Monkey Mia is an amazing place on Shark Bay in Western Australia well known for its vast stretches of white-shell beaches that stretch for hundreds of kilometers, with crystal clear blue waters. What makes Monkey Mia famous is the wild dolphins that make the area their home, and is one of the world’s best places for getting up close to dolphins in the wild. The World Heritage listed area is a major tourist attraction with visitors from around the world coming to see the dolphins and staying at the nearby Dolphin Resort.

So how did Monkey Mia get its name? There are a few stories about the origin of the name. It is commonly believed that it was named by European pearlers in the 1890’s. The word ‘Mia’ is the Aboriginal term for home or shelter. The term Monkey may have came from Malay pearlers who could have had pet monkeys with them. Another possibility is that the name was derived from a schooner called ‘Monkey’ which arrived in 1834. Who knows.

The dolphins appear reliably almost every day. In fact in the last five years, dolphins have visited every day except for four days. Eight dolphins regularly visit the beach, but there are often more, with the record being 23 dolphins arriving at same time. There is no charge for seeing the dolphins. You can get up close to dolphins directly in front of the Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort.

The dolphins visit between about 8am and 1pm. Visitors can wade amongst the dolphins in the shallows and feed them fish. The Monkey Mia dolphin feeding is strictly controlled under the supervision of full-time national park rangers. They are fed only freshly caught local and are not given enough to ever make them dependent on humans for food. Visitors come from all over Australia to experience this close encounter with the dolphins.