Manta Rays X4

Manta Ray Tour, Coral Bay, WA

Saturday 8^th October

When we were in Coral Bay in 2016 I did the ‘Swimming with Manta Rays’ tour with Val (Val and Henry were visiting us). We both had a wonderful day and I was keen for Daniel, Jackson and Emilia to experience the thrill of swimming with these majestic creatures. After we’d booked and paid we found out a few of the recent tours had been unlucky and hadn’t found any Manta Rays to swim with – we crossed everything hoping it would work out for us.

The tours were cancelled on Thursday and Friday due to strong winds and high swell, but we awoke on the day of our tour to a perfect day- the sun was shining and the sea was calm.

Before beginning the search for Manta Rays we did a snorkel through some lovely coral deeper out on the reef. We saw a turtle, some reef sharks and so many different fish, as well as large, colourful coral.

After the snorkel we all had a hot drink as we waited for the spotter plane to hopefully find some Manta Rays for us to swim with. I’d taken 2 sips of my tea when we were instructed to get ready quickly as some Mantas had been found and we were about to swim with them!

We jumped off the back of the boat and within a moment there was not just one, but three Manta Rays swimming underneath us. They were not going as fast as they can, so we were able to easily keep up and really get a good look at them. We got back in the boat to let the second half of the tour group in the water, then we got to get back in. This time a fourth Manta had joined and they all swam in a line, allowing us to swim right near them. We ended up getting to do four swims with the Manta Rays and each time we got to see them from a different angle and noticed different things about them. We were told that it was likely that the group were a ‘mating chain’. Basically the female swims around with would be suitors following her in a long game of ‘last man standing’. Whoever is left when she decides to stop (this can be after many days) is the lucky mate. As we watched, one male ray tried to cut in line but the other ray wouldn’t let him in. It was amazing to watch. As we finished our last swim we noticed there were heaps of small reef sharks swimming underneath us which was another great thing to be able to see.

After lunch we did another snorkel out in deep water where the coral created big gorges for us to swim through. Daniel found a massive shell (as big as his forearm) that we all took a good look at, and we saw more turtles, a school of giant trevally and so many fish. If we didn’t get so cold we all could have stayed out there for hours, it was incredible.

It was a wonderful day, with the tour leaders saying that was one of the best days they’d had out on the water for a while. We felt very lucky and so glad we decided to do the tour, it was such a wonderful experience.

We couldn’t resist getting the professional photos taken on the day – so these photos are not mine (I wish). They were taken by Aimee Nicholson-Jack, a professional underwater photographer. The photos inspired Emilia and she has since bought herself an underwater camera, so soon we will be able to post our own ocean shots!