September School Holidays

The September school holidays can be a bit of a hassle trying to get accommodation in Coral Bay and Exmouth but not anymore with Shore Thing offering the only true accommodation on the water in and around Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef. Our tours are all inclusive and take you to the best places to snorkel and dive at Ningaloo.

We’ve just come back from another great 5 days out exploring the reef on Shore Thing with a family from Perth up for a Ningaloo Escape tour which heads all the way up to Norwegian Bay and host to a historic whaling station (half way between Coral Bay and Exmouth).



Leaving late in the afternoon gave us enough time to jump in for a snorkel and freshen up after the flight from Perth and make sure all our gear was working well in preparation for the next 5 days. A beautiful sunset sail through Batemans Bay before sitting down for a gorgeous meal of locally caught fish sealed our first evening on board as everyone tucked in for an early night in preparation for the days ahead.



As the sun rose on the new day Luke decided to see if he could track down any Manta Rays to swim with around the Point Maud area. Returning to the vessel with news of 6-10 Manta Rays feeding at the surface got everyone excited and before too long we were off to swim with a couple of the largest rays in the ocean. We managed to swim with 4 different manta rays, at times there were two at a time, and having identified one of the Mantas as a local resident named “Elle”, and another also in the Coral Bay Manta Ray catalogue but unnamed, it was decided to leave the Mantas and return to Shore Thing. It was an impressive effort considering Luke was the only one out of the 7 in the water that had seen a Manta before and everyone managed to keep up the whole time, even the littlest of the group Jolie at 8 years old!

The sails were hoisted and we headed north in search of more adventure and more snorkeling.

Stopping in at the “North Reef Nursery” for lunch saw Juno see her first ever sharks and before the day was out everyone had seen a Turtle after a snorkel in the “Bungles”.



After such a bright start to the previous day the pressure was on to deliver more of the same again. Kayaks departed the main vessel at 730am and rendezvoused some 40mins later at “the fish bowl” for a pre breakfast snorkel. Once again there were no disappointments with 4 different species of shark sighted along with two turtles and more fish than you could poke a stick at. The girls were doing really well picking up the names of all the fish and had even sighted a couple of stichopus and grubfish!



The sails were hoisted and we were off towards Point Cloates and Norwegian Bay. Arriving in good time following great sailing conditions, we ventured onto the beach at Jane’s Bay to see if we could find any evidence of turtles nesting. Its very early in the season but to our delight we managed to locate a nest with positive signs of a successful laying of eggs. A couple of eagles rays were witnessed close to shore before a large Manta cruised by the beach as well. A glorious sight on a beautiful spring day.

Cruising on past Point Cloates with favorable tides we discovered a new snorkel site, “Turtle Ridge”. Unlike any other site we have come across on the reef this area almost completely devoid of coral life, but forms an amazing underwater landscape of smooth rounded stone covered in green algae and thousands of small molluscs. The turtles we tracked down there all seemed to really enjoy the green algae and positioned themselves with ease in the current.



Day 3 saw us really explore the best of Norwegian Bay and Point Cloates, with an early morning kayak and then some exploring on the sand dunes near the Point Cloates lighthouse, followed by our first landing on what remains of the only island in the Ningaloo Reef, Frazer Island.

We followed that up with a snorkel on the “Finn” shipwreck. Our day was rounded out exploring the remains of the historic Norwegian Bay whaling station, which in years gone by was the largest of its kind. 

Day 4 was highlighted by a snorkel at Point Cloates where Remi captured a great image of a resting Green turtle, and also a great snorkel at another new site called “The Minefield” as we headed back south towards Coral Bay.

On our final day we hopped in the water and tracked down no less than 10 different turtles at “The Turtle Pond”, Mira this time showing great talent with the camera capturing some great images of anemone fish at Oyster Bridge and then ticked off one final box as we watched a mother and calf humpback whale resting in Bateman Bay.



