Friends reunited

Coral Bay is becoming a renowned holiday destination favoured for its calm crystal waters, snorkelling opportunities from the beach, lazy relaxation spots and reef tours on small cruise boats. It’s been a controversial ride with the development of beachside properties taking many years after an original decision to keep the area low-key. A few key people have looked after its interests and now look to have large scale accommodation and holiday options in their firm sight.

It sits approx 1000km North of Perth which for Aussies isn’t anything to worry about especially given the straight, clear roads up the coast and a 110kph speed limit meaning its only 10-12hours away, perfect for those long public holiday weekends.

Personally, I wasn’t that impressed. The reef and coral in the bay appears to have been severely damaged requiring deeper forays to find something worth seeing. To be honest, I’d not spent long investigating the area for best spots and I’m not a qualified marine biologist to really comment on the state of the reef but I had been to Exmouth days before which was miles better in terms of atmosphere and snorkelling sights.

However, saying that I had a great time in Coral Bay for two reasons; Jon & Kay, friends from Broome who had overcome their van troubles and literally pounced on me when I came out of the water. It was a great surprise and made Coral Bay 100x better for it.

After a quick cuppa and ginger nut catching up, I checked into the same caravan park and wandered off to get some beers. Needless to say the night was long and head ached especially for Kay who thought that an early morning snorkel might not be the best idea.

In addition to seeing the Isle of Wighters, a spooky message welcomed me when we got back to the van. My name had been spelt out in the sand next to Stan’s front wheel and after Jon & Kay being adamant they weren’t responsible was a little freaked. Fortunately it was only a few minutes before another two friendly faces appeared – Kate and Adam Jolley – part of the Jolley family who I’d shared a layby with several nights prior and who I’d already bumped into in Exmouth. It’s amazing how recognisable Stan is becoming!!!