Matt, Sharon, Rose, Dave, Trev and I were up early to get down to the Coral Bay Eco Tours for out swim with the Manta Rays cruise which started at 0730… the Weiss and Hunters had planned a chill-out day today while we were gone…

We were bussed down to the jetty and boarded the boat ready for the day out on the water.

As we journeyed out to beyond the reef, the spotter plane was seen taking off on it’s mission to locate the Manta Rays so we could be dropped into the ocean to swim with them.

The tour was much the same format as the whale shark swim we did with Coral Bay Eco Tours in 2017…. 10 people at a time were allowed in the water to swim alongside the Mantas for a period then the group huddles together in the ocean waiting for the boat to drop off the second group and return to pick the first group up.

It was not long before the captain was notified that 2 Manta Rays were spotted not far from where we were so they moved the boat over – and we were in the first group to jump in with the photographer and guide…

There were 2 magnificent Manta Rays – a female swimming in front and a male close behind her – they glided through the water effortlessly and looked very relaxed…

We took some GoPro footage which was not too bad however due to the swell the water was a little murky….

Altogether we had 3 swims with the Manta’s which was truly incredible – the last swim was the best as there were less people in our group as some were a bit fatigued with all the swimming so elected to stay on the boat… it was quite challenging in the water as the swell was big and it was quite windy – and getting back on the boat required thought, coordination and effort to say the least!!! There were a few unintended kicks to faces and other body parts… needless to say we had a great day….

After the swims we had morning tea while the boat cruised back inside the reef to a great snorkel spot called the maze… we were able to jump in and do a guided snorkel tour though the maze of coral and bombies seeing many varieties of fish, coral, turtles and even a sleepy reef shark under a ledge…

Lunch was served on the boat and then we were taken to the next snorkel spot – the Shark Cleaning Station – the only known “cleaning station” for grey reef sharks in the world (apparently!). The reef sharks come into the cleaning station and circle around while the small cleaner wrasses clean their teeth!!

It was a snorkel like no other – snorkelling single file though a narrow passage between 2 bombies to come out the other side to see below a number of big and small sharks circling around getting their teeth cleaned! The area was full of a plethora of fish all swimming in various directions above the main coral platform that was the “cleaning station” – we swam around the station and stopped to the side to watch the activity – it was very unique and not a confronting as I thought it may have been…

After watching for quite a while, we snorkelled on back around the bombie to the boat admiring the amazing structures of the coral and the abundant sea life that lives there…

We purchased the professional photos from the day – amazing quality – far better than our GoPro Hero 5 images (no surprises there!!) – the pics below are the ones from Aimee Nicholson-Jack Photography… check her out on Instagram @aimeeenj

Some aerial shots of Coral Bay as well….

Returning back to the caravan park we had showers and got ready to go out for dinner at the local restaurant “Fins” which was just at the entrance to the park…. The food was amazing – Matt was in awe of the seafood tasting plate which looked fantastic!!