karlos

Hi,

Has anyone been to the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury? We were planning on stopping off there when we are over in Perth in November.

http://www.dolphindiscovery.com.au/main.asp

Any comments greatly appreciated.

We went to Rockingham Dolphins last year and had a great time

http://www.dolphins.com.au/English/index.html

You can swim out in the bay with wild dolphins. It's up to them if they want to come and play. A lot better than some of the places you see on TV where they are kept in small pools.

Regards
Karl.

hevs

we went, but they were shy that day!
Have you heard of Monkey Mia, the dolphins come into feed and then play in the sea. The other great thing is the seas so warm up there its like a bath!

karlos

Hi,

Yes, my wife's very keen to go to Monkey Mia (it's one of the things she must do before she dies!!!!), but we've got limited time on this trip. Maybe when we are over there on a more permanent basis we'll be able to get up there. Have you been?

We are heading down to Margret River for a night so we thought we'd stop off in Bunbury. Hopefully they won't be shy

Thanks for the advice.

Best Regards
Karl.

hevs

Hi Karl,
yes i've been and its something we are doing again when we go for good
Margaret river is lovely, we loved Pemberton, but its quite a way down.
Hope you have a great time
Heather

Loopy

We went to Bunbury three years ago now to see the dolphins. Went in April and we were told it was a bit cold for them to come in to the shore then (should be okay in November). However, went out on a boat from there and saw them, they were brilliant came close to the boat and were great fun to watch.

Loopy

karlos

Thanks for the info Heather / Loopy.

It's supposed to be a fact finding trip in November, but we are trying to fit some "fun" things in too.

We wanted to get down to Margaret River last time we were in Perth, but didn't have the time.

Thanks again.
Karl.

terryg

maybe they dont like horses

Stoney

Monkey mia is great,we went in Nov 2000.
Some good packages on www.visitwa.com.au

jane of devon

Watching the dolphins off Bunbury is magical, we went at about 6am in the morning, lovely way to start the day. Very peaceful atmosphere there.

annb

i have stopped at Bunbury every time I go to Margaret river and the dolphins still havent shown themselves. The Discovery centre has changed heaps over the last couple of years, you have to pay to get in now but its not expensive and quite informative - now if only the dolphins came in more often it would be perfect. Monkey Mia is getting extremely commercial now and the crowds make it difficult to see and get close to the dolphins these days so its a long way to go for not much, except of course the weather !!

dotty

Tourism here V commercialised. Heard heaps of people going on whale watching tours and seeing nothing. Some things are seasonal too, Australia Zoo is very good, but if you want to see crocs dont go in winter, they sleep when its cold, really disapointing for little kids if all they see is a fast asleep croc.
Dreamworld/Seaworld places V expensive, just under $200 for a family. Wait till winter and get the half price coupons off the shopper dockets. Anything with Big at the front of it is usually just useless, nothing more than a concrete prawn or someting on the side of the highway.

walaj

you don't have to go all the way to Oz to see dolphins. They were in the harbour at the bow of the boat most days (for a week) 2 weeks ago in Salcombe (except for the few days I turned up for!!)

Not that impressed by Monkey Mia - research centre talk was informative, but the gathering of people to feed 3 of the dolphins I felt was very staged. What I most enjoyed was watching a dolphin chase a fish, back & forth, into shallower water, rather than feeding a dead fish to a dolphin. If you insist on going there, then ensure you are there early in the morning before the bus loads of people arrive.

dotty

For a really natural aussie experience, try swimming outside of the shark nets, take a bucket of fish and drop them into the water as you swim, its really beautiful especially just at dusk.

Anon E Mouse

If you're going all the way upto Monkey Mia (tip: get there real early, the first feeds start about 7am), you really should carry on to Exmoth. In contrast to Dotty's post, the West is very diff. to the East in terms of tourism

Having said that MM was v. touristy - it's on the backpacker route - but the Shark Bay area is worth a few days. Shell beach is amazing.

However, there are tons of good places to see aquatic wildlife here (inc AQWA). Rottnest is great for snorkelling and diving, Rockingham's dolphins have already been mentioned and even Cottesloe has a fair number of crayfish if you look hard enough.

Exmouth. Well 300 bucks is a lot to snorkel with the worlds largest fish but I'd recommend it. And Turquoise Bay has reef sharks, turtles, reef fish and a rather wicked rip.....

Oh, and remember, Whale Sharks are stripey and harmless and Tiger Sharks are spotty and eat people. Or is it the other way round?