Monkey Mia, Perth

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It has to be one of the coolest things I've ever done, standing in shallow water on a gorgeous beach, whilst wild dolphins come into inspect whats going on, and then get picked to hand feed them - unbelievable.

Monkey Mia is a conservation and science centre that caters for the dolphins that live around the bay, it was started quite a while ago by a woman on th pier apparently, who hand fed the dolphins until they had enough confidence to come into the bay to be hand fed.

The accommodation there was great, decent sized rooms, only a couple of pubs mind, but still a good crack, though this might also be due to the fact that I was on a bus full of lovely young ladies as well, but no comment.

You can actually volunteer to work at the centre, fill in an application form and be allocated a date to work for the site for a week or two, and be the person in the water dishing out the fish to the tourists.

Once the feeding is over, (usually takes a morning), you have the opportunity to take a catamaran out into the bay, where if you're lucky you can see Dolphins, rays and other creatures of the deep, all in all, a pretty damn fine experience.

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Every morning (with a few days' exception), wild dolphins swim up to the beach and stay for about 30-40 minutes. During this time, one of the staff members from the resort gives a talk with information about the dolphins, then they pick out members of the public to feed the dolphins. The dolphins are fed up to 3 times a day, up to 1pm. On each occasion, only 4 dolphins are fed, and the amount that are fed to them is very small, like a snack, to encourage them to continue to hunt for food in the wild by themselves. As the dolphins are wild, you are not allowed to touch them. Even when you're feeding the dolphins, you're only holding the fish to it's mouth, so you don't get any contact with it.

The actual times that the dolphins swim up is not fixed, but the staff do recommend that you be out on the beach by about 7.30am to catch sight of them.

During the rest of the day, you may find dolphins swimming about in the same areas that you are swimming in. There was one time when we hired a glass-bottom boat (self-driven) to view the fishes, but some dolphins swam up to us, so we cruised beside them. That was such a buzz!

There aren't many facilities on this resort - you'll find a bar that serves food, a cafe and a restaurant, a massage room, a watersports equipment hire shop and a convenience store. The nearest town from this resort is called Denham which is 29km away.

There are several types of accomadation available to suit different budgets. We stayed in a room in the Dolphin Lodge. The room was clean but basic - there was a TV, a fridge, a double bed, and en-suite with walk-in shower. There was no hairdryer.

Wild dolphins swim in of their own accord to frolic with vistors. It is actually quite a lovely beach where large groups of wild dolphins can swim very close to you. It is one of the most beautiful encounters you can have with wild dolphins as they accept you in their environment.

A ABSOLUTE MUST! IT IS FAR BUT YOU MUST GO THERE!
On a beautiful beach there are large groups of wild dolphins that were never chased by humans. They are very curious and swim very close to you, even sometimes allowing you to play with them. They are totally free, not domesticated in any way, and it is one of the most beautiful encounter you can do with animals, as they accept you in their environment.
I hope this place won't become too crowdy, and it is good that you have to take time and effort to go there, Everybody must respect this place forever as it is definitely unique.

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We went on a 2 hour Catamaran ride in Shark Bay. It was fantastic!

We saw dolphins, sharks and giant sea turtles.

Visit Monkey Mia where the Dolphins head into the beach everyday to be feed.
You're able to get up close to these amzing creatures.