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Shark Bay

The hinterland area of the Gascoyne includes attractions such as the town of Carnarvon, Mount Augustus, and the magnificent Kennedy Ranges.

Shark Bay itself is located 900 km north of Perth and the bay alone stretches over 8000 square kilometres. This area is particularly famous its diverse ecology. More than 10,000 Dugongs call Shark Bay home. Large seagrass meadows with more than ten different species of seagrass provide plenty of food for those amazing mammals and a sheltered habitat for other marine life. Turtles can be found in the shallow waters in the bay and plenty of turtle nesting areas have been identified. Large numbers of people visit Monkey Mia each year to interact with the dolphins that come right up to the beach to be hand fed by a lucky few tourists. At a few locations, such as Hamelin Pool, the world’s oldest organisms can be found: cyanobacteria, primitive life forms that inhabited the world 3.5 billion years ago. These single cell organisms form structures called stromatolites.

Text courtesy of Western Australian Tourism Commission - www.westernaustralia.net

In the Directory

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Underwater Recommendations

Shark bay has a high diversity of marine life. Dugongs are regularly encountered whilst diving. Other marine life: lionfish, plenty of reef sharks, sea turtles, lionfish, sea snakes, angelfish, rock lobsters and much more. Although the Bay is quite shallow and there are a few shore dives, most of the better diving locations within the bay are reached by boat. The Northern part of the Bay can also be accessed from Carnarvon.

Getting There

Shark Bay is located 900 km North of Perth, 155 km off the North West Coastal Highway. Bus services are available from Perth.