Hello all, I'm an avid shark watcher and after doing a lot of homework and having been to Komodo, Panglao Philippines and Papua New Guinea, PNG seems to be the place for shark activity. When I say activity, I'm talking about number of different kinds of sharks and frequency of sightings. On 1 dive in Milne Bay PNG I saw many Grey Reefs, 2 Hammers, a huge Sivertip and a 12ft Sand Tiger. Later on the same trip I and 2 others were swarmed by dozens of Silkies and then got buzzed twice by a 14ft Bull Shark. They are not supposed to get that big. In Southern PNG Eastern Fields, I saw many Hammers including a Great Hammer as well as squadrons of Sivertips 30 strong. I've seen more Grey Reefs than I can shake a stick at, including a huge school of juveniles led by a big female, which is aparently a rare thing to see anywhere. I have been to PNG 4 times and never been disapointed with the shark action.
In my opinion population density has a direct impact on shark population. I saw exactly 1 Whitetip in Pangloa, the highest pop density Pacific dest. I've been to. Komodo I saw several good sized Grey Reefs, less populated. My 2 other favorite Shark dest are Turks and Caicos and the Atolls of Belize, both have very low pop densities and plenty of deep water around. The Solomons seem very promising as well. Low population, rugged terrain and deep water all around. My buddy Capt Craig of the Golden Dawn is doing a 2 month trip through the Solomons and reported some really great shark encounters in his first week there.
Also if you really want to increase your chances of seeing sharks, consider switching to a closed circuit rebreather. I did and I'll never go back to OC. Best money I've ever spent.
I'm sure there are great places still left in Asia but they're probably hard to get to, so look on a map find where there are few towns and deep water is nearby and try to get there. Happy trails.-Andy
