Coral Bay – whale shark swim

Then it was off to Coral Bay for three nights. We stayed in the RAC resort which overlooked the beach.

Why go to Coral Bay? Well, it is a beautiful spot with the beach and water right at your front door. But also we went to swim with the whale sharks. These are the largest fish in the world and as they are filter feeders they are totally harmless and so swimming with them is a totally safe and amazing experience.

You go out on a boat for the day. First stop a snorkel on the reef. Again, lots of fish. The real reason for this stop is to get you ready for the whale shark swim. The boat does not stop as you unload for the reef snorkel: everyone is lined up on the swim platform, the boat slows, the swim master yells, Go, go, go,go, go…. And you go, into the water while the boat pulls away. Getting out is equally exciting. You bunch together, the boat comes powering towards the group, the reverse thrust is used to slow the boat and turn it so the swim platform is right there and as the swim platform comes down on a swell you fin furiously and launch yourself (somewhat inelegantly – speed is everything) up onto the swim platform and get out of the way as fast as possible to make way for the next person.

The bat was very comfortable and roomy for the 20 people plus crew on board. We were accompanied by the boat mascot, Charlie, an Alpine Dingo.

Then, swimming with the whale shark. There is a spotter plane above with the boat mooching along below just waiting for the signal to say a shark has been spotted. All of a sudden a shark is found and the boat’s engines are thrust into full throttle and the chase is on to get to the shark, then ahead of it and positioned for the first drop of swimmers. The boat comes alive as people scramble into gear and line up as instructed in a previous briefing. We are divided into 2 groups of 10 each and the first group is poised on the swim platform, and once the boat is in front of the shark the shouted instruction to Go, go, go…. Then the second group goes on to the swim platform and as group 1 runs out of puff and the whale shark pulls ahead of them the second group is dropped off in front of the shark and the boat collects the first group.

Once in the water the swim leader groups everyone in front of the shark. As the shark approaches you fan out on either side of the shark and swim like fury to keep up. The first swim was a bit hectic with everyone trying to get a good view of this amazingly beautiful and huge creature.

Ros: on my second swim I was the only person to the right of the shark and I had the most amazing swim – it felt as if there was just me and the shark in the ocean and for as long as I could keep up that was the experience, just swimming alongside this incredible and beautiful big fish! The photo on the right below shows the size of the shark just below the surface in comparison to a swimmer just above.

Keeping up is the problem – he was swimming pretty fast into a current and headwind and eventually he leaves the group behind. Clamber back onto the boat as another group is dropped in front of him and then the boat takes your group to the front for another turn swimming with the whale shark.

At one stage we were ‘sharing’ the shark with another boat, which meant that when we came back on board we could sit for 15 minutes as our second group and the other boat’s two groups had their swim. However, when the plane spotted another shark the second boat left and we were rotating through without even getting off the swim platform.

All this, by the way, is taking place about 20 kilometres offshore in rolling waves. John was able to enjoy 5 swims with the shark, but even he was worn out after the last one. Each swim would be about 400 meters flat out swimming, so around 2 kilometres of swimming!

The day was not over yet: back inside the reef for lunch and another snorkel. This time the fish were even more plentiful and Ros and I had the joy of spotting a turtle and swimming with it for 10 minutes.

On the day we were accompanied by a professional photographer, so the photos are his: but what a great idea and we happily paid for the package. Wait till you get the home movies!

Not much happened that evening: we were both buggered and asleep pretty soon after the sun went down.

The next day was more relaxed. A few swims, updating this blog, more swims, walking around the ‘town’ and another swim followed by watching the Waratahs finally win a match (however it was against the Perth Force so our exuberance at each try did not go down all that well in the pub).

Oh, and we were really lucky, there was not a ‘relevant’ AFL match on, otherwise all the TVs would have been locked in. I realise that AFL followers are one eyed, only know one game, treat it as a religion, believe the world is flat, but over here in the west its fanatical. All evening news bulletins have interviews with BOTH coaches EVERY night at the BEGINNING and END of the show. 25% of the news is about the Dockers and Eagles. Plus then some news about last week’s / next week’s opponents and various groin injuries and that completes the news. [Except occasionally politics!]

The unit we were in had a kitchen and BBQ outside the door so a break was had from pub food as we cooked for ourselves.