A Gold Palm 5 Star PADI Resort. Supports three dive boats: a seven metre RIB, a 42 foot vessel Warrior Princess and Sea Spray, a 50ft Cougar Cat for seasonal whaleshark tours, humpback whale watching and snorkel cruises. Village Dive is an eco tourism venture owned and operated by the Edney family. They provide nature-based tours whilst minimising disturbance to marine life on Ningaloo Reef and in Exmouth Gulf.

3 Truscott St
Exmouth
Western Australia 6707
Tel: ++61 (0)8 9949 1116
Fax: +61 (0)8 9949 1113
E-mail: villdive@bigpond.net.au
Web: http://www.villagedive.com.au/
Rating:

"I have been in contact with this company for two weeks arranging three days of activities, 1 day whale shark tour, a half-day scuba diving and a full-day scuba diving. All my travel details and tour dates were provided up front. They averaged 6 days for a response to an email. Finally we have all the dates/activities arranged and I give them my credit card details. Then a further 7 days pass and they write back saying they can't run dives on two of the days as their boat won't be there, but they'll go ahead and charge me for the whale sharks. I think not! I will go with a company able to offer, and deliver, what was originally agreed on. Surely they know in advance if their boat will be there? And why so long to respond? They didn't even have my money (non-refundable too) yet and they are acting like this. If they are this unorganized on land I fear for how they'd be in the water. Until they get new, useful stuff, I'd try elsewhere. " Cara, 2010

"Diving was reasonably priced at $125 for 2 boat dives. Fantastic crew, brand new equipment. Well set up dive boat. " Dave Scanlon, 2007

"Top marks for an unforgettable experience. The team were great fun and a great help when it came to completing my advanced PADI course. Their passion and enthusiasm is infectious. " Stephanie Ashman, 2006

"I felt unsafe, crew was very unfriendly (Chris). " Peter Essers, 2006

PO Box 237
Exmouth
Western Australia
6707
Tel: +61 (8) 9949 4777
Fax: +61 (8) 9949 4748
Email: info@ningaloodreaming.com
Rating:

"Ningaloo Reef Dreaming are by far the worst company regarding customer service. Do not dive with this organisation. " Natalie Barnes-Hore, 2010

"Best diving ever, saw Whalesharks, Manta rays, etc. crew were fantastic. The best is that they have their own spotter plane, so they don't share the shark with 6 other boats! I swam with the whale sharks for 107 minutes! WOW. " Peter Essers, 2006

"Best shark tour ever, went three times and saw sharks every time" Kristen

"Exceptional service from a first class dive center. Went out of their way to make my 2 1/2 year old son welcome...and he saw his first whale shark! Thanks! " Kevin Brown

"My experience with Ningaloo Reef Dreaming and the whale shark tour far exceeded my expectations. The crew were fabulous and friendly. There was such a sense of excitement throughout the whole day. " Scout Kozakiewicz

"I dove with Ningaloo Reef Dreaming while I was in Exmouth and I would highly encourage everyone not to dive with them. The company is very unorganized and incompetent. I called to confirm my diving reservation a few days before my arrival. On my first day of diving I had to call them b/c they didn't pick me up even though I told them where I was staying only 3 days before. The next day I got into an argument with the manager because he thought I didn't pay, I had to go back and get my reciept before he believed me. The day before I was going to dive the navy pier I was told I didn't have a reservation even though I had confirmed it about 5 times by now. Fortunately they made "an exception" and allowed me to dive. The management of this operation is incredibly disorganized and very condenscending to their guests. This was by far and away the most poorly run dive operation I have ever encountered in 10 years of diving and 80 plus dives. Consider carefully especially since I went in the offseason, I couldn't imagine how much they would screw up if they had more than a handful of people on their boat. " Mark

"Definitely dive with them again. Brilliant. Thanks a lot for looking after me with the Navy Pier dives. I really appreciate it and I really enjoyed the day and in hindsight wish that I'd done another day or so with your operation as opposed to your competitors as I found your operation pretty professional on the day. You live and learn. Hopefully I'll get back there one day. " Rod, Managing Director Pro Dive Cairns

