Watch wild dugongs in Shark Bay, home to around 10,000 sea cows, roughly a tenth of the world population and the most important dugong habitat on Earth. From Monkey Mia, licensed catamaran cruises glide over the vast seagrass banks to find grazing dugongs alongside dolphins, turtles and rays, making sightings more reliable here than almost anywhere. They are present year-round, best from September to May when the water is warm and calm.
Watch wild dugongs in Shark Bay, home to around 10,000 sea cows, roughly a tenth of the world population and the most important dugong habitat on Earth. From Monkey Mia, licensed catamaran cruises glide over the vast seagrass banks to find grazing dugongs alongside dolphins, turtles and rays, making sightings more reliable here than almost anywhere. They are present year-round, best from September to May when the water is warm and calm.
Up to 90% sighting chance in Shark Bay / Monkey Mia (Western Australia). Best months: November, December, January.
Year-round, best September to May when seas are calm and dugongs feed in the shallow seagrass banks; winter sightings continue but conditions are windier.
Not guaranteed, but Shark Bay holds about 10,000 dugongs, so dedicated cruises have a very high success rate.
No. Dugongs are watched from the boat here; targeted swimming is not offered, which keeps this fragile population undisturbed.
The Monkey Mia morning wildlife cruise runs about 2.5 to 3 hours and costs around A$130 per adult (2026 prices).
