Today was our last day with Matt and Sharon as tomorrow we leave to travel north and they head west to Karijini and the start of their 3 week journey home.

Turquoise Bay is renowned as an amazing snorkelling spot accessible from the beach along the Ningaloo Coast and so we headed out there in the morning to spend most of the day there at the beach.

The 40-minute drive went quickly …. along the coast between the sea on the right and Cape Range with its canyons and gorges on the left…

Arriving at Turquoise Bay we unpacked our gear and headed onto the beach…. the tide was high and the water was almost up to the fence with a small strip of dry sand to put our gear.

Matt, Sharon, Trev and I went straight in for a snorkel and spent the next hour and 45 mins in the water taking in the incredible sights of the Ningaloo Reef…. A myriad of fish all different colours of the rainbow, different sizes and shapes….

Coral formations that were intricate, large and small….

Turtles chewing the coral and swimming lazily…

the elusive clownfish family that were hiding in anemones buried deep within a coral bombie…

and the tiniest baby clownfish I have ever seen….

The pictures really do not do the underwater world justice… the further our we snorkelled the clearer that water became…

Gordie and Klaus also jumped in for a snorkel and the others had a swim and relaxed on the beach – the day was beautiful and warm – ideallic really – as was the location…..

After having a drink and a snack, Trev Sharon and I went out for a second snorkel – there was just so much to see – the reef area seemed endless and each time you swam on there was yet another beautiful coral structure or sea creature to marvel at….

The others left for the day and we stayed on – Matt and Sharon did a swim against the current for some exercise as the tide continued to drop…. We finally left and drove back to Exmouth for showers in preparation for our last farewell dinner out with the Bowyers…

We had booked the BBQ Father Italian Restaurant which was located in the caravan park for dinner that night…

the food was delicious, and we then had dessert and coffees at our place… a joint farewell to the Bowyers and early birthday celebration for Sharon with ice-cream cake and Portuguese tarts lovingly baked by Klaus!!!