"I would not recommend diving with this shop. I showed up here shortly before 4 pm and they rushed to sign me up for a 4:25pm departure Navy pier dive. I told them I'd like to do some more dives later as well so they promptly signed me up and had me pay on the spot for 3 days of diving. I was hesitant about booking so many, but was rushed to finish paperwork on time so did it anyway thinking "what could go wrong?" The 5 dives they've taken us on so far had pretty bad visibility, which I understand is bad luck. However, the last two dives we did on the reef reminded me of a sand storm or blizzard. You could hardly see the fins of the person in front of you at times. They should've tried to take us to a less exposed location or rescheduled the dive. The boat also only had one poorly working engine (other one was broken) so it took us a really long time to get to/from the dive site. To make things worse I got a pretty nasty cold and couldn't clear my ears this morning. When I came in to discuss this with the dive shop they wouldn't give me a refund without a doctor's note, which would cost me $146 (hardly worth it). I understand the dive shop has to be strict during peak season, but there's so few people here in February they're not really losing a spot if I cancel since it would've been empty otherwise. My friend was even going on the dive I was trying to cancel making it obvious I wasn't simply trying to skip town on them. The worst part is that when I tried talking to the owner about this he was a real jerk and said he didn't have time to discuss it and that the girl at the counter knew the cancellation policy. I would've accepted everything, even not getting a refund, but the fact that the owner was rude and wouldn't listen to his customers concerns makes me never want to do business with this shop again. If you've seen lots of fish before you can skip the Navy pier and go with a friendlier shop (or only do the Navy pier dive with this shop). If you really must dive with Ningaloo Reef Dreaming then try not to book too many dives in advance because you're not getting your money back. " Gene, USA, 2009

"Easily the worst company I've ever had the misfortune to dive with. Booked a 3 day trip plus double dive on the navy pier. Very disapointed with both value for money and customer service.
I was meant to be picked up from the airport, but they didn't show, meaning we had to take a bus into town. The Navy pier briefing was done by a backpacker who could barely speak english, and once we got into the water I was shocked at what I found. This site is meant to be one of the top 10 in the world, I wouldn't put it in my top 100. Ningaloo reef dreaming has obviously thrown so many divers in the water here that the site has been destroyed, minimal coral/sponge life. Plenty of fish, but you can see them anywhere up here, and for $230 (Aus) with no lunch for 2 dives, you can save yourself a lot of money!
The 3 day trip was even worse. After a great first dive for the day- turtles, sharks, manta ray, it all went down hill.. Diesel smoke from the engine being sucked back into the cabin, a run down compressor drowning out any attempts at conversation for pretty much the whole time we were in the boat, as they didn't take enough tanks. Dive sites got gradually worse more damaged.
The food was poor. We had to catch our own fish, which may sound fun, but is rather annoying to see the skipper eating a t-bone while you get given the cheaper option.
We slept in swags that were provided, however, they neglected to tell us that we needed to bring our own bedding, so 20 people froze their asses off during the nights.
The boat was in poor condition as was its tender, which broke down for 20 mins half way from the boat to the island. The ladder on the back of the boat was unsuitable for divers and it broke, making it extremely difficult to climb up, with the crew offering minimal assistance- they were more concerned with getting bottom times and depths. One of the divers fell due to this and sprained his wrist badly, causing him to miss a day and a half of diving.
This is a smoking boat, no non smokers beware!
From speaking to other travellers once back on land, it sounds like there are fair better companies to go with that are cheaper than reef dreaming.
I won't be using them again, and urge you not to either! " Andrew, Divemaster, Perth, 2009

PO Box 766
Exmouth
Western Australia 6707
Tel: +61 (0)8 9949 2500
Fax: +61 (0)8 9949 1300
E-mail: info@ningaloocharters.com.au
Rating:

Payne St
Exmouth
Western Australia 6707
Tel: +61 (0)8 9949 1201
Rating:

"I went with Exmouth Dive and they were really good." Laura Barker

"We would never dive with them again and certainly not recommend them! Anything but customer friendly operation. Dive guides mostly inexperienced. They cater to beginners and course students and don't care about experienced divers. On one dive we asked them for a dive site briefing on the boat and were told that the reef was just streching either right or left! Could'nt miss it! We had strong winds and quite a swell and visibility was about 7m! They don't provide nearly satisfactory storage for divers with their own equipment. My wife could only do three dives from the ten dives prepaid due to a cold she got in Australia. They would not even agree to let her go free-of-charge on the pier dive as a small compensation for the missed dives although there were four vacancies. For us, this was the most disappointing and unpleasant Padi 5 star dive operation we have ever come across in our 16 years of diving. Shame! " Maurice Riordan, 2006

P.O.Box 35
Exmouth
Western Australia 6707
Tel: +61 (0)8 9949 1004 or 61 +08 9949 4377
Fax: +61 (0)8 9949 1044
E-mail: ccd@bigpond.com

Ningaloo Blue Charters
PO Box 362
Exmouth
Western Australia 6707
Tel: +61 (0)8 9949 1119
Fax: 61 +*0)8 9949 4129
E-mail: nbc@nwc.net.au

PO Box 449
Exmouth
Western Australia 6707
Tel: +61 (0)8 9949 1764
Fax: 61 +*0)8 9949 1717
E-mail: nbc@nwc.net.au

Tel: (+61) 4 1975 9617
Mobile: 041 975 9617
E-mail: nicholasrduff@hotmail.com

Tel/Fax: (+ 61) 8 9164 8028
Mobile: 043 921 5290
E-mail: diving@christmas.net.au

Aristocon
PO Box 5493
West End
Tel: 0427999333
E-mail: brett@pureadrenalin.com.au