Yet another day of excitement in Coral Bay today.  Coral Bay Eco Tours are really getting a good wad of our cash, but it’s all been well spent.

Kel flipped out when she learnt I’d booked it.  She was ‘not happy’.  Didn’t think she could do it.  “And what about the kids! … they can’t do that!!!”.  This has lead to a sleepless night and much reassurance on my part.  My doubting family has rubbed off on me a bit though and I got little sleep last night too.

But now, it’s morning and we’re resigned to our fate.  Except Kel … she’s still looking for an excuse to try and swap to a different tour… something sedate, like a glass bottom boat in about a metre of water …

Today we’re on the ‘Swim with the Manta Rays’ Tour.  Kel’s concerned at so many aspects of this.

  • I and the kids can’t float/snorkel/swim for that long!
  • We’ll get eaten by a Manta Ray!
  • We’ll get eaten by a shark!
  • We’ll get stung by a sting ray!
  • We’ll stand on a stonefish!
  • We’ll get attacked by a scorpion/lion fish!
  • A turtle will snap at us!
  • I’ll mess up my hair!!!
  • I look horrible in a wetsuit!
  • We’ll get seasick!

Only some of these things eventuated.

We all had some stamina issues swimming and chasing Manta Rays for that long.  It’s a fair old ask to spend 20 minutes plus floating around out there flipping away.  I did worst … Hannah did the best by far.  She rocks!

We didn’t get eaten by a Manta Ray.  We saw 3 of them while in the water and another one from the boat.  They are amazing creatures.  They are capable of 65kmh if they choose and have amazing acceleration.  They’re there with you one minute and gone the next if they get spooked.

We didn’t get eaten by a shark … we didn’t get fed any either, so that was fair.  Lunch was roast chicken and it was yummy and didn’t last long.  Hannah swam out and saw a Grey Nurse shark hanging around near an area called ‘The Canyon’.  Oodles of Trevally and more spectacular tropical fish too.  Again, Hannah rocks.

We didn’t get stung by a sting ray, but we saw a few.  One massive one flew under the boat on its way to a party at the outer reef.  Several smaller ones kept us company though.  In general, if you don’t stand on it it won’t sting you … so don’t stand on it!

We managed to avoid the Stonefish, Scorpion fish, Lion Fish … but got photos of some of them!

No turtles snapped at us.  They’re mighty quick little suckers too when they want to be.  They’re far happier doing the flight rather than fight option.  We saw heaps from the boat, but they’re harder to spot while snorkelling.

All hair was ruined … temporarily.  Nobody looks good in a wetsuit and 3 out of 4 were seasick too, despite it being nearly a perfectly flat day out on the reef.

The day started out with a trial snorkel so that they could get a feel for everybody’s capabilities.  We ended up at the back of the group … and that’s where we stayed.  I was too busy fussing around with a mask that wouldn’t seal properly, a camera that I couldn’t see what I was shooting at … and ended up pretty puffed out pretty quick since I wasn’t just floating around peacefully like everybody else.  We did get to see plenty of fish and coral though.

 

On the way we went via the turtle sanctuary area.  There were heaps of huge turtles swimming about, but they’re a bit tricky to get on camera as they’re pretty quick.

Next stop was the Manta Rays.  This requires a spotter plane to find the slippery little suckers.  Once found, we were in pursuit and quickly on target.  We were all in our gear and were rapidly in the water flipping away chasing the Manta Ray.

The first ray didn’t want to be watched and was able to handily outpace us,  We got a fair look at it, but it wasn’t hanging around.  This was about 4m across the middle in size.

The second and third rays were together and really couldn’t care less if we were there or not.  They were also larger, probably 5m across.  They were swimming around to and fro below us and doing loop the loops, barrel rolls, etc.  We didn’t really have to chase them as much and got a spectacular show.  They were so close to the surface when they were doing the loops that you felt like they were going to suck you into their gigantic mouth.

While lunch was being prepared and we were heading to the final area we came across a trio of Humpback Whales.  Hannah and Blake really didn’t care much as they were both feeling a bit green.  A mother, calf and protector were happily playing only a few metres from the boat.

Lunch was served and Hannah missed out.  Her favourite too, Roast Chicken.  She did have something to drink though and the people sitting behind us took her snorting red cordial out her nose and over the side of the boat as a subtle hint to move.

Hannah, Blake and Kellie were all alternately seasick to some degree during the day.  Blake and I missed out on the 3rd and final snorkel session of the day.  Blake was feeling crook and I’d had enough of fighting masks and cameras.

Kellie & Hannah braved it though.  Hannah was feeling much better.  This snorkel was the most demanding of the lot.  It would have easily been 50m away from the boat and getting back was against the current.  A bit of a tough ask really.  Despite the view we missed, both Blake and I were quite happy to be warm and dry.

Hannah went and did it all though.  She not only swam out there and along the 6m canyon wall seeing all manner of fishies, but she also dove down the other side and got to see Matilda, the resident Grey Nurse shark up close and personal.  The girl has no fear.

Tour over, we showered off all the salt and went out for a hard earned meal at the pub for our last night in Coral Bay.  The decision to eat out was made much easier due to the lady playing Kumbayah on the Piano Accordian at the camp kitchen nearby.  I tried doing what any self respecting person would do and played a bit of AC/DC over the outdoor speakers, but the hint wasn’t taken and so we went out instead.  Excellent meal at the Coral Bay hotel … if you’re ever in the area I suggest ya give it a go.