All in all yet another successful trip where we snorkeled no less than 10 different sites, saw Manta Rays, Turtles, Whales and 5 different species of sharks, and hoisted the sails for some great sails through the pristine waters of the Ningaloo Reef.



We are coming towards the end of our season on Ningaloo, but we’ll still be out and about in the next few weeks before the heading down towards Perth for some summer sailing around Rottnest Island and Fremantle.

If you can’t make it up to Coral Bay then stay in touch with this blog or catch us for a day tour or overnight sailing trip from Perth.


Check out our calendar and make a booking enquiry for 2011.
Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment!

Ningaloo Reef Dive Liveaboard

At the end of August, Shore Thing departed for its first all out dive expedition with a group of eager divers from Perth. The group had arrived on Friday for a long weekend getaway but we managed to see and do more than you would expect was possible in a week. We checked all the boxes, Manta Rays, Whales, Sharks, Turtles, sting rays, fishing, scuba diving, and there was even time to chill out and relax!

Too fit everything we wanted to do in to just 3 days there was no rest for the adventurous. An early start, following our overnight anchorage and dive, saw Shore Thing weave its way through the large coral fields that give Coral Bay its name, whilst our guests feasted on freshly cooked breakfast. Dive number two saw us break on out behind the main reef crest and dive “The Elbow”. Excellent visibility was accompanied by all things great and small, from Nudibranchs and Pipefish to Wobbegong Sharks, large stingrays and Grey Reef sharks. Unfortunately though what we were after, Manta Rays, evaded us so our search would continue.

Once all divers were back on board we headed north. It was a perfect winter day out on the Ningaloo Reef (hard to believe with the temperature creeping towards 30c!), dolphins were sighted from the bow. A couple of fishing lines were in the water as we cruised on the outside of the reef and it before too long we had a nice Spanish mackeral on board that would go down well as some fresh sashimi and satisfy this group of divers for the evening meal. Before that though we were in the water another two times for a dive being serenaded by passing humpback whales and an eye opening snorkel at Luke’s favourite spot “The Fishbowl”.

Eye opening was an understatement for the afternoon snorkel at the fishbowl with a good chance to see some reef sharks and maybe a turtle, everyone was blown away by the in your face snorkel which threw up a staggering 6 tawny nurse reef sharks plus another 4 or 5 other reef sharks and 3 turtles. Fish life was everywhere! so much so that some of the marine life, including one poor old Tawny Nurse reef shark, didn’t know where to go at times. With only half the group joining us on that snorkel, once the stories were heard and pictures were showed off back on Shore Thing there was an early morning snorkel planned for the next day which did not disappoint.

Following that early morning snorkel we headed outside the reef again and towards one of our most recent discoveries, “The Coliseum”. After a slight distraction on the way out to the site, (that being a shark eating what we had hoped would be lunch!) the group descended into the calming blue to surface some 40 mins later with stories of Giant Trevally, anemone fish and yet more sharks. Before we even had the chance to pick up the anchor, humpback whales were sighted breaching not far off, so we were off for the next activity….whale watching.

As we headed towards one group of whales that were putting on a show, we didn’t notice another couple of large adults creep up on us and surprise us with their equivalent of a great big boo! That being the sound of the blow of an unexpected whale only 15m away, these 2 whales were quite inquisitive and came back 2 or 3 times for a closer inspection much to the delight of the group observing from the bow. Wow, what a morning and it was only half way through Day 2!

Before the day was out we made sure everyone was going to sleep well that night with two more dives, the first being at “The Labyrinth” followed by another night dive at “The Porites”.

Our final day started off with an early morning snorkel at “Oyster Bridge”, not even a stone’s throw from picturesque sand dunes that make up the shoreline of this remote part of the world. Following that the search was really on for Manta Rays as we cruised through Batemans Bay, probably the most reliable area to swim with manta rays on the entire Ningaloo Reef and possibly all of Australia. And did we succeed or did we succeed! We swam with not one, not two, but over 8 different Manta Rays!

