Dive Review of Dive Ningaloo in
Australia/Exmouth/Muiron Islands

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Dive Ningaloo: "Nice but slightly disappointing diving in Muiron islands", Dec, 2023, by Keith Willmott, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 13058.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We booked a day's diving with Dive Ningaloo to visit the Muiron Islands, which are (within Australia at least) renowned for their soft corals. Unlike the diving further south in western Australia, the Ningaloo region has fringing coral reefs and a more typical Indo-Pacific fauna, albeit significantly less diverse than the Coral Triangle. The spacious boat left from Bundegi dock, 1 hr 15 mins to a mooring buoy on NW tip of S. Muiron Island, a site named 'Whale Bone'. We reached a max depth of 12 m, vis about 6 m, strong swell even on the bottom, which was sand in between coral bommies with some slight overhangs. A few small fan corals on the undersides of overhangs, and, disappointingly, only a single small Dendronephthya (soft coral). Hard corals were good, reef fish not abundant but diverse (Steephead Parrotfish, Three-spot Rabbitfish, Moorish Idol, Wirenet Filefish, Pacific Trumpetfish, Lemon Damselfish, Potato Rock Cod, Inshore Surgeonfish, Forceps Butterflyfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish, Reticulated Damselfish), an octopus and stingray, and about 5-6 species of nudibranchs. After a tasty barbecued lunch on board, we moved to second dive site (Eastside Bommies) on back side of S. Muiron, where there was no swell and better vis. Max depth 8 m, sand and coral bommies, Blue-spotted Ray, Sailfin Catfish, Bridled Monocle Bream, Blacktip Grouper, Threadfin Butterflyfish, Floral Maori Wrasse, and again, a good abundance and diversity of nudibranchs, about 10 species! Overall, nice diving, plenty to see, just a bit disappointed we didn't get to visit the deeper sites, walls, and abundant soft corals we were hoping for. As a side note, during our stay in Exmouth we were also hoping to dive the famous Exmouth Navy Pier, a shore/muck dive, but this proved impossible during our short stay - the pier is off-limits except for scheduled dive tours by local operators, which depart at specific times (because of the tides) and (unfortunately) rather infrequently organize night dives. Definitely worth trying to stay a few more days to dive that site. Otherwise, the peninsula is rather beautiful, extremely hot (in December), empty desert and coasts.
Websites	Dive Ningaloo
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Florida, Belize, Panama (Coiba, Pearl Is) St Vincent and Grenadines, UK, Red Sea (Sharm), Myanmar, Sulawesi (Wakatobi), Philippines (Mindoro, Palawan), Solomons (Guadalcanal), New Zealand (Poor Knights), Papua New Guinea, west Australia
Closest Airport	Exmouth	Getting There	Flight Perth-Exmouth, then c 45 min drive to town of Exmouth
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp	24-24°C / 75-75°F	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	6-15 M / 20-49 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Keep with dive guide
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Dive Ningaloo in Australia/Exmouth/Muiron Islands

Dive Ningaloo: "Nice but slightly disappointing diving in Muiron islands", Dec, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Dive Ningaloo in
Australia/Exmouth/Muiron Islands