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Enjoy a leisurely cruise in style on board our spacious multi-level boat Thunder. Sit back, relax and take in the sights and scenery as we travel the short journey to the whales’ playground.
The Humpback whales migrate through Coral Bay from June to October every year. Visit these incredible and inquisitive mammals in their natural environment playing, tail-slapping, breaching, waving and slapping massive pectoral fins, rolling and even sleeping! Because the local waters are a safe haven for migrating whales, we regularly see resting mothers and calves as they frolic in the calm waters of Bateman’s Bay. Not only can you see the iconic Humpback whales, but we also often encounter many other marine animals like turtles, dolphins, dugongs and other whale species such as Minke’s, Southern rights, even Orca’s throughout the trip.
The tour departs runs for three hours. Our friendly and knowledgeable crew will look after you throughout the tour, offering information about the Ningaloo Reef and its marine life. One complimentary champagne and finger food is provided and you can also byo.
For Child/Infant policy please check the Terms & Condition below.
Child passengers are defined as being an age of 5 years old to 15 years old. 16 year old passengers are defined as adults. Family prices refer to 2 adults and 2 children between 5 and 15 years old. Children 4 years and under at the time of tour are Free of Charge (FOC). All minors must be accompanied by parents or guardians AT ALL TIMES who are entirely responsible for their care. Children must not be left unattended by parents or guardians on any tour boat or whilst in the water at any time.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
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THANKS !!!!
This tour & the tour operators were absolutely exceptional!
I took my 7 & 9 year old children . The swims with the mantras made possible by such helpful supportive crew! Great lunch & entertainment by Jessie!
Best tour on our trip around Oz!
5stars.
Look forward to doing the tour again one day.
Shop and boat staff were approachable, friendly and knowledgeable.
The boat itself was clean and tidy and you could actually see through the glass bottom viewing window.
We recently went on the Marine Eco Safari in Coral Bay and I can’t express how lovely the crew were, so friendly and supportive as well as very informative and knowledgeable with the wildlife.
I’m still surprised by how much time we actually spent in the water and just how much of the reef we saw! Multiple close-up manta ray encounters (bucket list worthy experience) including a mating train of three swimming together, as well as seven turtles, a shark, and by far the healthiest looking coral I’ve seen in Ningaloo. We also saw several humpback whales from the boat deck.
The photographer did a really great job, but primarily took photos of just the wildlife (not many shots with people in) and was an additional charge - completely worth it though, I bought the package as the photos were stunning and reasonably priced!
The boat itself (Thunder) was really clean and comfortable, although it did bounce around on the waves quite a lot so remember to take sea sickness medication beforehand! Snorkelling equipment was high quality - no complaints!
Thank you! 🩵
They took a lot of care and attention towards the underwater life while allowing us to live this beautiful experience.
The dive was much beautiful with a lot of colors fishes.
Thanks a lot for that great experience
I would definitely recommend getting the photos from the professional photographer on board. Will was our photographer and he got some amazing photos. They found it hard to get him out of the water. The way the professionals edit and colour grade the photos makes it the best underwater photos we have.
Thanks so much.
Thankyou for an amazing memory with these beautiful sea creatures.
They are extremely ethical with the animals and the environment, making it very clear how important they are and setting strict rules regarding interaction with marine life.
They feed you all the time, and the food is high quality and absolutely delicious.
The staff are incredible, always helping you and explaining everything you need, as well as teaching you about the importance of animals such as sharks and sharing fascinating facts about the lives of whales.
We couldn’t have chosen better, and we would definitely repeat the experience because we were so happy!
If you are choosing between multiple options this is by far the best.
Had the most awesome day out. Swimming with the whales was better than you can imagine. The crew were awesome, boat was really nice. And a big shout out to Pedro (Ship Hand) for going out his way to make sure we got the best out of the day.
High recommend.
We were also really well fed, which was a great touch after such an exciting day in the water!
