6D/5N Ningaloo Escape Cruise (CRAA3)

As the tour departs at 4pm, you can fly in to Learmonth in the afternoon (last flight arrives around 14:30 pm) and board the vessel straight from your airport transfer. You are also able to fly out the afternoon the tour returns on the last departing flights (Qantas 15:00 pm on weekdays or approximately 1300 on weekends).

Sail Ningaloo is pleased to offer airport transfers to/from Learmonth airport for all our departing tours (prices start from $90 per person – please mention when making a booking enquiry).

Once you arrive in Coral bay take the short transfer to board “Shore Thing” at the local marine facility for a 4pm departure. Should timing allow, enjoy a late afternoon snorkel or dive before enjoying a cool drink as the sunsets and the vessel sails to its overnight anchorage. Before the evening meal is served, have a go at fishing from the back deck, with the opportunity for a fresh caught meal.

Following breakfast, enjoy a morning snorkel at “Pandora’s Garden”, a beautiful coral garden exhibiting stunning plate coral formations and home to numerous marine turtles. After morning tea set sail for our next snorkel location the “North Reef Nursery” where we see reef sharks and rays getting cleaned. Snorkel along sandy underwater pathways fringed by hard coral outcrops rising to the waters surface. Enjoy a freshly prepared gourmet buffet lunch before immersing yourself into Ningaloo’s clear waters or relaxing on the deck of Shore Thing. The day winds down with another snorkel before a sumptuous two course meal.

Sailing north into Chabjuwardoo Bay we navigate via Stanley Pool and explore the edge of the contrasting waters where the sand has been shaped by the waters movement to form distinct pools of deep blue water. We seek out dugongs, dolphins and whales (seasonal) as we travel to our days snorkeling and diving destinations. With multiple opportunities to snorkel numerous coral gardens, your crew and guides will select the best sites based on the conditions. Snorkel and Dive sites along this section of the reef are only visited by Shore Thing and have been personally named by the crew. Some of the favorites include “The Fishbowl”, “Holey Moley”, “Turtle Pond” and “Lost City”.

At the end of each day review your photos or the images the crew has collected over the day of the various species of reef fish and corals. Learn and discuss the unique behaviors of the marine creatures you have observed and get some advice on the best way to interact and experience the best that Ningaloo has to offer.

After breakfast, step ashore and explore the ruins of the historic whaling station at Norwegian Bay, abandoned in the 1950’s. Learn about life in the whaling days on this remote stretch of coastline and have the opportunity the snorkel the “Finn Shipwreck”, an old whaling chaser. We seek out dugongs and dolphins as we travel to our afternoon snorkeling and diving destinations, which could include “The Green Mile”, a feeding ground for green turtles. This afternoon step ashore at Point Cloates and enjoy watching the sunset over the Indian Ocean with a birds eye view from the top of the sand dunes, before returning to Shore Thing for the evening.

After breakfast enjoy a leisurely kayaking trip along the secluded coastline of Jane’s Bay, keeping an eye out for large rays resting and turtles feeding in the shallow waters. Your crew and guides will then select the best snorkel or dive sites based on the conditions. Some of the favorites include “Cloates Corner”, The Benan Shipwreck” and “Central Station”, seeing hundreds of species of colourful reef fish and a good chance to see reef sharks and turtles cruising by. We seek out dugongs and dolphins as we travel to our evenings anchorage at Point Maud. From June – October there is a fantastic opportunity to observe Humpback Whales as they migrate along the Ningaloo coast.

Sailing to more snorkel sites to experience the best marine life based on the conditions. Ningaloo Reef and Coral Bay is home to a resident population of coastal Manta Rays that frequent the inner reef to mate, give birth and feed. Enjoy a presentation from your local guide on Manta Ray biology and behavior along the Ningaloo Reef. Following a search, snorkel with one of these graceful rays where you can assist identifying the Manta Rays via photo identification. Before a sumptuous buffet lunch, enjoy one last snorkel or dive at “Asho’s Gap” which is a cleaning station for grey reef sharks. Watch as the sharks swim in to a large cabbage coral and hold themselves in the currents with their mouths open, whilst small cleaner fish dart in and out of their mouths and gills.

Return to Coral Bay approximately 12:30pm.