We starting off with just the one Manta Ray that was gliding just below the surface when it was joined by a 3m Hammerhead Shark. It was a surreal moment, as the shark swam right below us and then right under the Manta, the manta didn’t react and I’d be lying if I said our hearts didn’t skip a beat but before we knew it our focus had switched from the Manta to the shark as it started doing figure of eight patterns on the bottom of the bay churning up the sand. Our Manta action wasn’t done with yet though, as we came across another Manta surface feeding. It was an all black manta, often referred to as a vadar manta in other parts of the world. One of our guests, Simon, mentioned how rare he thought this was from his experiences in other parts of the world but I reassured him that at Ningaloo, although not as common as the normal manta rays (white underside), we were quite lucky with a number of resident black Mantas, including “Elle” and “Whoopy”, regularly sighted and often in a pregnant state.

We weren’t done with yet though and before we knew it we found ourselves in just 4 metres of crystal clear water, being buzzed by up to 6 different Manta Rays all surface feeding. A few of us jumped in the water but these guys were moving fast, it was a lot of fun but I think some of the group who stayed on board had just a good experience observing everything from above the water as we did in the water.

Once again after a very active morning we put some more fuel back in our engines with a gourmet lunch. As some of us were letting our food settle and prepare for the final dive, some of the group went for a short snorkel to visit a new site we call, “Whale Bones”. This is the remaining skeleton of a humpback whale that died earlier in the year and washed in over the reef. It makes for a very interesting snorkel. And finally our trip was almost over… I said almost!

We still had one more dive planned at the very popular Coral Bay Shark Cleaning station, and I don’t think anyone was disappointed. The hard coral coverage at this site is amazing with some great formations, but what we were after was sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, and we were not disappointed. With over 10 sharks seen, at times 3 or more cruising in a tight formation through larges schools of Trevally and barracuda, the adrenalin was pumping. Ranging from 1m up to 2.5m in length these sharks come to this part of the reef to be removed of parasites and other unwanted matter. Staying still and relaxing is the key to observing these sleek animals and when doing so they at times come to within a few meters, almost touching distance. It certainly gets the heart pumping a little quicker and it was an amazing way to cap off an amazing 3 days on the Ningaloo Reef.

All the group had a great time and the crew of Shore Thing had an amazing time too showing off this beautiful part of the world that still remains untouched and in pristine condition, and we can’t wait to welcome back another group from Perth Scuba next year. Hopefully they can join us for 5 days next year and I can’t even begin too think how much we’ll track down and see if it is anything like this year.

If you’re interested in scuba diving or snorkeling why not come and let us show you the best that Ningaloo has to offer. Check out our calendar and make a booking enquiry for 2011.

Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.

I’ll post some more information on the Manta Rays of Ningaloo and Coral Bay in another post soon.

Wedding Bells

August saw yet another first for Sail Ningaloo with Shore Thing hosting it's very first Wedding ceremony and reception.The weather leading up to the big day was anything but perfect however, on the day someone upstairs must have been smiling down on our soon-to-be newly weds. The clouds parted and the glorious blue skies that we are so use to here at Coral Bay came through, the wind dropped and the seas were calm, it was the perfect afternoon for a wedding on the Ningaloo Reef.

The guests that journeyed from all over the country boarded early in the afternoon, and with the bride already aboard and hiding away with her maid of honor and a bottle of champagne to settle any last minute nerves, it was only a short cruise out to one of Coral Bay’s finest lagoons for the big event.


After a small and intimate ceremony the champagne was flowing with cheers for the newly weds. Some freshly prepared canapés were first out of the galley and in no time at all empty plates were heading back in! There was a constant supply of tasty treats and no one went hungry, or thirsty for that matter. The sails were hoisted and we were off for a sail as the sun began to dip towards the horizon.

