Whale Shark Season

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MissDoo

Contributor
Messages
126
Reaction score
9
Location
London UK
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi all,

Clearly nothing is ever guaranteed but can anyone give me an indication of the months with the best chances for spotting whale sharks please? I understand that they are mostly encountered either at the South Ari Atoll or in the north at the Baa atoll. When is the best time to try either of those? Was thinking of a liveaboard trip to begin with and then relax in a resort afterwards. We've been diving in the Maldives twice already but only resort based so not much flexibility in the whale shark chase!! Any advice will be very appreciated!
 
Hiya
Have been going to the Maldives each year since 1999 and for the last 5yrs we've stuck to liveaboards with a UK company: Maldives Scuba Tours and been lucky on sightings on 4 trips check out their website where you can look at trip reports/guest comments. They have a wealth of experience in the Maldives and are a great operation who I can't speak highly enough of.

We've gone between late July to November when we've seen the WS; the year before last we had a 5m male WS off the back of the boat at night which stayed around for over 2hrs; everyone had gone off to bed but not wanting people to miss out I woke everyone up....no complaints!

On a previous trip we had not 1, 2 but 5 WS for just over 2hrs - FANASTIC!

Maldives Scuba Tours do 7 or 12 night trips and you can also add on a resort island stop over.
Hope my 2p worth helped.
Kasha
 
Kasha thank you SO much!!!! Do you have any particular liveaboard to recommend?
 
Hiya
We use Maldives Scuba Tours; they run all yr 2 boats: Sea Queen and Sea Spirit. Neither boat is very big and takes no more than 12 guests which compared to the bigger 'flashy' liveaboards that take 20+ divers makes for a better Maldivian experience. All the diving is done from a 'dhoni' which is a small local boat which leaves the main boat for sleeping,diving,eating,diving,sleeping,diving,eating and generally chilling - in that order!

We've been on both boats and they are pretty much the same but my preference is Sea Spirit.

They do not follow a set in stone route; they go where the action is and so far for us they've delivered each and every time.

Check out their website: trip reports/guest comments/info and then if you have any Q's then PM me. You will see from the guest comments they have a high number of repeat guests which speaks volumes.
Regards
Kasha
 
Thanks Kasha,

I'll do some research as soon as I get a chance and will PM you if I need anything else. You've been fantastic, thanks again!!!
 
At least in the Northern atolls, the season for Whalesharks are July to October. I was diving in the Southern Atoll, and saw whalesharks and mantas as late as December/beginning of January.

It depends a lot on the plankton bloom because the whalesharks are migratory fish that follow the food...but in most part of the Maldives, particularly in the northern atolls where whaleshark sightings are common, the season is anywhere from late May to about October.

Hope this helps.
 
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