The best, most sustainable place to snorkel with whale sharks? It’s Australia’s Ningaloo
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
The Ningaloo Coast is where outback, reef and ranges meet. Here, on the northwestern fringes of Australia, 745 miles above Perth on a rocky thumb of a promontory that juts into the Indian Ocean, great ochre canyons and stretches of flat, red earth slip into water that’s as bright blue as a kingfisher. This is also where marine giants meet — among them whale sharks, humpbacks, southern right whales and orcas, and mighty mantas with 26ft wingspans.
These oceanic giants, turtles and some 700 species of fish await just offshore, often within paddling distance of the beach’s windblown dunes. The latter form part of the remote Cape Range National Park, but Ningaloo steals the show. As the planet’s largest fringing coral reef, it grows from the shoreline for 160 miles — and it is, perhaps unsurprisingly, among the best places for snorkelling in the world.
The experience
There’s something peaceful about joining a whale shark in the water. It starts with the heavy silence of the open ocean and the rhythmic kicking of your flippers; the limitless blue that swells beyond your mask and the steady rising and falling of the tides. Until, without fanfare, a great shadow materialises below.
Larger than an elephant, it heaves up from the depths, moving at speed yet so languorously that it appears in slow motion. As it passes, there are a few moments to take in the rounded hump of its dorsal fin and count the pearly white spots splashed across its flanks. Every moment of existence in the presence of a whale shark is a gift — and once it’s had enough, a few lazy swipes of its colossal tail and it’ll be gone in a flash.
Ningaloo is home to around 300 whale sharks in all, which migrate to Western Australia every year between mid-March and August. Photograph by Journey Beyond
Despite their size, and the reputation of sharks in popular culture, they are harmless — a danger only to the plankton and krill that make up their primary food source. Ningaloo is home to around 300 of them in all, which migrate to Western Australia every year between mid-March and August. This is one of the best-managed destinations to see them, with a recent study by Perth’s Murdoch University showing encounters with snorkellers have had a negligible impact on the local population. The region’s handful of small, responsible operators like Live Ningaloo are the reason: snorkelling sessions are directed by marine scientist guides, who meticulously instruct swimmers on how to keep disturbance to a minimum — allowing the creatures to proceed as if you were never there.
The stay
Sixteen low-slung, sand-hued safari tents blend in with the spinifex-tangled dunes that make up the setting for Sal Salis, the only fixed accommodation within the remote Cape Range National Park, sitting within 164ft of the reef. Nature takes centre stage: seabirds wheel through sunny skies, grasses whisper in the wind and the reef amplifies the thumps and hisses of the sea swell.
Sal Salis is the only fixed accommodation within the remote Cape Range National Park. Days are lazy, best spent swinging in a hammock or snorkelling over the corals. Wi-fi and phone coverage are both nil. Photograph by Journey Beyond
Days are lazy here, best spent swinging in a hammock, snorkelling over the corals or conducting whistled duets with the resident cockatoos. Wi-fi and phone coverage are both nil; instead, there are board games to play, beaches to wander and other travellers to chat to over the spoils of the self-service bar. Everything at the camp is included, with daily guided adventures at sea — via kayak, stand-up paddleboard or snorkel — and hikes to the canyons that carve up the surrounding outback.
Meals are seasonal and crafted with local ingredients — from nutty halloumi salads to meaty, barbecued ‘bugs’ (slipper lobsters) — all served communally around long, candlelit tables. Sal Salis is completely off-grid, collecting rainwater for the en suite showers and constructed on raised boardwalks to minimise soil erosion. Almost 100% of its power comes from the sun; at night, some of Australia’s darkest skies unfurl.
A wilderness tent at Sal Salis costs from £630 per person per night, based on two sharing, including meals, drinks, equipment and most activities, excluding snorkelling. Two-night minimum stay. A full-day whale shark snorkelling tour with Live Ningaloo costs from £430 per person. Packages can be booked via Journey Beyond.
Published in the July/August 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