The festivities continued well into the night before it was finally time to leave the newly weds as they enjoyed an exclusive night on Shore Thing all to themselves.

The festivities weren’t over though as bright and early the next day everyone was back on board to explore the many wonders of the Ningaloo Reef. After a couple of snorkels and some of the best coral they’d ever seen, along with turtles, rays and reef sharks (yep we are on to something as we tracked down that school of 50 juvenile reef sharks again!), a feast was once again presented and a few cold drinks enjoyed.

The day was finished off with some whale watching and a relaxing sail back in towards Coral Bay. What a way to celebrate a wedding!

Why does a Whale’s hump wiggle ?

Numerous times this season we have been privileged to see some amazing humpback whale action from near and afar.


We have seen young calves possibly only days old, we have seen ancient mariners that have been cruising the Indian and Antarctic oceans for years longer than we have been part of this world. We have seen whales at rest and at play. Every interaction is different and nature can never be as simple as a mathematical equation, nor would we want it too, but I have a question that I would like answered…….

Why does a humpback whale's hump, it’s dorsal fin, wiggle at times when it comes to the surface to breathe ?

It may sound very trivial, and it probably is, but it intrigues me when we are fortunate enough to have whales come and check US out and we get a nice close look, to see this huge mammal, wiggle its tiny little fin.

If anyone out there knows, can they please enlighten the rest of us!!

What a Whale of a Day !

August has just started and it’s the middle of winter but boy oh boy is it warm!

In these winter mornings there is a breeze blowing cool air from the inside of this remarkable continent. That makes for a perfect day to raise the sails and head out whale watching, relax, unwind and then jump in the crystal clear waters of the Ningaloo Reef in the afternoon and go exploring.

Our crew on this day was a real mixture. British, Italian, & Australian as always lead by John, Luke & Lannie.

We headed out of the reef under full sail, all eyes on the lookout for and spouts of humpback whales in the distance. It wasn’t the fine mist of spouts that we sighted though, rather the huge splashes of breaching whales in the distance.

Having watched our first 2 whales continue their determined journey north for half an hour we headed back towards Batemans Bay and came across another 2 whales resting in the calm blue waters.

With the sun nearing its peak in the sky the wind had dropped off and the day was turning out to be a real gem. Whale spouts could be seen to the North of us and even to the south of us. It wasn’t too long and a couple more whales came to check out good old Shore Thing, not once, not twice, but 4 times they came in to have a real good look at what Shore Thing had too offer, and boy oh boy did the the crew on board get a good look. One of our youngest crew members for the day, Taeya, all the way up from Melbourne, felt the mist from the whale’s spout as it came up right next to the boat to say hello.

The whales were off again though, determined to catch up with some old friends and we also started heading into towards Coral Bay as the bbq was being cooked. As we sat down to eat yet another freshly prepared meal by Lannie, featuring some homemade burgers, lentil salad, and pasta salad, John had eyed off yet another bit of whale action not too far away.

As we glided over, plates of food were hurriedly finished off and cleared out of the way as everyone made their way up on deck for a prime position as a small humpback calf, probably only a few weeks old was trying to breach for possibly the very first time. The little guy was being watched over closely by his very large mother and another whale, probably their escort.

The mercury was rising and it was time for us to get in the water and practice some of our breaching as well. Ok so we weren’t breaching but we had a damn good time snorkeling in “Pandora’s garden” as we came across 5 different turtles, a large sting ray and the true highlight was 50 baby reef sharks all about 50cm long!

Another great summer’s day out and about on the waters of Ningaloo Reef aboard Shore Thing….wait a second! It’s winter isn’t it? Why was it so hot then? 27c is not winter is it? Am I going crazy?

Who’s complaining?

The Best Family Holiday Ever!

It’s July and it’s school holidays! Time to get out and have some fun.

Off we went and we sure did make the most of it. Some glorious weather greeted us and the reef was truly our playground. We had more interactions with humpback whales than we have ever had before and we even managed to convert 2 of our youngest guests to the wonders that are humpback whales.

