SWIMMING WITH WHALES ON THE SUNSHINE COAST, AUSTRALIA

 *Watch me chase after whales here!*

Ciara’s bucket list adventures (read about my skydiving here!) continued one sunny Sunday when I headed down the Sunshine Coast to Mooloolaba for something I didn’t even really know existed – swimming with whales. I’d heard of swimming with dolphins, sure, but swimming with whales? That’s next level.

We arrived at Sunreef on the Wharf to check in and get fitted for a wetsuit which we slipped into, and were then given a mask, snorkel, and fins. Once all twenty swimmers were prepped with the same, we hopped onboard our ship, Wild One, before heading out into the Marina. I loved slowly cruising through the harbour and admiring all of the beautiful houses I couldn’t dream of affording in a million years. Honestly, just spending the full trip just doing this would’ve been enough for me.

Once we exited the harbour, the fun really began as the boat picked up speed and we set off at an astonishing rate, bumping over the waves. It felt like a thrill ride, and was super fun! Again, more than happy to have just done this for the whole time.

However, we were indeed there for a purpose, and after heading out towards the horizon for about half an hour, we got wind of some whale activity, and so turned the boat to investigate. Sure enough, sprays of water (or what we actually discovered was steam) indicated that we were in luck. This was followed by some fins surfacing and then the piece de resistance – breaching. This is when a whale launches itself into the air, and then smashes down with a splash and a half.

This was without a doubt one of the coolest things I’d seen, and we got to see it again and again as our crew surmised that it was a mother teaching her calf how to breach, and so we got to watch the mother impressively breach followed by a bit floppier rendition by the calf. It was really, really amazing.

The crew made the executive decision that these whales probably weren’t the best to swim with as they were a bit too active (I suppose a breaching humpback whale landing on top of you isn’t the most preferable thing) so we carried on in search of more accommodating whales.

It looked like we might have found some such whales after a short while, but unfortunately, so had four other boats. The law states that only three boats are supposed to surround whales at a time, and with the pleasure boats showing no signs of moving on, we opted to do so because there would have been no chance of swimming with these whilst the other boats were still around.

Subsequently, we headed back to our first whales who appeared to have calmed down, and were given the go ahead to get ready. We zipped up our wetsuits, slipped on our fins and then sat down on the edge of the boat ready to splash in. Once we got the signal, we all flopped in and chased after the leader who was trying to find the best position for us to swim with the whales.

Alas, the whales made the decision to dive, and so we only heard ‘LOOK DOWN!’ before seeing the big masses swim off down into the ocean. I was fiddling around with the GoPro I’d brought which I couldn’t quite figure out, so missed capturing it on film, but did see one of the whales swim down, down, down into the deep blue sea.

With one attempt out of the way, we headed back onto the boat and continued chasing whales so that the second group could have a go, and then it was our second go. This time we were sat on the side of the boat for quite a while as we tried to gauge when and where the whales would surface, often overshooting them, but we did eventually get into the ocean and chase after them, but only to see a few pectoral slaps on the surface.

Sure, we mightn’t have gotten super close to the whales, but I did see a whale swimming underwater, and indeed swam with whales myself, and I’d call that a success. Add to this seeing the amazing whale breaches, our thrill boat ride, and the cool Marina cruise, and I’d had a great day. Definitely something I’d recommend, and an experience I’m thrilled to have had.

I hope you enjoyed reading today's blog! To stay up to date with my Australian adventures, make sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and I'd love to hear your recommendations for other must do bucket list items, so please drop me a comment below - thanks for reading!