Apr 4-5: Coral Bay

I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for this precious handful of days. The Ningaloo reef is kind of like the little cousin of the Great Barrier reef, equally endowed but far more accessible. The snorkelling off the beach is world class, not to mention the fact that it is one of the few places where Whale Sharks are known to congregate regularily during the coral blooming season.

Whale sharks are the earth's biggest known fish growing to a full size of 18 meters, the size of a school bus. Unlike whales, they have gills and do not need to surface. They eat plankton and other tiny marine life, and are generally indifferent towards people.

I must admit I gagged just a little to hear that a whale shark tour was going to be $390. Choking a little, reminding myself it is a once in a lifetime experience, I decided to suck it up and go for a ride. For the price of admission, the boat takes you out to see, waiting for a small plane above to spot a whale shark. Once spotted, the captain immediately takes you to shark. Your group hops in the water somewhere in front of the shark. As the whale sharks comes past, you swim (more or less as fast as you can) alongside it for 2 to 3 minutes. Then boat scoops you up, and ferries you ahead of the shark again another couple of times. You also do a little bit of reef snorkelling before and after the tour... but really you are paying for about 10 minutes in total with the shark, who doesn't really care that you are there to visit with him.

It is worth every penny.

I got in the water the first time with a group of 11 other snorkellers. As the whale shark approached, our guide gave us a quick set of directions, and then we dunked our heads underneath and started swimming madly in the same direction in the open water before an enormous wall of green with white spots snuck in front of us. It was only 30 seconds or so before he started to dive and we lost sight of him in the depths.

When we got in the water the second time the group was split so it was a more intimate team of six swimmers. Prepared for the exercise this time, I was thoroughly delighted to find that when I dunked my head underwater, the enormous whale shark was bearing directly at me, and I barely had enough time to get out of its immediate path. I swam next to it for maybe 3 spectacular minutes until, utterly exhausted, we gave up the pursuit.

My third dunk was more hilarious than adventurous. Based on the choppy conditions, I think I drank about 3 litres of salt water through my snorkel. Laughing, swimming, choking, and still swimming at full speed, I was determined to make the most out of my precious whale shark time.

It is such a magnificent and splendid creature, peaceful and serene. With better publicity, these guys would easily restore the broken reputation of sharks everywhere. I met some great people, I saw a huge shark, and I even got some exercise. Just another amazing day in Australia.