GypsyGal

Monkey Mia is a place on the west side of Australia, 12 hours drive north of Perth. It’s out of the way, there’s nothing there, except the dolphins.

This is a place where the wild dolphins swim into shore every day to “hang out” with people. Or so they say.

I found it over-touristed and disappointing to see 600 people lined up in knee deep water to see 3 dolphins come by and watch 6 of those 600 get to drop a fish in a dolphin’s mouth.

If you decide to go anyway, my advice is to find a way to stay overnight — the tour buses don’t come til 9 in the morning or later — the most awesome thing I saw came just after dawn, when the sky was gold and pink, the water sparkling, and the dolphins chased small silver fish who leapt for the sky, closely followed by hungry dolphins.

If you’re not going just for the dolphins, it’s an amazing place. Be sure to take a natural history tour led by an Australian aboriginal.

By the way, I found the Australian residents on the west side of the country (e.g. Perth) much less friendly to tourists than those in Sydney, Melbourne or Cairns. Let me know if you have a similar (or different) experience. Monkey MiaMonkey Mia