We departed Exmouth at about 9.30am on Monday morning after enjoying a couple of great days there. Dived the Navy Pier which was fantastic with hundreds of different species of underwater goodies including sharks, groper, nudibranch, moray eels, dolphins etc etc. No wonder it is rated as one of the top 10 shore dives in the World. On Sunday we went around to Oyster Stacks and Turquoise Bay for snorkelling. The big swell meant there was quite a strong current, the drift dive at Turquoise Bay was particularly quick. Good fun. We had drinks with Graham and Anne on "Leewin Current" an Aluminium stink boat that they have been cruising from the East Coast back to their home in Geraldton. They have been away for 18 months! Graham is a keen diver and built the boat specifically for the Abroholos, so he gave us some good tips of places to dive if we get to visit on our way back down the coast.
We arrived around the corner from NW Cape at Tantabiddi by mid arvo. It couldn't have been a more contrasting trip than when we came around the Cape last time. It was calm with gentle breezes and we were able to motor sail close into the reef. We anchored out off the boat ramp at Tantabiddi and then supped over to the reefs in the sanctuary zone. It was glassed off and spectacular, like having your own private aquarium on a massive scale. Turtles, fish and the odd reef shark.
The next few days we used the hookah in the mornings to dive and supped and snorkelled again in the afternoon with the breeze barely getting above 10kns the whole time. Just magnificent! We left Tantabiddi at 5.30pm on Thursday and motored all the way to Coral Bay (Mauds Landing) due to lack of wind. We have found out that there are about 30 000 whales that migrate up and down the coast each year. We can attest to this, because about every kilometre or so we would see whales breaching with full bodies launching out of the water, or spouting or fin slapping.
The weather is expected to remain pretty calm for the next few days, so we will take the opportunity to catch up on all the diving we didn't get to do last time because of the weather. But today we have to settle down to some serious business - watching the Dockers play Port Adelaide to try and finish in the top four!! Fingers Crossed…..
We arrived around the corner from NW Cape at Tantabiddi by mid arvo. It couldn't have been a more contrasting trip than when we came around the Cape last time. It was calm with gentle breezes and we were able to motor sail close into the reef. We anchored out off the boat ramp at Tantabiddi and then supped over to the reefs in the sanctuary zone. It was glassed off and spectacular, like having your own private aquarium on a massive scale. Turtles, fish and the odd reef shark.
The next few days we used the hookah in the mornings to dive and supped and snorkelled again in the afternoon with the breeze barely getting above 10kns the whole time. Just magnificent! We left Tantabiddi at 5.30pm on Thursday and motored all the way to Coral Bay (Mauds Landing) due to lack of wind. We have found out that there are about 30 000 whales that migrate up and down the coast each year. We can attest to this, because about every kilometre or so we would see whales breaching with full bodies launching out of the water, or spouting or fin slapping.
The weather is expected to remain pretty calm for the next few days, so we will take the opportunity to catch up on all the diving we didn't get to do last time because of the weather. But today we have to settle down to some serious business - watching the Dockers play Port Adelaide to try and finish in the top four!! Fingers Crossed…..