The season’s first humpback whales have arrived at Ningaloo, with sightings recorded off both Coral Bay and Exmouth in the past week. Coral Bay Eco Tours ran its first humpback swim of the year, and Ningaloo Discovery logged its first sighting off Exmouth, confirming that the migration has reached Western Australia’s Coral Coast.
An estimated 45,000 humpback whales travel along the WA coastline every year, making it one of the largest whale migrations on the planet. Between July and November, they move north from the Antarctic to breed and calve, passing close enough to shore for visitors to watch them breach, slap their tails, and nurse their young.
Tours started running from Coral Bay on Wednesday, with Exmouth operators due to begin in August. Ningaloo is the only place in Western Australia where visitors can get in the water with the whales on a guided swim tour, in the crystal-clear shallows of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef.
“Every humpback whale swim is unique, and in my opinion, can be one of the most mutualistic interactions you can have in the water,” said Ellie Farquhar, photographer for Coral Bay Eco Tours. “They are such intelligent mammals, so every successful swim indicates their willingness to interact with us. This makes humpback whale swims feel like such a privilege.”
Two giants in the same trip
Humpback season is opening just as whale shark season winds down, and the two overlap for a narrow window. Whale shark tours run out of Coral Bay until around the end of June and continue from Exmouth into August, which means a single visit in the coming weeks could deliver an encounter with both the world’s largest fish and one of its largest mammals.
“Few wildlife experiences compare to the moment you encounter a humpback whale in the wild,” said Kelly Leonard, Marketing and Tourism Development Manager at Australia’s Coral Coast. “It’s one of those experiences that stays with you long after you’ve left the water. The overlap of humpback whale season with whale shark season makes this one of the most incredible times to experience Ningaloo and its iconic Big 5.”
The Big Five here means whale sharks, humpback whales, manta rays, turtles, and dugongs. Ningaloo is one of the few places on Earth where all five share a single stretch of coast. And if you’d prefer to stay out of the water, whale-watching cruises run throughout the season from Exmouth, Coral Bay, Kalbarri, and Geraldton.
What else the season brings
The Humpback whales are only one of many reasons to make the trip up the Coral Coast.
Cape Range National Park runs along the western edge of the cape, a landscape of limestone gorges and canyons that pairs naturally with a whale trip in the cooler months, when the walking is more comfortable, and there are fewer people. Charles Knife Canyon is one of the most picturesque spots in the region, cutting a dramatic line into the range, and the ridge road delivers long views back across the cape to the ocean.
The winter dark skies are worth the drive, too. With almost no light pollution that far north, Exmouth and Coral Bay give you some of the clearest stargazing in the country, an easy way to fill the evenings between days on the water.
The Coral Coast begins at Cervantes, just under two hours’ drive north of Perth, and runs 1,100 kilometres up to Exmouth. It can be driven in one stretch along the Coral Coast Highway or reached by air, with flights from Perth into Learmonth landing around 25 minutes from Exmouth.
Book ahead
Demand through winter and spring runs high, and the swim tours, in particular, fill up fast. With the season now open and the whale shark overlap adding to the pull, securing tours and accommodation early is the safer bet.
