Hi all

Any suggestions on the best place to dive with whale sharks? My wife has it on her bucket list. I'm located in SW Florida, but we travel quite alot. I'm looking for a site that we can do some great diving and have a good chance of getting in the water with these fish. Thanks

Triton Bay in the Raja Ampat area; Ningaloo Reed, Western Australia.

I have been three times to Southern Ari Atoll, Maldives, and always had several Whale sharks. The Islands around there (Angaga, Vakarufalhi, …) all organise full day trips to the Whale shark spots around Holiday Island and Sun Island. However, this was several years ago, and meanwhile, it seems to be VERY crowded there, lots of boats, snorkelers, mass tourism.

Cenderawasih Bay - far eastern edge of Indonesia.

Scuba or free dive?

Free-dive/snorkel, then head to Isla Mujeres, Mexico (a 20 minute ferry ride from Cancun...you can even stay in Cancun if you want). Typical daily aggregations are between 50 to 300 individuals. Peak season is June to August.

You can even take another, separate ferry to Cozumel if you want to do some really nice reef scuba dives...but the Whale Sharks are in the Isla Mujeres area.

Edited Saturday at 09:01 PM3 days by Lasongo

In Ningaloo, you can't scuba dive with whale sharks, they are snorkeling trips. I've seen some really bad examples of the crowds at some sites just totally swamping the sharks, here's just one example:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTk69lrgBQH/

I certainly wouldn't want to participate in something like this.

Thanks so much for the responses. I'll have to look into the places in Indonesia. thats our favorite diving spot at the moment. Lasongo, what got my wife started on this topic was our local dive shop has a few openings for a trip to Isla Mujeres in July and August. We used to dive Cozumel quite often until United bought out Continental. Then the pricing got crazy. I looked at the diving in Isla Mujeres because the trips are 5 days(looking for other things to do) and didn't see much great diving there. Maybe you can shed some light on what the diving other than whale sharks is like. Thanks again to all

One can snorkel with whalesharks also in Tansania/Mafia island, near the delta of the Rufiji river. I have been there 2024 and 2025. On one excursion it was approx. 15 individuals. The excursion with the least whalesharks was 3 individuals. Several boats with snorkelers are usually present, but the activity was still o.k. (maybe one dozend of snorkelers around)...

I returned on Sunday, 29.3. from the Maledives (Omadhoo island in Ari Atoll). Also there whaleshark excursions are offered, also from other close islands and resorts. According to divers, who have participated, at these spots there are around appox. 150 snorkelers plus several groups of scubadivers UW, producing a lot of airbubbles. We gratefully declined from participation in such an excursion...

Wolfgang

Edited yesterday at 07:33 AM1 day by Architeuthis

South Ari atol in Maldives is organised snorkelling trips not diving

Can also get crowded -about 6 boats when we were there 2024

1 hour ago, Mike Saunders said:

South Ari atol in Maldives is organised snorkelling trips not diving

Can also get crowded -about 6 boats when we were there 2024

Yes, crowded is the word, hectic and downright sketchy when speedboats from Male join in...
It's one of the reasons we left quickly when we were working there in 2021-22. On the plus side you do see them diving quite often as well on certain sites, which can be a nicer experience.
The're also attracted to lights of liveaboard mooring at night in the Maamigili area, and tend to hang around there.

On 3/30/2026 at 9:16 AM, Toque said:

Thanks so much for the responses. I'll have to look into the places in Indonesia. thats our favorite diving spot at the moment. Lasongo, what got my wife started on this topic was our local dive shop has a few openings for a trip to Isla Mujeres in July and August. We used to dive Cozumel quite often until United bought out Continental. Then the pricing got crazy. I looked at the diving in Isla Mujeres because the trips are 5 days(looking for other things to do) and didn't see much great diving there. Maybe you can shed some light on what the diving other than whale sharks is like. Thanks again to all

Hey, so to be fair, I'm not a big fan of tropical diving...I'm a professional photographer/guide who specializes in weird, off-the-wall stuff. That said, I have tons of friends who love tropical diving and Cozumel is one of their highest rated dive locations. Eagle rays, the Mesoamerican reef (2nd largest barrier reef in the world), reef sharks, etc...etc...but the scuba in Cozumel, not Cancun/Isla Mujeres...scuba off Isla/Cancun is mediocre.

However, if you look at the map, Cozumel is a large island just south of Isla Mujeres/Cancun. There is daily ferry service directly between the two islands...or you can also rent a car or take a bus (legit and comfortable) from Cancun to Playa del Carmen (about 60 minute drive). There is regular ferry service to/from Cancun to Isla Mujeres and to/from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel. If you google that stuff, its all online and you can even buy your tickets for the ferry and buses online.

I can vouch for the Whale Sharks off Isla Mujeres. I've guided numerous trips there and the fewest I've seen at a time was about 20 individuals and the most we estimated at 300. 80-100 per day seems to be about the norm. They migrate to the area to follow the tuna who are spawning and when they locate a tuna spawning aggregation, they cruise across the surface sucking up the eggs. They literally just go back-and-forth across a particular area (like mowing a lawn).

My recommendation would be to spend 2-3 days with the Whale Sharks and then relocate to Cozumel and do a couple of days of scuba/reef diving there.

2 hours ago, Lasongo said:

Hey, so to be fair, I'm not a big fan of tropical diving...I'm a professional photographer/guide who specializes in weird, off-the-wall stuff. That said, I have tons of friends who love tropical diving and Cozumel is one of their highest rated dive locations. Eagle rays, the Mesoamerican reef (2nd largest barrier reef in the world), reef sharks, etc...etc...but the scuba in Cozumel, not Cancun/Isla Mujeres...scuba off Isla/Cancun is mediocre.

However, if you look at the map, Cozumel is a large island just south of Isla Mujeres/Cancun. There is daily ferry service directly between the two islands...or you can also rent a car or take a bus (legit and comfortable) from Cancun to Playa del Carmen (about 60 minute drive). There is regular ferry service to/from Cancun to Isla Mujeres and to/from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel. If you google that stuff, its all online and you can even buy your tickets for the ferry and buses online.

I can vouch for the Whale Sharks off Isla Mujeres. I've guided numerous trips there and the fewest I've seen at a time was about 20 individuals and the most we estimated at 300. 80-100 per day seems to be about the norm. They migrate to the area to follow the tuna who are spawning and when they locate a tuna spawning aggregation, they cruise across the surface sucking up the eggs. They literally just go back-and-forth across a particular area (like mowing a lawn).

My recommendation would be to spend 2-3 days with the Whale Sharks and then relocate to Cozumel and do a couple of days of scuba/reef diving there.

Yes - because sharing whale sharks with 100's of your "best friends" is an experience everyone is looking for ;)

The Isla Mujeres whale shark "experience" is somewhat similar to the Oslob whale shark "experience." Neither is ideal for photography, with Isla Mujeres benefitting from more whale sharks most of the time.