflower,stag horn and brain coral in abundance and along with numerous fish swimming around it was most enjoyable. All was ok until it was time to climb back onboard the boat, that was when the wind chill factor came into play, so it was a question of getting dry as quickly as possible and getting some warm clothes back on. The humour from the your Irish contingent that were also onboard helped to keep us all amused and we were soon feeling a lot better.We cruised around looking at more coral through the glass bottom when surprise surprise it was time to have another snorkel as we were now in a great spot for looking at the fish, especially the huge spangled emperors which are very tame.Not everyone took up the opportunity as it was still quite windy and cool, however I gave it another go until I started to shiver which I thought was a good time to get out and try and warm up again. It could have all been so much much better had the weather been warmer and the water less choppy. Never the less it was a good experience, however as the weather was much the same when we last visited here some 14 years ago we have come to believe that we would be unlikely to give it another chance any time in the near future.
Our home away from home.Not quite the same but the advantage is we can move when ever we want to! We just hitch it up and go!
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