Cruising along the outside of the reef under sail we had to keep a good look out because the weather was so good that all the whales seemed to be resting and catching some shut eye before they continued all the way north to Broome. We must have encountered at least 7 different whales that were resting and just motionless at the surface. We didn’t want to disturb them though and we didn’t have to because there was a constant stream of whales coming up from southern waters.

We managed to get some great images and David, our guest on board, got some great shots of one whale breaching. We have never seen a whale breaching so many times, it must have breached no less than 50 times as it moved north along the reef and that was what we saw. When we decided it was time for us to head back into the reef it was still breaching as it continued north.

It was a great few days which seemed to bring highlight after highlight, as David wrote in our guest book...

“Well what can I say, fantastic catamaran, great snorkeling, awesome whale watching, outstanding meals, and that was just the first afternoon…It could not have been better, one of our most memorable holiday trips ever!...p.s. since writing this I’ve just had a swim with Manta Rays and another with Grey Reef Sharks…simply amazing end to the trip!”

Well I think David said it all, and thankyou to David for his kind comments.

Don’t you wish you were here?

You can see some of the images we captured on that trip at our Humpback Whale Photo Gallery

Special Place - Special Times

Special Place – Special Times
Once again we were out and about in June, Whale shark sightings around Coral Bay had started to drop off but they were replaced with Humpback Whales.

We headed out for 5 days with our guests Dennis & Fran and another first for Shore Thing as Fran celebrated her Birthday on Board, 21 again wasn’t it Fran ?!

Although the weather gods kept us on our toes, we still managed to tick all the boxes and create a few more to try and better in the future.

Manta Rays, Dugongs, Turtles and whales were all sighted on regular occurrence and were duly logged in the Shore Thing mega fauna sightings log.

This time we ran into a new friend, a Bottlenose Dolphin that was

cruising around the North Reef and Stanley Pool area all on his lonesome and decided to come and ride the bow wave of Shore Thing, not once but 2 days in a row, and on the second day he (or she) earned his nickname, Leapin Leroy, as Lannie captured this photo of him jumping clear out of the water. He did this about 5 times and had everyone on board cheering.

Needless to say there was some pretty epic snorkelling missions, with Dennis & Fran just as keen as the crew to get into the water and see what they could find.

One of the highlights would have to have been the sail back north towards Coral Bay. Having checked out a nice surf break and watch some talented surfers at play we went outside the reef under full sail to try our hand at catching the evening meal.





It must be said that it is pretty hard to get Dennis to share his excitement as on a couple of occasions he sighted a whale breaching, but failed to voice the obligatory scream of “BREACH!” to let everyone else know what was going on. Thankfully though after losing one good sized fish that he got right into the back of Shore Thing, on the second hook up, after a few minutes he filled us in on what was going on and John and Dennis managed to land a good sized Spanish Mackeral! Dennis had even brought his own Wasabi so there was no surprise what he had on his mind!

And so it was, another 5 days out exploring the Ningaloo Reef and still new things were found and no doubt there’ll be more soon.

Ultimate Ningaloo

Autumn was upon us but you’d barely realise it up at Ningaloo, although the nights started to cool down the days were still beckoning to be explored and made the most of, and that is what we did as we ventured out for our first full 9 day ultimate Ningaloo trip.

After a couple of days spent to the south of Coral Bay at one of our favourite spots, Sandy Point, we started heading north on the outside of the reef under full sail, the lines were out in an attempt to catch something for lunch and It didn’t take long before our guest John had landed a nice Yellow fin tuna. Sashimi and fresh tuna steaks for lunch it will be then!

It was a glorious evening for a sunset sail in Batemans Bay and what better way to enjoy it than with some tasty sunset snacks and some cool West Australian white wine.

