whalesharks and other dives possible?

[mike frens 0]

My wife and I want to go diving for whale sharks. In march last year we just missed them on ningaloo reef australia. This year we will go diving in october/ november. I have 2 questions:

- what is the best destination for a week to search for whale sharks?

- i understand that where there are whale sharks, the visibility is poor (plancton etc..). Are there destination where we can dive for whale sharks one day and have a clear reef dive the next?

 

Mike Frens.

[Michel Braunstein 1]

Hey Mike!

 

There are a couple of good whale sharks dive spots, but october/november is not the best period of the year to see them, at least in the spots I know.

 

Galapagos: from June to August.

Belize: From March to July

 

Hope you could find a destination that could fit your dates.

 

Michel

[t-bohn 0]

I can give you whalesharks from March to May in the Philippines.

It is possible to encounter 30+ sightings a day.

The boat last weekend saw only one on that day.

 

Cheers

Torben

[randapex 0]

A group of us dove the Sea of Cortez the second week of November and saw several Whale sharks. Club Cantamar has a spotter plane to find them in the Bay. Cost was only an additional $20 and we still did two dives after the Whaleshark snorkel.

Vis was down in the bay of course that's why the Whalesharks were in. The other dive sites had great vis. 50'-100'. My understanding based on conversations with other guests and crew is that they are usually there that time of year. Oct-Nov A good bet in the spring/summer, as you know, would be Ningaloo.

 

[MikeVeitch 0]

i dove Galapagos in Nov 2001, had 13 whale sharks in 3 days....

 

Whale shark season there is mid june to late nov.

 

No clear reef diving though

[Matetes 0]

My experience:

-Maldives, southern Ari Atoll, January-March

-Galapagos, Darwin, october-november and even mid decembre (a little riskier)

Hope it helps