Shark Bay Touring Information
Park Passes
Entry to most national parks in Western Australia, including Cape Range and Francois Peron, costs A$10 per car (maximum eight people) per day. If you are planning to visit several, a Holiday Park Pass at A$35 per vehicle is worth the money and is valid for 4 weeks in all WA national parks. Obtain passes from the Department of Environment and Conservation (www.dec.wa.gov.au). The passes are not valid for Monkey Mia Dolphin Reserve.
Seeing dolphins
The main advantages to making the trek to Monkey Mia are that dolphin sightings are virtually guaranteed every day; they swim into the shallows and lie in the ultra-clear water, and you can watch them being fed and interacting with the rangers. But it can be crowded, and rangers strictly monitor behavior with the dolphins -- not the interactive frolic you might have imagined. The first sightings, generally around 8am, are the most popular and crowded, after which the tour groups all disappear.
Shotover
Observe the incredible marine life from the sailing maxi-catamaran Shotover (tel. 1800/241 481 in Australia, or 08/9948 1481; www.monkeymiawildsights.com.au). During a 3-hour dugong (sea-cow) cruise, you may see sharks, sea snakes, turtles, dolphins, and, of course, dugongs -- and possibly have a swim in the bay. Every passenger is given polarized sunglasses, which help you spot animals underwater. The cruise departs from Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort at 1pm daily and costs A$84 adults, half-price children 7 to 16, free 6 and under, and includes a free sunset cruise as well.
Hamelin Pool Historic Telegraph Station
The Hamelin Pool Historic Telegraph Station, 29km (18 miles) from the highway turnoff (tel. 08/9942 5905). A small museum houses old equipment, farming tools, and historical odds and ends from the 19th-century days when this was a telegraph repeater station. The A$5 admission fee to the museum includes an explanation of the stromatolites, rocky formations about a foot high that were created by the planet's first oxygen-breathing cells -- in other words, earth's first life.
Source: Frommers,com
Park Passes
Entry to most national parks in Western Australia, including Cape Range and Francois Peron, costs A$10 per car (maximum eight people) per day. If you are planning to visit several, a Holiday Park Pass at A$35 per vehicle is worth the money and is valid for 4 weeks in all WA national parks. Obtain passes from the Department of Environment and Conservation (www.dec.wa.gov.au). The passes are not valid for Monkey Mia Dolphin Reserve.
Seeing dolphins
The main advantages to making the trek to Monkey Mia are that dolphin sightings are virtually guaranteed every day; they swim into the shallows and lie in the ultra-clear water, and you can watch them being fed and interacting with the rangers. But it can be crowded, and rangers strictly monitor behavior with the dolphins -- not the interactive frolic you might have imagined. The first sightings, generally around 8am, are the most popular and crowded, after which the tour groups all disappear.
Shotover
Observe the incredible marine life from the sailing maxi-catamaran Shotover (tel. 1800/241 481 in Australia, or 08/9948 1481; www.monkeymiawildsights.com.au). During a 3-hour dugong (sea-cow) cruise, you may see sharks, sea snakes, turtles, dolphins, and, of course, dugongs -- and possibly have a swim in the bay. Every passenger is given polarized sunglasses, which help you spot animals underwater. The cruise departs from Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort at 1pm daily and costs A$84 adults, half-price children 7 to 16, free 6 and under, and includes a free sunset cruise as well.
Hamelin Pool Historic Telegraph Station
The Hamelin Pool Historic Telegraph Station, 29km (18 miles) from the highway turnoff (tel. 08/9942 5905). A small museum houses old equipment, farming tools, and historical odds and ends from the 19th-century days when this was a telegraph repeater station. The A$5 admission fee to the museum includes an explanation of the stromatolites, rocky formations about a foot high that were created by the planet's first oxygen-breathing cells -- in other words, earth's first life.
Source: Frommers,com