Whale sharks

Hi Deni,

Another big misinformation issue. It is very easy to snorkel with whalesharks, as long as you go to the right place at the right time. It is way more difficult to spot whalesharks while diving...down below!

For the snorkeling, places where you are garanteed to spot them.
-Djibouti around January
-Tofo, Mozambique, most of the year
-Ningaloo, Western Australia around May...Cindy tell me if I'm wrong for the dates.
-Dosol, Philippines, ask Liliram
-Baja, Mexico, I'm not sure of dates, but I'm sure Caboshick knows them.
-Belize, some places around April and May
-Galapagos, I think it's July, not sure.

Ok, this is from pure memory


I saw them snorkeling in Djibouti and Tofo.

Now seeing them diving is way more difficult, and you need more luck. Hin Muang and Hin Duang as well as Ko Ha South of Phuket seem to be one of THE place. We saw 2 of them in Hin Duang between 18 meters and 28 meters, they stay with us for a full dive. I even have a pic on TB with a whaleshark and a manta on the same pic!

I saw my first one in a very "astonishing" place. Tubattaha, sea of Sulu, Philippines. We were at 21 meters deep, next to a wall, and he just cruised by us...wow!

I know that you can also see them in Palau Weh, Indosia, planning to go there early 2012 with Leslie.

Now what I really dream is to dive with the whales...Tonga in August...but not this August... Reply to this

Deni and Dax,

This blog was just published and I thought it might have some interest for you.


Whale Sharks, etc. Reply to this

At Ningaloo we always had our biggest numbers in May although some years we had early arrivals from the start of march. By June they have pretty much started to move on.

As far as responsible well governed and highly regulated tourism and interaction with whale sharks, I could not fault the Ningaloo operators. Aus has some of the strictest environmental laws in the world and the remoteness of Ningaloo means operaters have to be dedicated, on the ball and provide quality to attract customers willing to pay all the added expense of just getting to Ningaloo.

Ive also seen Whale Sharks in PNG in April and May, Indonesia in May and a few weeks ago one in Thailand at the beginning of May.

I still miss that job, working with those guys was AWESOME :-)

I will have to say the only issue I have with even well managed operators I do not like the idea of spotter planes but I guess its a big ocean out there. Reply to this

In response to: Msg #138557 At last - Ningaloo Reef has finally made the world heritage list 😊 even more protection for our whale sharks now! Reply to this

I saw one in the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia.Chance of a life time.My Dive Master told me that after more than 500 dives.It was his first time see a Whale Shark Reply to this