Posts Tagged ‘Ningaloo Reef’


February Accommodation Discounts – Ningaloo Reef

January 29th, 2010 by Helen

February is one of the BEST months to holiday in Exmouth on the Coral Coast. The Ningaloo Reef is crystal clear perfect, the beaches deserted, fishing pentiful, and the town is quiet.

Yes it is hot, but with all our homes fully airconditioned, and the cooling waters of the beach not far away, who cares!?

We are offering a free night with any booking of 4 nights or more for the month of February 2010. That is potentially a saving of nearly $200 a night in some homes.

With 6 homes, ready and waiting for you to book, right now is the perfect time for a trip to the Ningaloo Reef and Exmouth. Take a day trip to Coral Bay, or a fishing charter to the Murion Islands, or snorkel at Torquoise Bay.

By the way it is turtle season….There is lots happening on our beaches at night!


Coral Bay or Exmouth?

December 8th, 2009 by Helen

Lately I have had conversations with potential guests enquiring as to whether they should base their Ningaloo Reef holiday experience in either Coral Bay or Exmouth. Two trains of thought here.

Yes Coral bay is gorgeous, and the reef is ‘just there’. Its a one street town and with that comes all the charm of a small remote community, on a glorious beach, in the best state in Australia.

But, because it is so small, there is little to no accommodation available. Only the very organised, booking many years in some cases for prime spots, have the opportunity to stay in Coral Bays’ very limited accommodation.

So if you are hell bent of basing your reef exploration in Coral Bay then BOOK EARLY, very early.

However, Exmouth may be another 150km away, but with a little less forward planning, you can find accommodation relatively easily. Obviously peak periods sell quickly, you may need to think ahead 6 months. But the choice is far greater than in Coral Bay.

You can also get to the reef very easily from Tantabiddi (38km from town) or Bundegi ( 13km from town) via the boat ramps.

Choice is everything. But planning your holiday often years in advance can prove tricky!


Ningaloo Reef Aerial Photography

November 23rd, 2009 by Helen

I received this Google Alert this morning and I need to share with you Jamie Paterson’s Photography.

For any tourist who is not convinced that the Ningaloo Reef, stretching from Coral Bay to Exmouth, is not THE best diving, snorkelling and visual playground…well take a look at Jamies website at some amazing aerial photography.

Follow the link below:

Ningaloo Reef – Western Austalia « Jamie Paterson Photography …
By jamiepatersonphotography
Yes another awesome Ningaloo Reef aerial photograph! This was taken from a Sikorsky S76 helicopter almost directly opposite Exmouth. Christian, Mike, Larry and I had just flown in from the Monte Bellos and we thought we’d seen some …
Jamie Paterson Photography -… – http://jamiepatersonphotography.wordpress.com/


Aerial Photography on the Coral Coast

November 23rd, 2009 by Helen

 

 

I received this Google alert today and took the opportunity to check out Jamie Patersons Photography. WOW! From Coral Bay to Exmouth the Ningaloo Reef continues to astound.

For any tourist not convinced that this is the best diving and the best reef in Australia, or the world. Check out this aerial photographe on Jamie’s website.

Follow this link:

 

Ningaloo Reef – Western Austalia « Jamie Paterson Photography …
By jamiepatersonphotography
Yes another awesome Ningaloo Reef aerial photograph! This was taken from a Sikorsky S76 helicopter almost directly opposite Exmouth. Christian, Mike, Larry and I had just flown in from the Monte Bellos and we thought we’d seen some …
Jamie Paterson Photography -… – http://jamiepatersonphotography.wordpress.com/


Skywest Does it Again!

November 13th, 2009 by Helen

What have they done?

Cheap flights to Exmouth. Now you can fly cheaply to Exmouth and have the holiday you want, without the 16 hour drive. Some still like the drive, and I admit to being one of these tortured souls. But if a quick few days in Exmouth on our beautiful Coral Coast is just what you need, then fly.

The cheap flights sell fast. So book now, and I mean it, they sell fast. $160 each way is great value.

Its about time I hear you say. Well yes, for too long it has been a “keen price”, but the masses revolted! Hence our cheap flights.

Thankyou Skywest Airlines for allowing us to holiday on our beautiful Ningaloo Reef coastline.


Whales at Bundegi Beach

September 14th, 2009 by Helen

A few weeks ago the stranded whale on the reef at Bundegi Beach made all the headlines. This poor giant of the sea unfortunately didn’t survive his ordeal. Now there is another whale stranded on Scarborough beach in Perth, sad, but nature has its own way of dealing with things.

But yesterday as I was sunning myself at Bundegi with a good book, there was a pod of whales just off the reef. They were not in a hurry to go anywhere and those of us on the beach were granted a wonderful exhibition of whales jumping out of the water, talking to each other and basically having a great time in the Ningaloo waters.

Exmouth treats us daily to the wonders of nature in all its glory. I feel privileged to experience the sights and sounds of this pristine Ningaloo Reef coastline and all its gifts.


