Day 62: Coral Bay

 The advice about the water quality turned out to be very sage advice indeed. The supply is hot bore water which is salty, has a touch of Pilbara iron in it, and a sulphur fragrance, probably not great for the caravan water system.

Bill's Bay, the nearest water to us is for swimming and snorkelling only, but we are told the best snorkelling is further South in the direction of the boast ramp. We use the morning to check out the snorkelling and fishing areas as it is low tide at around 11.30 am, so this afternoon should be good for both if the wind dies down.


The boat ramp is first class and a few boats are launched whilst we are there



There are also diagrams showing where you can and can't fish

The reef is quite close to the shore here and there are channel markers to guide boats out to the outer reef. Lot's of boats on moorings look like they are tourist charter boats.



The shoreline is pristine with incredibly clear shallow water and the colour changes to deep blue as depth increases.







A very scenic coastline




Another option for fishing is Maud's Landing which is on the other side of town. We head back into town as we need to go past the the airstrip to get there. Along the way we discover the Coral Bay Post Office.


Coral Bay Post Office




Maud's Landing

This beach will be worth a try for fishing, as there is a steep drop off.  We were there at low tide.

With all of this knowledge we go home to the caravan ark to have lunch and consider our afternoon options. The wind has not abated yet, so we will take that into account.

It is too windy for snorkelling, so we decide to go back to the boat ramp late afternoon to try our luck at fishing as high tide is at 5.40 pm.



Fishing diligently near the boat ramp


I was not alone


The only reward for our fishing was a queenfish, which no doubt will end up in a curry. We can't complain, because we saw nothing else edible landed in the time we were there. Like all of this coast, if you had a boat you would be having a great feed of fish every day. Fishing from  the shore is tough because it is very shallow and the best fish are out near the reef.


The sad Queenie on the cleaning table

It was dark by the time we got back to the cleaning tables near the caravan park and we ended up have a late BBQ dinner.

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