We travelled to Monkey Mia for a birthday treat for 3 nights out of school holidays from a Thursday to Sunday. Probably due to it being during a term time there were very few other children there until the weekend when there was still just a handful of other children. It appears during term time most of the campsite clientele are ‘grey nomads’ travelling around in campervans and caravans.
The dormitory and unit accommodation, which had a large very clean kitchen and lots of bathrooms and showers, appeared to be mostly full of young backpackers travelling through.
There are only 5 beachside sites for tents/caravans and these are the premium sites that are well worth paying a little extra for to get the view.
Every morning at 7.45am the Department of Parks and Wildlife start the dolphin feeding at the beach near the jetty. The crowds are quite large lining the beach and it’s not long to wait until the dolphins appear. Only the 5 female dolphins are fed three times daily before 12 noon. While the first feed begins at 7.45 am the other feed times are totally dependent on when the dolphins return. It could be 10 minutes or 2 hours later so if you don’t get a chance to see or feed them at the first feeding you need to hang around the jetty/restaurant area so you don’t miss out on the next feeds which can occur at any time. Expect a crowd.
The talk given by the department’s employee is very informative and great to learn about the individual dolphins they encounter every day at the resort, many of which have been visiting the resort for several decades.
While everyone gets to wade into the water ankle deep and watch the dolphins close up, at each feeding session just 8 people are chosen to feed the dolphins a fish. We were lucky enough for our children to be chosen to feed a dolphin called Piccolo on the second feed of the day.
If you aren’t lucky enough to be selected there are so many opportunities to see the dolphins that you don’t feel left out. They seem to fish within a few meters of the shoreline and you can be paddling around and they will come right up to you affording you a good view of them anyway.
Apart from the dolphins, the children were excited to see the emus wandering around the campsite and some large lizards in the dunes. The pelicans on the beach are also very curious and impressive.
Monkey Mia is very much a nature wonderland with dolphins, pelicans, stingrays and turtles to name a few being very easy to see from the beach making it great for kids. Don’t expect kids facilities at the site there are no play parks or other amusements as such so if you are staying take some games to entertain kids once they have worn out their curiosity on the beach or for evenings.
For more information visit www.monkeymia.com.au
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