THE LOVLEY CORAL BAY

Coral Bay is a very, very small town. A few houses, 1 mini-supermarket, a fantastic bakery, a dive shop and once stunning coastline. The beach at Coral Bay is just 300m wide, backed by sand dunes and fronted by the lovely Ningaloo Reef.

Easyrider supplied us with snorkels and fins for the first morning of our stay. We jumped in the water (although at 8am and it was a little chilly) and watched in fascination as brightly coloured fish scattered through the flower like corals. A turtle graced our presence, although now aware that keeping a distance is wise since they sport a pretty vicious beak. Yells of muffled glee could be heard as Laura, Petra, Jean and I called in delight at every new fish we saw swam beneath us. After 20 minutes or so, the current ahead gently carried us to the point of no return and we had to get out of the water. Plus, for those not staying in Coral Bay, it was time to go. I wished Laura and Wez well on their journeys, and Petra, Martina (Nina), Stephanie (all Swiss Girls) and I set to some serious sunbathing.

Petra and I headed for a lunchtime coffee, chatting and sharing stories of out travels. We watched a lizard beneath our table for at least 1 hour. By this time, I knew we would get on well, and as you will find out in subsequent journals, we did in fact become good friends. I spent the afternoon organising my stay in Coral Bay and booked myself onto two dive trips – one Ningaloo Reef Dive and one Manta Ray tour.

The days that I did not spend diving in Coral Bay, I spent swimming in the sea, lazing on the main beach, watching beautiful sunsets and relaxing with a glass of white wine, or red wine when with Petra. I got to know Nina and Stephanie quite well, and it resulted that Natalie too came to Coral Bay.

In the middle of my stay, I walked to Paradise Beach around the corner from the main beach, although my curiosity took me around the next corner. You had to climb a few rocks and were in a little danger of being stranded by a high tide, but hey, I was allured. Petra liked the thought of this too, so together we set on our journey and were rewarded substantially for our efforts. There, peaking at us was a deserted beach, with turquoise/cobalt sea, beautifully clear water and huge parrot fish, just at the shoreline. I was mesmerised and other than that, find it very hard to put into words just how overawed I was. This moment was one of the highlights of my travels and I know just how lucky I am to be here right now.

On Thursday 12th Oct, I set on my first open water dive as a qualified diver. It took me a while to remember equipment set-up, and in the water I had to remind myself of how to inform my buddy on how many bars of pressure I had left in my O2 tank, but apart from that I did pretty well. In fact, there were some more experienced divers who were unable to keep their flippers of the reef, which I did not like too much.

The two back-to-back dives were just stunning. Out from the shore, the corals became brighter in colour and more brain like and less flower-like. I saw a huge array of fish, including anemones, parrot fish, snapper and even a grey reef shark – how lucky is that!!! Just over the way is a shark nursery, and just where we were diving is a shark cleaning station. Sharks come here to have their bodies and teeth cleaned by littl’ fish that eat the remains of the bigger fish eaten by the sharks. Nature is just fabulous!

Sadly, on Friday, the swell picked up and the local currents became strong, so my Manta Dive tour was cancelled. It could be rearranged to a alter date, but no dive would have been guaranteed. The dives were also being cancelled in Exmouth, just up the road; a place where I was also due to do some more diving. So, an on-the-spot decision was made and I upped-the-anti, deciding to skip 2 more days in Coral Bay and 3 days in Exmouth, and instead continue on up to Broome 4 days earlier than planned. What made this so special is that I got cheers from Petra, Martina, Stephanie, Natalie, Jean and the Irish Girls – they were pleased that I would be joining them on the next leg of the journey to Broome. I also got to meet Steve, our new bus driver, who turned out to be tons of fun.

Days like this make me feel alive! I love travelling! Read on for tales of my journey to Broome – I can promise you, they just get better.

Lots of Love, Em x