Whale Shark Tours Menu
We provide almost everything you need for this tour, all you’ll need is what you wear to go swimming, a towel, sun protection (hat, sunglasses, shirt) and something to cover up in case it’s cooler. You may also want to bring your wallet or credit card if you’re thinking of upgrading to a dive or grabbing a photo package! If you think you may need it, seasickness tablets from a pharmacy are a great idea. Most importantly, bring your sense of adventure and excitement!
Our booking office at Shop 4, 1 Kennedy Street in Exmouth is open seven days a week from 9am until 5:30pm. Our friendly office staff will talk you through our tours, give you ideas of things to do during your visit to town and let you know all the information about the Ningaloo Reef.
Bookings are essential as many tours during the season are booked out months beforehand. Please ensure you book early to get your preferred dates to avoid disappointment. Book online or call our office +61 99494777 to make a booking during office hours.
Our office is not open 24/7 and we are unlikely to be able to deal with any last minute emergencies that occur after our office closes until our tour commences the next day.
If you have an urgent enquiry or issue to do with your booking the next day (i.e. injury, sickness, change of pick-up location) and it’s after 5:30pm, please send an email to [email protected]. Our crew will usually check emails in the morning before the tour at around 7am, and will then get in contact with you if they get your email.
Please do not leave a phone message if urgent as phone messages are not checked until 9am.
Our crew have considerable experience working with a range of disabilities in the water to give our guests a great experience swimming with whale sharks! Our team will work with you to figure out the best way to assist you during your tour.
Our vessel, Seazone and our tour bus do not have wheelchair access and a small boat is required for transfer from the jetty to the vessel. You may need to be physically assisted to get onboard the bus, tender and vessel. Please contact us before booking to discuss the nature of your disability so we can ensure you have a safe and enjoyable experience.
If a carer is required for assistance, they can come free of charge. This needs to be organised with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, so plenty of notice is needed.
Guests are more than welcome to bring their own cameras* – from disposable cameras, to GoPros and even professional set-ups! Please be aware that cameras (especially big set-ups) can create significant drag underwater and make it harder for you to keep up with the whale shark.
We thoroughly recommend NOT taking your camera on your first whale shark swim. You can feel overwhelmed with information on entry and then overtaken by the awe of swimming next to the biggest fish in the sea! Often, cameras are not even used during this swim and can be a distraction.
Let our professional onboard photographer take the photos for you! You can take home your favourite photo of theirs for FREE as part of your tour! Or you can buy the complete photo package, which includes all photos and a priority photo of you next to the whale shark for just $50 per person.
*Our licensing prohibits the use of flash photography, selfie sticks and touching the whale sharks.
You will be advised of your pick-up location when booking your tour. Please update us with any accommodation changes or if you don’t know where you will be picked up from well before the day of your tour.
The bus begins guest pickups around town at 7am. If for any reason you are lost or are unsure where we are picking you up, please meet at the front of the RAC Exmouth Cape Holiday Park at 7:10am sharp. Do not be late because if we are not scheduled to meet you there, the bus may depart without you. The only pick-up location outside of town will be Yardie Homestead at 7:40am.
Guests driving themselves or camping in the Cape Range National Park will meet the bus at the Tantabiddi boat ramp at 7:50am sharp.
If you do not arrive at your listed pick-up location by the scheduled time of pick-up, our crew will attempt to contact you via your provided mobile number not once but twice. Our tour bus will wait at the agreed pick-up locations no longer than 10 minutes after scheduled pick-up time.
If you still have not arrived at the designated pick-up location and we cannot get in contact with you, our tour bus needs to leave to continue our pick-ups so we can run our tour, and you may well miss your tour.
If you have missed your pickup by more than 10 minutes, you have the option to either:
- Make your own way out to Tantabiddi boat ramp to meet the bus when it arrives. The journey is around 35 minutes and the vessel will depart Tantabiddi around 8.15am, so to be able to join your tour you can be no later than this.
- Come out again on our next available tour to try again on a standby basis. If there are no seats available at 4:30pm the day before our next tour, you will unfortunately forfeit your booking without any refund or voucher being payable.
It’s important to note that many phone networks do not have coverage in Exmouth, which means you may not be able to make or receive calls whilst in town. If opting for an Australian sim card, it is best to purchase Telstra, which has coverage all over Exmouth (or Boost, which runs off the same network). Optus has some coverage through town, but it is very limited. If you do not have an Australian sim, please ensure you check your emails regularly in the week leading up to your tour.
We strongly recommend paying for your booking when you book.
Alternatively, we do accept a minimum 20% deposit to secure your booking on a whale shark tour, with you then agreeing that full payment for your tour will be charged to your credit card automatically 21 days before your tour departure date. If payment cannot be taken from your credit card at this time, our bookings team will contact you using the information provided on your booking to organise an alternate payment method. We will hold your booking pending payment for 72 hours this date. If payment is not received by this time, we will unfortunately need to resell the ticket that you have not fully paid for, to ensure we don’t needlessly lose money. No refund is payable in this situation.
Please note up to a 1.5% surcharge applies to Visa and Mastercard payments received. Due to high fees, we do not accept payment via American Express or Diners Club.
What if my tour is cancelled?
Tour cancellations by us are rare but can happen. Some reasons for your tour being cancelled may include:
- Bad weather
Our crew are constantly watching weather patterns, which can be hard to monitor in remote Western Australia. If conditions look unsafe, we will cancel ahead of time. However, we may make a last-minute decision to cancel the morning of your tour after physically assessing the weather conditions.
- Bad visibility
Whale Shark tours require good visibility to be successful. Large swells and strong currents may suspend particles and reduce the water’s visibility, making in-water interactions dangerous.
- Not reaching minimum numbers
To ensure we cover the costs of running a tour, our tours require a minimum number of guests to run.
If a cancellation is likely for your tour, our office staff will let you know via text the day before your tour. If we need to cancel for whatever reason, we will make every effort to contact you to let you know. If we cancel on the morning of your tour, our crew will contact you between 6.30am – 7.00am. It is best to have your mobile phones switched on during this time, just in case. If we are unable to reach you, we will drive around our pickup locations to inform you. There is no charge to you if we must cancel due to the above reasons.
Our sincerest apologies in advance for the inconvenience if this proves necessary. However, your safety is our most important responsibility at all times.
Why do I need to sign a waiver?
All guests are required to sign a waiver of liability to participate in a whale shark tour. This should be completed prior to your tour date or on the bus the morning of your tour. The waiver is not only designed to protect us, but it is for your safety as well. Please read and understand everything before signing.
We respect your right to decline signing the waiver. However, this will result in you not being able to enter the water at any time during the tour and does not remove your obligations stated in our Cancellations and Conditions policy.
Check out our FAQ section of the website for more information.