What I really appreciated is that a portion of the tour fee goes towards whale shark research. It felt amazing to know I was contributing to something important while having such a special, personal experience.
I’d jump at the chance to do this again and would highly recommend Coral Bay EcoTours to anyone heading up this way. If you’re looking for something to do — this is it!
The staff are amazing, enthusiastic, friendly and engaged. We were lucky to have a great group. The food was fresh and delicious and we never felt hungry.
We always felt safe, often a guide at the front and another at the rear keeping the gang together. They accommodated all levels of swimmers with some people using noodles. They were fantastic with the kids, didn't baby them and they had the same experience as everyone.
This is an expensive tour but includes transfers, gear hire, spotter plane, on board photographer with photos included, lunch/ snacks/ drinks and trustworthy staff.
Being able to buy high quality underwater photos and videos made the memories ofr the experience even better.
Thank you ???? so grateful
Cheers
Yes we did see manta Rays – but only just – see below for details.
We started the day being picked up at Coral bay and got transported to the jetty where we were transported to the boat.
It was quite ruff on the water – so I would have though the crew should have told us in advance to take precautions against sea sickness for those that suffer – such as sea sickness tablets – a number of people (including my wife) couldn’t enjoy the tour because they were sick – it was a waste of money for her.
We had an initial lengthy snorkel to view the reef and to make sure our snorkelling equipment was working without issue.
Then we went searching the Manta Rays.
They found one – so we went in the water for a short snorkel– I just saw the blurry outline of a Ray at the bottom of the ocean..
So we went again – and it was blurry again – then for about 20 seconds it came a little clearer and I could see some details.
Then we went a third time for a very short snorkel and I saw nothing. So I can say I saw a Ray - but I was hoping for more opportunities..
One of our guides now said the Rays behaviour suggests it will now come off the bottom and we will be able to see better – but for some reason – that is when they decided it was time for lunch.
And they also decided that we won’t do any more snorkels with Rays.
These short 3 x snorkels is substandard compared with 7 x lengthy snorkels I did with whale sharks out of Exmouth with another tour operator.
Later on we went for another lengthy snorkel on the reef (and they shared their knowledge of fish and coral species) and we followed some dolphins (but they didn’t know much about them).
So we seemed to have plenty of time for reef snorkels and following dolphins but we spend only a very short time with Manta Rays for a substandard experience due to water visibility – given the tour was billed as a Manta Ray tour I expect to spend a lot of time with them to maximise the possibility of a good swim/sighting of Rays – alas we didn’t.
I also have to point out the on board toilet was only a camping toilet in a storage room – we were given little guidance on how to use it and a number of people were confused about this.
Another thing to mention – photos are not complementary - they are an extra cost – but to view them you are given a link in an email – it takes you to an IT service called “dropbox”.
When I clicked on the link it asked me to sign up to pay for this IT service with payment details etc – I made sure there were no payment details and opted for a free trial – but using this IT services is a worry – you may need to consider if you want to take this risk of using this IT service before paying for photos.
Watching this huge fish slowly disappear into the depths of the ocean will stay with me for a long time. The crew running it were very professional, but clearly focused on the well-being of the reef and the animals that live there, which is as it should be.
The champagne at the end was a nice touch, as was including the photography in the ticket price. Cheers all.
My wife had never snorkelled before and was struggling to sleep the night before because of how anxious she was, and the team looked after her so well. She ended up putting away the noodle for the later snorkels and walked away saying she had had the very best day! All thanks to Coral Bay Eco Tours.
Just for context: a few days later, we did another snorkelling tour in WA with an extremely well-reviewed company and we did have a great day with them, but we ended the day by saying that the Coral Bay Eco Tours team completely outshone them!
Only negative thing is that the water is rather cold, so would have preferred to wear a shortie wetsuits, we were just swimming in our bikinis and by the end of the two swims I was shaking.

















