When Can You Swim With Whale Sharks? The Best Time of Year
Whale sharks are almost exclusively found in the tropics. They occasionally range into warm-temperate oceans, but for the most part, you’ll find the largest selection of the whale shark population converging around the equator. That makes things a little easier if you’re looking to swim with whale sharks. There are only a handful of locations well-suited for encounters with whale sharks, which means if this activity is on your bucket list, it becomes easy to select a location based on your budget, home base, and preferred travel destinations within the tropical belt.
But while it’s easy to pick a location to enter the ocean with whale sharks, that doesn’t mean you should just pack your bags now and head off.
Important Facts About Whale Shark Travel
The gentle whale shark inhabits the ocean year-round. They never leave it! The problem for would-be adventurers is, that they don’t usually stay in the same place. Most whale sharks are migratory animals. Some can range massive distances, with one whale shark recorded as travelling over 20,000 kilometres.
That’s further than London to Sydney by about 4000 kilometres.
Whale sharks swim all over the tropics, covering immense distances in search of food, mates, and breeding grounds. That means they’re not going to always be where you want them to be. So if you’re planning on swimming with whale sharks, you have to one of two things:
Time your visit to your favoured travel destination in time with whale shark movements
Travel to a destination that is known to have whale sharks visiting during your preferred season of travel.
With that in mind, when can you swim with whale sharks based on destination?
The Best Time to Swim With Whale Sharks
There are some destinations better known for others for whale sharks. Below you’ll find the top locations, and what time of year whale sharks visitor the waters around these countries:
West Australia
Whale sharks can be found around most of Australia but numbers are very sporadic. Except for West Australia, where large numbers congregate between March and September.
Central America
Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica all see high numbers of whale shark visits between June and September, as plankton numbers peak in the waters and whale sharks arrive to feed.
East Asia
Countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and The Philippines are famed for their whale shark encounters. They are found around the coast of many East Asia countries between November to June, although the population is well-known to peak in April.
Indian Ocean
The Maldives is a year-round holiday destination that celebrates luxury and opulence. You always get what you want in The Maldives, and that includes whale sharks. Numbers aren’t as high as other destinations, but your chances of encounters are good at any time of year.
East Africa
Between the months of October to March, whale sharks appear along the coast of East Africa, with numbers peaking towards the end of the season in February and April. During this period, they emerge from the depths to feed.
Cornered about the ethics of swimming with whale sharks? Read our guide!
