Ningaloo Reef, Australia
aerial shot of the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia

Ningaloo Reef, Australia

Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Ningaloo Reef is where large schools of turtles, tropical fish, manta rays, humpback whales, and whale sharks meet. The area offers great opportunities to swim with various aquatic animals and explore underwater marvels. Learn more about these attractions in our in-depth diving guide.

Geography of the Ningaloo Reef, Australia

The Ningaloo Coast is situated 1200 kilometers north of Perth, half-way up the West Australian coastline. The reef is the largest fringing reef in the world and spans 260 kilometers (162 miles) along the coast. It runs from Bundegi Beach near Exmouth to Red Bluff at Quobba Station. The Ningaloo Reef is also really close to the shore, so divers have easy access to its underwater sights.

Exmouth

Exmouth is located in the North West Cape’s east coast. This town is home to complex sea creatures and experiences frequent whale shark sightings. It also hosts the Exmouth Navy Pier, where divers can spot more fish species in one site than possibly anywhere else. Exmouth oozes real Australian charm, thanks to its palm trees with screeching cockatoos and laid-back vibe.

Exmouth Navy Pier

Plenty of famous diving personalities consider the Exmouth Navy Pier to be one of the world’s top 10 land-based dive sites. Once you get to this area, you’ll see big-eye trevally and barracuda forming living vortexes around the pylons, while huge Queensland gropers can be found hanging around the water column’s deeper areas. You might even spot grey nurse sharks residing here in the winter.

Aside from big fishes, diving in the Ningaloo Navy Pier will expose you to an ever-changing array of vibrant reef fish. Keep an eye out for coral trout, angelfish, butterflyfish, Moorish idols, nudibranchs with striking hues, frogfish, soft corals, and other aquatic marvels.

Lighthouse Bay

Situated on the North West Cape’s northern tip, Lighthouse Bay is one of Exmouth’s most popular and accessible dive sites. This area offers reliable marine life sightings, numerous dive sites, and shallow depths. Other attractions include fascinating limestone structures, turtle cleaning stations, and numerous fish species.

Blizzard Ridge

Blizzard Ridge is a coral and reef rim that features numerous crevices, caves, and overhangs. These structures teem with a variety of marine life. The site also has stunning table corals, huge barrel sponges, and big staghorn corals. Some of the sea creatures living in Blizzard Ridge include large pelagic fish, sea turtles, moray eels, stingrays, and lionfish.

You can also see other marine species here, such as tropical fish in all colors. Leopard sharks, surgeonfish, pipefish, parrotfish, and anemones reside in Blizzard Ridge as well.

The Labyrinth

This top diving destination in Lighthouse Bay starts at about 10 meters and can reach down to 18 meters. Thanks to these conditions, divers can look for aquatic animals while slowly moving around the area. But beware: the limestone in the Labyrinth forms a maze of craters and swim-throughs, so you should stick with your guide while you’re here.

The Labyrinth houses pufferfish, porcupinefish, crayfish, and octopus, while green turtles take naps inside its caves. It also has stretchy soft corals that pick up nutrients from the current. Stingrays come here as well to find mollusks and crustaceans on the sandy seabed. Groupers, sharks, and stingrays sometimes make their way here, too.

Helga’s Tunnels

Located west of Ningaloo, Helga’s Tunnels will let you try deep dives. You can go as deep as 30 meters (98 feet) in this dive site. It’s also filled with tunnels and crevices, including a few passable ones. Sea creatures include schools of batfish, lionfish, and leopard sharks.

Muiron Islands

The Ningaloo Marine Park’s northern edge is home to the Muiron Islands. A channel in the area divides two islands, namely North Muiron and South Muiron. Daily boat rides travel to the various dive sites here.

The coral reefs on both islands have more soft corals, sponges, and gorgonia than other parts of Ningaloo. They also teem with stingrays, batfish, anemones, clownfish, yellow-striped cardinalfish, turtles, and the occasional dugong.

The Cod Spot

This dive site in South Muiron offers an amazing diving experience. Large schools of golden cardinalfish cover this limestone reef, which become more visible as you go deeper. Divers usually spot large potato cod here, while swarms of smaller cod and emperor fish tend to gather around divers. The Cod Spot also serves as a manta ray cleaning station.

The Keyhole

The Keyhole gets its name from its window and keyhole-shaped overhangs. These structures are full of glassfish and incredible soft corals. You can swim through this channel while you’re exploring the Muiron Islands.

The Gap

The Gap is a drift dive lying between the North and South Muiron Islands. This dive site is teeming with soft and hard corals in vibrant colors, as well as sponges. It also houses plenty of fish, turtles, nurse sharks, and other marine species.

