Monkey Mia travel guide

(For more information contact DEC, T9948 1366, or see the Monkey Mia Reserve page at http://www.naturebase.net. Day pass $6, children $2, family $12 (valid for 1 day and following morning). Family holiday pass $22 (valid for 4 weeks).)

Dolphins have lived in Shark Bay for millennia but the current encounters with humans only began in the 1960s when fishermen began to hand feed dolphins. The dolphins were happy to accept a free feed and visited settlements regularly. By the 1980s word began to spread of a place called Monkey Mia where people fed and swam with dolphins. Even though the place is incredibly remote, over 800 km from Perth and 330 km from Canarvon, the pull of wild dolphins is irresistible and has made the area internationally famous. Each year Monkey Mia seems to get busier and things are very different from the informal encounters of the past. Interaction with the dolphins is carefully managed to keep them wild and minimize the impact of hundreds of visitors a day. One of the best things to do in Monkey Mia is to leave the beach and take a boat cruise and see the dolphins in their own environment, as well as many other incredible animals such as dugongs and turtles. Despite the number of visitors, Monkey Mia itself is just a small low-key resort. The visitor centre overlooking the beach where the dolphins swim into shore has displays on the biology and behaviour of dolphins and shows videos on marine life.