After a brief respite and tidy up of the boat on Day 4, we were off again and this time heading North towards Norwegian Bay. As we passed through Batemans Bay we were not disappointed by the wildlife. Turtles, Dugongs, Dolphins and our favourite, the Manta Ray were spotted. David & Irene’s first ever Manta Ray was a large black female Manta, a few scars near her tail didn’t stop here as she cruised backwards and forwards line feeding at the surface.

On our journey North we stayed the night at the “Bungles”, a site Luke had nick named because of the all the large coral bommies that seemed to pop up everywhere. Irene hadn’t had the fishing line in for long before she had caught a decent sized Sand Snapper, not that great eating though so this one was thrown back to fight another day.

North we continued and we made it to Point Cloates, an area quite infamous for a number of Western Australia’s shipwrecks prior to modern navigational equipment. Shore Thing was safe and sound though, in a perfectly selected anchorage whilst the crew got some sand beneath there toes as they went ashore to check out the view from atop some of the dunes that lay at the foot of the historic Point Cloates lighthouse.

The next day saw us cruise into Norwegian Bay and explore the ruins of the whaling station. Our personal mission this time was to try and locate the head stone of 3 Norwegian Whalers that died around 1914. Unfortunately though it still evades us and has probably been covered by dune encroachment.

That afternoon though we discovered a new snorkeling site that was teeming with life. It has been nicknamed “The Nursing Station” due to the 3 Tawny Nurse sharks that were discovered sleeping there. Not only were there tawny nurse sharks but also some other Reef Sharks and plenty of Turtles. Unfortunately though the turtles were quite shy and easily evaded our cameras as they shot off at a rate of knots!

Norwegian Bay was really at its best, crystal clear waters, wildlife galore and not another soul in sight. It is such a special privilege we have exploring these waters that time again, show us nature in an untouched state, this time we were graced by the presence of 2 adult dugongs and their young calf as they fed on the sea grass close to the anchorage of Shore Thing.

And so we started heading south again towards home and Coral Bay. As we cruised back through the Coral Gardens into port David’s response sums it all up. Asked how his 9 days had been, his answer “… I could do another 9 days right away!”

There you have it, 9 days isn’t even enough as you explore the Ningaloo Reef in style aboard Shore Thing!

Check out the website at www.sailningaloo.com.au to see when our next 9 day tour is departing.

It still feels like summer on Ningaloo

April saw us venture south and were we treated with some amazing conditions. No swell, and low tides in the late afternoons turned the inner reef into what can only be described as the world’s largest aquarium! The calm conditions allowed some new snorkel sites to be discovered, the standout would have to be "Turtle cove". An amazing experience where Luke counted no less than 17 different turtles and some truly amazing coral formations and displays of colour.

Venturing as far south as Pelican point, saw an amazing array of turtles feeding in the shallow weedy lagoons. The interesting thing here was the different array of turtles sizes. Small juveniles all the way to large mature adults were sighted via the Shore Thing’s tender, the “Green Thing”. There were turtles so large that they created their own bow waves as they hurtled through the shallow waters.

Once again Lannie served up a feast of freshly prepared healthy meals which was topped off by some of Western Australia’s beautiful local wines and once again some purely serene sunsets.

The journey back north towards Coral Bay saw a lazy sail in between some more snorkeling which saw 2 of our guests, Marie-Louise & Dianne, coming face to face with their fear of sharks. A brief encounter with a small reef shark sent the adrenalin racing and ended up replacing some of the fears with a new found respect and image of beauty for a misunderstood creature.

There was also yet another in-water encounter with a chilled out little local Green Turtle.

Exploring Exploring Exploring

Well we made it! We made it all the way up the coast from Fremantle to Coral Bay and arrived in mid March. Amazing weather greeted us as we departed Fremantle, too good in fact that we didn’t even have enough wind to sail at times. We even managed to polish nearly all the stainless steel on the boat, its never ending but it sure does help when the sun is shining, a cool breeze is blowing and the seas are calm and blue blue blue. Is there a better place in the world than the open ocean on such days?

