Anyone dove with whale sharks

[diver 85]

Has anyone ever dove with whale sharks? Where did you do it? What is the best location to find them and is it pretty rare to site them?

ALSO, just remembered---in about '00(our 20 yo was dm'ing & instructing on Roatan then)--in SEPTEMBER anyway, no fewer than 20 single whale sharks came 'thru' Roatan that month(north side of island)......He was working @ Inn of Last Resort & they were working 2 boats a day then when 1 day 1 boat saw 3 different whale sharks on the 3 daily dives & the other boat saw NONE(each headed to different dive sites)..IN OTHER WORDS, half of the resort's customers were ecstatic---the other half mad as hell, lol....It just depends on you being @ the right place @ the right time....

?maybe consider Roatan in the fall??.....Utila sees a lot of them also.....

 

[Dora the Explorer]

Sea of Cortez on the Rocio del Mar Liveaboard. Rocio Del Mar Liveaboard - eat, sleep & dive..... September and
October is when we found them. Experience of a live time. Unbelievable. So gentle and huge.

 

[tep]

They are not common, but come past Kona....

We encountered one on a surface interval in 2007. I'm fortunate that the divemaster got this shot as I was freediving down...
ScubaBoard Gallery - Tom Snorkels with the Whale Shark - Kona 2007

 

[marinediva]

Ningarloo Reef is on the West Coast of Australia, it is very reliable for whale sharks in late April/May.
Exmouth Diving Centre whale shark scuba diving tours in Australia : where is Exmouth

I managed to have four dives with a mother and calf on Chumpon Pinnacle in 2008. Along with 200 other divers on a number of occasions. Yep the 5m drop tank was very crowded that day. Lots of buddy breathing practise. LOL.
It was truly amazing and awe inspiring moment. I cried, I was so happy. In fact everyone on the boats were happy. Put a big buzz round the shop for weeks.

 

[kathydee]

I snorkled with a few in Utilia Honduras - it was absolutely amazing!

 

[tuit2302]

We snorkeled with several while staying at Utila lodge in Utila CA.
Ended up with about 2 minutes of video of untagged whale sharks.
What a rush.. I am not a tree hugger but after the experience, I now
support the whale shark conservation. Also got to video some manta rays, sea horses
and upside down jellies. Really love Utila but hard to get there- sometimes wonder if it's
worth the hassle.

 

[k374]

good info in this thread!

a good watch :cool2:

http://www.youtube.com/v/dUMUSFLyZpU&hl=en_US&fs=1

 

[FireInMyBones]

I too have heard of them migrating to the Golf of Mexico. I hope to see one when I am in Panama City. Anyone dove with Wreck Raiders? I like their boat.

 

[DoctorBob]

You are probably going to think this is a fish story, but I have been on two dive trips to the Galapagos specifically to see Whale sharks. We were on a liveaboard and anchored off of Darwin's arch on Darwin Island for 3 days. The first trip we had 9 encounters in 3 days. We went back the next year and had 27 encounters in 3 days. Literally every dive we did we saw at least one whale shark. It was awesome. Apparently they tend to migrate there in June, at least that is when we were there.
Here is some video that I took:
YouTube - Galapagos 2004

 

[marinediva]

doctor bob
great video,