Coral Bay

Coral Bay in Ningaloo Reef has lots of inner reef dive sites that divers of all levels can explore. Vivid corals serve as safe havens for turtles, rays, reef sharks, and smaller sea creatures. But inner reef dive sites aren’t the only stand-out destinations in this area, as there are outer reef locations, too. These range from wall dives to manta ray cleaning stations and a lot more. With Coral Bay’s plethora of dive sites, you won’t run out of places to explore during your dives.

Asho’s Gap

Asho’s Gap gets its name from the famous Coral Bay skipper who discovered it. It’s a shallow gap in a hard coral ridge that’s located across an outer reef passage. This dive site lets you explore a small plateau of cabbage coral, which serves as a cleaning station for grey reef sharks. Turtles, large groupers, and sometimes manta rays get their teeth cleaned here, too.

Aside from the sea creatures mentioned above, you can also see large stingrays, eagle rays, other reef sharks, turtles, wobblegongs, nurse sharks, and groupers in Asho’s Gap.

Marine Life

  • Sea turtles - Sea turtles have streamlined bodies and large flippers. They also have jaws with modified beaks for consuming certain prey. Sea turtles come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, and live in tropical and subtropical waters.
  • Manta rays - Known as the world’s largest ray species, manta rays have large and flat diamond-shaped bodies and triangular pectoral fins. They’re also called “devil fish” due to the two horn-shaped fins protruding from the front of their heads. Manta rays consume plenty of zooplankton, but research has discovered that they also hunt for fish.
  • Whale sharks - This species is the largest among sharks and any live fishes. You can easily recognize whale sharks just by looking at their white spots. They eat plankton and travel large distances for hunting and reproduction.

Other Attractions

  • Cape Range National Park - This National Park offers a wide range of activities, from bushwalking across eucalypt woodlands to taking a plunge into an emerald lagoon. Some places worth checking out here include Turquoise Bay, Yardie Creek, and the Learmonth Solar Observatory.
  • Jurabi Turtle Centre - This attraction in Exmouth’s northwestern side is the perfect place to go to if you want to learn about Ningaloo’s huge sea turtle population. The centre runs turtle observation tours between November and March.
  • Bill’s Bay - Lying at the end of Robinson Street on Coral Bay, Bill’s Bay is everyone’s favorite beach due to its accessible location and sheltered teal waters. It also gives off a very relaxed seaside holiday vibe.

How to Get There

Divers can travel to the Ningaloo Reef via different modes of transportation:

By Air
If you’re flying to the Ningaloo Coast, Qantas runs daily flights from Perth to Learmonth Airport in Exmouth. Exmouth Bus Charters has shuttle buses traveling from the airport to any of the town’s accommodations. You can also hire taxi or charter vehicle services that run between Learmouth Airport and Exmouth, or cars from agencies.

By Sea
When it comes to exploring Ningaloo by sea, Exmouth offers a variety of options. Divers can go there via fishing charters or diving, snorkeling, and kayaking tours. Glass bottom boat tours are also available, where you can swim with whale sharks, humpbacks, and mantas. These tours will also let you do whale watching and snorkeling.

Getting Around
To travel around Exmouth, you can ride a car or rent a scooter/bike. Walking is another option if you have lots of energy. It’s also a practical choice since Exmouth is just a small town.

Best Time to Visit

You can dive in Ningaloo all year round. The dry season falls from August to December, while the wet season is from May to June. The Ningaloo Reef’s whale shark season runs from March to June, and you can see mantas, humpback whales, dolphins, and dugongs in winter.

The Ningaloo Reef’s average temperature can hit around 35°C in the summer and 25°C in the winter. The reef also experiences temperatures at about 30°C in spring and autumn. The area enjoys mostly sunny weather throughout the year.

Required Trainings & Certifications

From inshore coral dives to advanced open water dives in incredible reef complexes, Ningaloo’s dive sites are perfect for divers of all skill levels. Ningaloo Reef dive tours cater to seasoned and novice divers. Some tour operators in the area also offer various training courses, including PADI’s Open Water and DiveMaster courses.

Miscellaneous Information

Currency
The Australian dollar (AUD) is the official currency in Western Australia. ATMs can be found throughout the region.

Language
Australian English is Australia’s de facto national language. West Australian natives also speak Kriol, one of two English-based creoles in the country.

Time Zone
The Ningaloo Coast observes Australian Western Standard Time (GMT +8). It’s one of three time zones in Australia.

Driving Side
In Western Australia, you can drive a car on the left side of the road. You should stay there if you’re approaching an intersection or making turns. Right-side driving on multi-lane roads is only allowed if you’re overtaking or avoiding obstructions. It also applies if the left lane is for buses and bicycles.

Calling Code
08 is the area code for Western Australia. To call anyone in the region from overseas, dial +61 then leave out the 0 from its area code or from the number you’re calling.

ISO 3166 code
AU-WA is Western Australia’s ISO 3166 code.

Internet TLD
Australia’s Internet TLD is .au.