Why You Need To Swim With Manta Rays At Coral Bay, WA

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Have you ever wanted to swim with manta rays? Then Coral Bay on the Coral Coast of Western Australia is the place to go!

Swimming with manta rays in Coral Bay was one of the highlights of our trip around Australia. Located on the shores of the world famous Ningaloo Reef, which is famous for being a thriving home to whale sharks, wobbegongs, and several species of reef shark – to say our expectations were high was an understatement.

It’s said that manta rays swim in the bay of Coral Bay all year round. And because they are filter feeders, they are safe to swim with.

If you’ve thought about swimming with manta rays but not sure what to expect, here is our experience swimming with these magnificent creatures.

Where is Coral Bay?

Coral Bay is located on the Coral Coast of Western Australia, and is a 1.5 hour drive (151 km) from Exmouth Western Australia and 11.5 hours drive from Perth.

You can get tours out to Coral Bay from Exmouth Marina or from Coral Bay – though expect tours from Exmouth to take a full day, whereas you can take a half day tour from Coral Bay and make time for other activities.

Our Experience Swimming With Manta Rays at Coral Bay

“Okay everyone, put your gear on, she’s heading this way. Get in the water as quickly and quietly as you can and follow me, I’ll be keeping near it so you can track it.”

Finned feet began shuffling in all directions to the back of the boat. No one wanted to miss the chance to swim with these graceful underwater butterflies.

I turned to help Kalyra put her snorkel on and she started to have one of those meltdowns. The snorkel wasn’t on to her liking and so the frustration began to vent as wails. She would not listen to my calm, sage advice.

One by one, the others on the boat slipped in the warm Australian waters and started swimming. Soon, we were left on our own.

We came all this way to Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia and paid a lot of money to sit on a boat and suffer a tantrum. The others were swimming behind the manta and getting further from the boat.

We couldn’t catch up now. We finally got the snorkel sorted and sat on the edge of the boat.

Holding hands we counted to three and slipped in.

We put our faces in the water and there was the manta ray’s face only a few feet away swimming towards us. We both squealed,…