The world's largest fringing reef, where a 260km barrier runs metres from the beach, and from March a predictable aggregation…The world's largest fringing reef, where a 260km barrier runs metres from the beach, and from March a predictable aggregation of whale sharks arrives to feed on coral spawn. Spotter planes find them, you slip in and swim alongside 8-12m animals. Also humpback whale swims (one of very few legal ones), manta rays and nesting turtles. Ningaloo's whale shark aggregation was first commercially guided in 1993 and is now the most tightly regulated in the world, licensed operators, contact-distance rules, swimmer caps. UNESCO World Heritage listed in 2011. Anchorage: Exmouth Gulf and the Ningaloo lagoon offer good anchoring; the sharks are found outside the reef. Hazards: No site-specific hazards noted, brief normally. Altro