Coral Bay, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Coral Bay is a small town on the coast of Western Australia
, 1,200 km north of Perth
. It exists primarily for tourism, with a side industry of fishing. The electricity for the town is provided by a wind-diesel hybrid system.
The Ningaloo Reef
is a popular diving and snorkelling site with a large variety of coral and fish life and is one of the best places to see whale sharks and manta rays. The migration of the humpback whales
is also viewable from June to October.
The first Europeans to visit the area were the crew of the schooner Maud that landed in 1884. By 1896 a townsite reserve was gazetted to preserve the local jetty and storage facility. In 1915 the town was officially named "Mauds Landing". The town played a pivotal role to the development of the North West region acting as a supply depot for ingoing and outgoing goods.
Coral Bay was formally settled much later in 1968 and was named after a hotel that had been established in the area.
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, 1,200 km north of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. It exists primarily for tourism, with a side industry of fishing. The electricity for the town is provided by a wind-diesel hybrid system.
The Ningaloo Reef
Ningaloo Reef
Ningaloo Reef is a fringing coral reef located off the west coast of Australia, approximately 1200 km north of Perth. The reef is 260 km long and is Australia's largest fringing coral reef and the only large reef positioned very close to a landmass....
is a popular diving and snorkelling site with a large variety of coral and fish life and is one of the best places to see whale sharks and manta rays. The migration of the humpback whales
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
is also viewable from June to October.
The first Europeans to visit the area were the crew of the schooner Maud that landed in 1884. By 1896 a townsite reserve was gazetted to preserve the local jetty and storage facility. In 1915 the town was officially named "Mauds Landing". The town played a pivotal role to the development of the North West region acting as a supply depot for ingoing and outgoing goods.
Coral Bay was formally settled much later in 1968 and was named after a hotel that had been established in the area.