Fishing Report 10.09.09

September 14th, 2009 by Helen

Yellowfin whiting have been prolific along the gulf beaches along with
yellowfin bream this last week according to visiting parents of staff.
Small queenfish have also been patrolling the outside of the northern wall
of the marina.  Light spin outfits and small metal slices are working best
for these fish with the trebles replaced with a single tarpon hook. The 3″
gulp minnows have worked well inside the marina on the local bream
population with the occasional cod and mangrove jack surprising the unwary
angler.

Giant Trevelly have been hanging around the breakers along the west side as
expected at this time of year.  Some daring anglers brave the conditions
when the swell is up, but please beware as these large swells can create
very dangerous conditions.  Good quality rock spiked boots are advised when
fishing from the rocks and please fish with a companion.
 Spanish Mackerel are still around in thick numbers alongside the reef,
however the sharks have made their presence in all areas lately, especially
with the beached whale off Bundegi.

Fishing can be good and bad, but a day out should always be enjoyable.  I
managed to get out this week and didn’t catch a thing except some bait.  The
tides were large and the current was extremely strong. We trolled for
billfish briefly, then tried for reef fish, but couldn’t get on the mark.
Then we tried for billfish again, but missed the bite! Nevermind: if we were
guaranteed fish everytime it would take the fun out of going!

Bundegi Yellowfin

Bundegi Yellowfin

Pictured this week is Peter Gates with a gleaming smile after catching a
shark mackerel off the outside of Bundegi reef.  There have been quite a few
schools of these speedsters along with long tail tuna in this area.  Now
that we have Bundegi boat ramp so close, it makes it easy for a fish after
work before the sun sets.  Look for the birds feeding and you should find
the action.  You can troll these areas or cast and retrieve metal lures,
soft plastics or if you’re really keen, a well presented fly will do the
trick.


Fishing Report 17/07/09

July 17th, 2009 by Helen

boy with squid

boy with squid

Helby Bank continues to produce this year with yet another customer
reporting the catch and release of two marlin. The two fish were estimated
to be 60kg and 100kg. Amazingly they were caught accidently on a Rapala
CD14 and a Halco Laser Pro 190. Steve Good and young Steven Bailey were the
lucky anglers and they also caught two dolphin fish, which were taken home
for a fresh feed for dinner.

The reports this week from customers tell us that there are Chinamon fish in
big schools around the grounds west of the Muiron Islands. Red emperor have
been hard to find this week, but thankfully the sharks haven’t been so bad.
The running sinker rig in depths up to 40m has been working well when the
current and wind is not too strong. Squid has been the preferred bait.

The whales are showing up all over the place and the odd Mata Ray has been
sited by anglers in boats as well.

The queenfish have been found at the Muiron Islands and we strongly suggest
using barbless hooks on lures forthese fish…..just ask young Aiden Lerch…
he found out the hard way and ended up with a hook in his leg, with the other
hook on the lure in the fish! These fish can jump wildly and when there are
plenty in schools, you can catch them easily. They are not the best of
eating, so if you are to let them go, try and release them in the water with
pliers, rather than taking them out of the water to flip around on the deck.
Their gill plates come right up to their lower jaw, so using a single barbless
hook on the back of a chrome twisty gives you a good hook up, with minimal
damage to the fish. It also makes it easy to release them.


Support Whaleshark Research

June 2nd, 2009 by Helen
Give support to the biggest fish in the ocean

Give support to the biggest fish in the ocean

Last week in Exmouth there was a gathering of over 100 scientists and interested parties at the 3rd annual Ningaloo Research Symposium. This was held at the Novotel Ningaloo Resort.

The aim of the event is to bring together Ningaloo reef researchers, managers, stakeholders and interested community members so that the critical needs of the Ningaloo Marine Park are based on sound and accurate scientific information.

The 300km Ningaloo coral reef provides habitat for more than 500 fish, 250 coral and 600 mollusc species as well as whale sharks, humpback whales, dolphins, manta rays, turtles and dugong.

‘In our quest to save the world’s oceans let’s begin by celbrating and preserving the world’s biggest fish.” Tim Winton-Author

for more information contact www.whaleshark.org  or register your support at www.ecoocean.org


Facinating, Fabulous AND fish!

May 19th, 2009 by Helen

Fascinating one day….fabulous the next….

Sun Princess arrived 4th May on a magical moning .    Passengers were brought ashore by tender (ship’s lifeboats) and as there were 1,950 people on board it took a while to off load everybody..    They were here from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. and would have brought a huge amount of business to the town.   Simply amazing to see that huge ship just outside the marina.

We have had some great experiences in our short time here…Sunday 10th May (Mother’s Day) was one of the magical days in Exmouth, absolutely no wind and a simply glassy Gulf…out we went to Cooper’s Shoals , where Golden Trevally are in abundance. (we know this as the previous evening had been given a present of a magnificent fish, caught in that very spot) ..we did not see any trevally so journeyed on to northern gulf islands which are simply amazing…fish were not biting due in part to 2.6m tides and full moon, we hooked up on a black tip shark which created a lot of excitement as they are great fighters.   Came home empty handed but had a wonderful day out.

Have been to Wapet Creek and came home with a large mud crab ….simply delicious!!