Key facts
- Shark Bay is home to 10 per cent of the world’s dugong population; as well as a number of other marine and land animals including dolphins, whales, manta rays, turtles, sharks and rare marsupials.
- Ningaloo Reef, covering 5,000 sq km of ocean, is famous for whale shark diving and in Shark Bay you can hand-feed wild dolphins. Australia’s second largest marine park, Ningaloo Reef has corals that are often just a few metres from shore.
- The Great Barrier Reef area abounds with wildlife, including dugong and green turtles, varieties of dolphins and whales, more than 1,500 species of fish, 4,000 types of molluscs and more than 200 species of birdlife.
- It is estimated that as many as 80 per cent of marine species found in southern Australian waters are found nowhere else.
- Australia’s marine environment is home to 4,000 fish species, 500 coral species in the northern reefs alone, 50 types of marine mammal and a wide range of seabirds.
Full story
Australia’s vast coastline gives it an unparalleled array of aquatic treasures and plenty of opportunity to interact with amazing marine life. Go swimming with the biggest fish in the world, snorkel on pristine coral reefs just a few metres offshore and see colourful fish, rare turtles and migrating humpback whales.
At a number of places along our long coastline pods of friendly dolphins visit the shore almost every morning to be hand fed. You can see them leaping in the air and feeding in the shallows of sheltered bays.
Apart from the wonders of the world’s longest coral reef on our east coast and the world’s most accessible reef experience on the other, our coastline includes spectacular stretches of sea-carved cliffs, sheltered bays where whales give birth, splendid beaches and a wealth of marine life.
Go snorkelling, diving, fishing or boating. Either way you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking scenery, native wildlife and distant horizons.
Take a wildlife cruise for an up close view of dolphins and rare dugong. Or indulge the opportunity to swim and interact with wild dolphins.
Southern Right whales pass along our western, southern and Victorian coastlines for their annual migration, while humpback whales are prolific all up and down the eastern seaboard at popular viewing spots such as Hervey Bay, Byron Bay, Eden and Warrnambool in Victoria. It is now fairly common for migrating Humpback whales to call in at Sydney Harbour during the winter months, much to the delight of locals. Watch them from a boat cruise or from special land-based viewing platforms in the south-west of our continent.
In Australia, you’ll find unspoilt nature at its best – bone-white beaches, turquoise waters and amazing coral reefs, just metres from the shore on our west coast and running down our coastline and surrounding our tropical islands on the east.
On the islands that ring our continent you’ll find diverse marine life – everything from turtles hatching to penguins parading.
Australia is a land full of powerful experiences just waiting to be discovered. Encounters with our incredible wildlife on land and in the water will truly open your eyes wide in astonishment.
On the islands that ring our continent you’ll find diverse marine life – everything from turtles hatching to penguins parading.
Uniquely Australian
- Swim with wild dolphins in their natural environment, a rare and exhilarating experience. Dolphins are common along our entire
coastline, but Western Australia, Baird Bay and Port Phillip Bay are the places for these unforgettable encounters.
- Take a whale watching boat or sightseeing trip from one of our many coastal towns geared up for this activity. Or catch a glimpse from
beach or cliff top viewing areas on dry land. The experience of seeing these gigantic creatures rising from the ocean is unforgettable.
- Visit Port Stephens on the NSW coast, a barefoot paradise, complete with bottlenose dolphins, passing whales, fabulous seafood and
great diving right off the beach at Nelson Bay.
- Dive or snorkel the ribbon reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. June and July is the perfect time to spot dwarf minke whales. Unlike other
whale species these inquisitive creatures actively seek encounters with divers and snorkellers.
- Tour the turtle rehabilitation centre at Reef HQ, the world’s largest living coral reef aquarium. Located in Townsville, northern
Queensland, it’s the only public aquarium in the world where corals have spawned.
- See the spectacle of sea turtles heave themselves ashore at Mon Repos just north of Bundaberg, and bury their eggs in the sand of
Australia’s most accessible turtle beach.