No sooner had we arrived in Coral Bay and we were off again. Venturing out to explore with some friends who were up for a bit of adventure. Covering all the ground between Pelican Point to the south of Coral Bay, and Norwegian Bay to the north, over 90 nautical miles in all by the time we returned after 5 days.

Some great times were had with numerous highlights such as baitballs in Bateman Bay being rounded up into tighter and tighter balls by numerous species of fish and then sent into a frenzy by rampaging reef sharks. This was made even more special when our English friend, Matt, caught his first ever fish! A Yellowfin Tuna no less, not bad for a beginner.

Forays onto dry land saw us discover a turtle graveyard. An area where numerous skeletons of turtles can be seen in what can only be described as a luna landscape!

An early morning kayak discovered what has been nick named “Turtle Alley”, with more large green turtles than seen anywhere else on our adventures to date. Turtle nesting season was over by this time so these guys (and most of them were males!) must hang out in this area regularly, enjoying the plentiful food source and close access to the Ningaloo & Leeuwin currents located just offshore.

Norwegian Bay whaling station looks sure to be a favourite with the well and truly abandoned and run down station, one of the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere during its main years of operation in the early 1900’s, just oozing history and mystque from a time gone by.

Exploration underwater had new dive & snorkel sites springing up all over the place. Everyone’s favourite site would have to be what Luke knicknamed “The Fishbowl”. So named because of the immense number of different fish species located in one small area, not to mention the reef sharks and turtles also found there!

“Where is it ?” you may ask, well you’ll just have to come out on Shore Thing one day to find out for yourself !

And finally, we witnessed some of the most spectacular sunsets imaginable and all with no one else in sight, one of the main reasons the Ningaloo Reef is so special.

There is always something happening on the reef and there are no crowds to spoil the experience. Nature at its best!

Ningaloo Reef

The Ningaloo Reef is one of the world’s most pristine and beautiful fringing reef systems, situated on the remote west coast of Australia and has just been nominated for World Heritage Listing!

Stretching for nearly 300km, it is protected within the boundaries of the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park, which falls within a narrow climatic band that typically features warm, comfortable weather conditions 12 months of the year.

The major natural attractions of the Ningaloo Reef are Manta Rays, Reef Sharks, Marine Turtles, Humpback Whales, Whale Sharks and Dugongs (not too mention all the little critters too !)

The reef is recognised as having one of the most diverse range of coral and fish species, in the world, all of which can be found a stones throw off the shoreline.

Coral Bay is centrally located within the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park. There are vast tracts of navigational waters inside the reef system, “Shore Thing” is perfectly equipped to take advantage of this and as a result numerous remote, secluded and protected anchorages are accessible for you and only you to explore.

Why not start thinking about the possibilities of exploring one of the most pristine marine environments in the world and having the experience of a lifetime.....

Sail Ningaloo is the Ningaloo Reefs only Live Aboard Sailing Catamaran

We aim to provide you with a truly unique and memorable experience exploring the remote and pristine wonders of the Ningaloo Reef in luxurious comfort aboard our beautifully appointed 51ft catamaran “Shore Thing”.

Accommodating a maximum of 10 guests in beautifully appointed cabins ensures your experience will be personalised and unique.

As well as spectacular coral and fish, Ningaloo Reef is a haven for Manta Rays, Dugongs, Whale Sharks, Humpback Whales, and many other amazing marine animals. The crystal clear waters are safe to swim all year round. Snorkelling, scuba diving and kayaking are some of the activities available while on charter with us.

Overnight charters range from 3 days to 9 days on the World Heritage nominated Ningaloo Reef, departing Coral Bay from March through to October.

Our motto....Leaving only bubbles & footprints taking only photographs & memories"

We hope you can come and explore the Reef with us sometime, but hopefully this blog can help you share the adventures in the meantime.