Dolphin Feeding Experience | National Park Fees Apply | Dolphin Feeding Between 7.45am – 12noon | Restaurant Nearby | Accommodation Nearby
Tens of thousands of tourists head toMonkey Mia every year for the chance to see dolphins up close and in theirnatural habitat. The dolphins of Monkey Mia visit daily all year round, they are not seasonal. Monkey Mia isn’t just about the dolphins; there is also acaravan park, a resort, restaurant, pearl farm tours, wildlife cruises, camelrides, and much more. Monkey Mia is located just 25km from Denham in WA’s Gascoyne region.
National Park entry fees applywhich can be paid for at the gatehouse on entry. The fees are different tonormal national park passes, so annual passes and normal day passes cannot beused. To find out more about entry fees head to https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/monkey-mia
In planning our day trip to Monkey Mia fromDenham, I found it difficult to find any comprehensive information about the dolphinsand the best times to visit. I just happened upon a Facebook post by the SharkBay Visitor Centre that advised it was best to see the dolphins daily at7:45am.
We arrived at Monkey Mia at 7:30am and soon found outthat the dolphins are fed up to a maximum of 3 times a day and only between7:45am and 12pm. The dolphins are only fed when they go into a particular zonein the water. To keep the dolphins as wild as possible, feedings aren’tscheduled. This means feeding times each day are highly variable. The dolphinsmight only come for 1 feed during the time period or all 3 feedings could becompleted by 9:30am. Below is a photo of the times the dolphins had been fed onthe previous days
The dolphins were already in the feedingzone at 7:30am on the day we visited, but because the feedings are restrictedto after 7:45am, the dolphins had swam away before feeding time started. It wasstill a good opportunity to get a good view of the dolphins as they swam andsplashed about.
Visitors are asked to wait on the boardwalknear the entrance prior to the first feeding and are then instructed by awildlife officer when it is time to head down to the feeding zone. All therules about interacting with the dolphins and the different swimming/watercraft zones on the beach are clearly explained by the wildlife officer over theloud speakers. We were also given a brief history of the Monkey Mia dolphins.
We waited on the beach for the dolphins tocome back for about 40 minutes before deciding to grab some breakfast at thenearby Boughshed Restaurant .
The restaurant offers both a buffetbreakfast and A la Carte breakfast menu. We sat outside on one of the manytables and decided to order from the menu. We had to wait ages for our food toarrive, and what was meant to be a quick brekky while waiting for the dolphinsto come back, turned into quite a long affair. It was lucky we were sittingoutside and the kids could spend their time running around on the grass whilewe waited.
We were about half way through our breakfastwhen the dolphins returned. Hubby took the kids down to the water to watchwhile I guarded our half eaten meals.
Downat the dolphins, 3 people were chosen at random (from ~300 people that hadgathered to watch) to feed the 3 dolphins that had come in. All other visitorsare asked to remain at ankle depth and not venture further into the water. All up, it was about 10 minutes of feedingthe dolphins and watching them interact.
After the dolphin feeding and once we’dfinished our breakfast, we headed down to the beach to spend the rest of theday swimming and fishing. The beach at Monkey Mia is very sheltered which meansit is nice and calm, perfect for young children to swim at. The dolphins didn’tcome back to the feeding zone again that day, but we did spot them another twotimes just a short distance from where we were swimming,
One of the highlights of the day was apelican that decided to camp out next to us while we were fishing and try tograb the fish we were catching. So cheeky!
All in all we had a great day out at Monkey Mia andwouldn’t hesitate to return in the future
More information: parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au
How To Get There:
Review by Kids Around Perth Reporter Candice, 2nd November 2017
Candice Kocken – Kids Around Perth South of the River, Hills & Events Reporter / Mum of 3 kids.
Candice is a Mum of 3 who loves cooking, sewing and taking her kids out to explore our beautiful state of WA. Follow Candice and her adventures @uncannymum on Instagram.
Back to Shark Bay
We make every effort to ensure all this information is up to date but should be used as a guide only. Events do get cancelled or changed and venues can close without notice. Always follow the links provided for up to date information on an event or activity. If you know of a change or cancellation we’ve missed then please contact us to let us know.
