Overview
- Features: Pods of wild bottlenose dolphins visiting the Money Mia beach daily
- Opening Times: 7:30am to 12pm, daily
- Best Time to Visit: September to November
- Duration: 30 minutes
- Travelled By: Rental car
- Cost: Daily Pass: $8 adult, $3 child, $6 concession, $16 family
- Address: Monkey Mia, Shark Bay, Western Australia
- Type: Wildlife
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Summary
Monkey Mia is one the best spots in Australia to get up close and personal with wild bottlenose dolphins without leaving land. Not only are you guaranteed to see them, you could get lucky and be hand picked to feed these cute and friendly creatures. It will surely be a memory you will cherish forever.
Monkey Mia Dolphins
Monkey Mia is world renowned for pods of wild bottlenose dolphins that have visited the shoreline for over 40 years. A few lucky hand picked visitors are allowed to feed the dolphins under the supervision of rangers. These dolphins ranging from 2 to 10 on each visit arrive around three times in the morning from 8am till noon.
The first visit at 8am is extremely busy and it’s hard to get a glimpse of the dolphins from behind a huge crowd. So staying back for the second and third visit is worth the wait, however there is a chance that they might not return during the day. We were not lucky enough to be picked to hand feed the dolphins, however we got to see them a couple more times during the day without a crowd, and it was a real privilege to get a face-to-face encounter with these playful and intelligent creatures.
One of the rangers had a microphone and he introduced the visiting dolphins to the crowd. He gave us their names, their history, their behaviour patterns and their relation to each other, if any. They usually belong the same pod and are usually belong to the same family.
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During our two-day stay, we were visited by a couple of mothers who had recently given birth and had come to show off their babies to us. These mothers had themselves been babies when they first visited the Monkey Mia shore over 20 years ago.
It is truly amazing to know that this tradition has continued for nearly half a decade and will probably continue for years to come.
A daily pass is required to enter the Monkey Mia Reserve where the Monkey Mia beach and Resort is located. This fee is not paid to the Resort but paid direct to Department of Environment and Converstaion for the continual care, welfare, management and research of the Monkey Mia dolphins.
Tip
The line of cars entering the Resort to visit the dolphins can stretch all the way to the main road. If you are not staying at the Resort, it is advisable to either make your way there before 7:30am or after the crowds have left about an hour later.
