Coral Bay was amazing. 5 metres from the shore you could float through coral reefs, with fish and turtles frolicking in every direction. Onshore, everything you needed was within 300m, meaning we could hang up our keys and take a welcome break from driving. With thanks to some very generous, absolutely amazing people we were able to get our SCUBA certification an incredible experience. To top it off, we snorkelled alongside the biggest fish in the Ocean: whalesharks.
Whalesharks can grow up to 12 metres long, the size of a bus; the three individual whale sharks that we swam alongside were just under 7 metres, and magnificent. 7 metres is roughly two cars, parked bumper to bumper, of shark, this 7 metres of shark was swimming three metres away.
Our boat ride out to their natural feeding ground provided a quick briefing on the whale shark’s diet (plankton) and migration patterns. Our day then quickly became adrenaline packed. Aided by a spotter plane, the orders came in quick succession. “Get into your gear”, “look to your left”, “in the water, NOW”. There was a slight disorientation after we jumped in, with each of us facing a different direction and splashing around. With our guide shouting and pointing, we formed up facing in one direction, and saw a 7 metre shark heading ever so elegantly straight for us. The tail moved only ever so slightly to propel itself through the water.
Our group split, swimming in a kind of crazed calmness to get out of its way without scaring it with too many jerky movements, that would alarm it and cause it to dive. And so, somehow, we ended up swimming alongside this majestic creature, watching it, admiring it, dwarfed by its size and the relaxed pace with which it took on the world. When you weigh 9,000kg, more than twice the weight of our motorhome, most things get out of your way.
After sharing its presence with us, and allowing us to swim for what seemed like forever, the whaleshark dived. With apparently only minimal effort it descended, slowly disappearing until it was a blue silhouette, and then nothing just leaving us with the blue ocean around us.
We were lucky enough to swim with two more whale sharks nearby, each as majestic and calm as the other, and as patient through our haphazard snorkels.
We used our time in Coral Bay to also learn to SCUBA and get our PADI open water licenses. Thank you! After a heavy couple of days taking in all the theory, we arrived ready for our first proper day, in the pool. On arriving, we discovered we had our incredibly effervescent instructor, Vicki, to ourselves for the three days. This meant quick instruction, the ability to easily repeat lessons if we didn’t understand them, and the maximum possible time enjoying the maritime world rather than watching peers perform required but repetitive diving tasks.
And so we dived on Australia’s great fringing reef. We saw turtles enjoying their leisurely pursuits, reef sharks and lemon sharks approaching cleaning stations to have their parasites removed by cleaner wrasse, octopus, cray, a decidedly inquisitive cuttlefish, golden trevally, snapper, black and white clownfish, and many, many more.
We explored their world with them, surrounded by the clicking of dolphin sonar, and performed slow, weightless somersaults as we experienced completely neutral buoyancy.
Oh, and we got to swim with a 5m Manta Ray as an extra, free bonus for doing our dive course with the group in Coral Bay. This bonus was an unexpected and very welcome surprise.
Over the course of our week in Coral Bay, we spent so much time near the water and literally in the water, that we didn’t have to worry about our sea legs. Instead, our land legs failed us, and each evening we rocked ourselves back and forth over dinner, our legs bending and straightening, compensating for an ocean that wasn’t there.
Our time in Coral Bay was magical. It upped the ante on our holiday, and showed us just how important it is to put down roots when a place is magical; that we have the freedom to move on from those average places and stay longer in the special ones. Getting to all the places is less important than making the most of a few of them.
It was with sadness, but renewed spirits, that we left Coral Bay. It also wasn’t until several days after we left Coral Bay that we saw a cloud in the sky, and realised that this was the first cloud we’d seen for 3 weeks…
