Sharks
Whale sharks: Everyone wants to come eye to eye with the biggest fish in the ocean,
the mighty whale shark. Our top tips for encounters with these gentle giants are:
Cenderawasih Bay in Indonesia, Cebu, Bicol and Tubbataha in
the Philippines,
Socorro Island in Mexico,
Honduras,
Galapagos Islands in Ecuador,
the Maldives,
Cocos Island in Costa Rica, , Djibouti, and
Richelieu Rock and
Koh Tao in Thailand.
Hammerhead sharks: There is no more distinctive movement underwater than the weaving, side-to-side motion
of a hammerhead shark. Watching as one of these strangely shaped heads comes ever closer to you underwater is a hugely exciting experience. Encountering a big school of hammerheads on a dive is a moment that will make your eyes widen and your jaw slacken with wonder. If you want to dive with these sharks then you should be making plans for these destinations:
Layang Layang in Malaysia,
Cocos Island,
Galapagos Islands,
Socorro,
The Bahamas, and
Daedalus Reef in Egypt. Reasonable probabilities include , the Forgotten Islands of Indonesia,
the Maldives, Apo Reef, Bohol, Malapascua and Tubbataha in the
Philippines,
Saba,
the Solomon Islands,
Turks and Caicos.
Great white sharks: Of all the sharks, the one that needs no introduction is the big boy himself, the great white shark! The cages that house excited shark lovers these days are much more sturdy than Hooper's was. In fact you can forget all about the inaccuracies of the movie Jaws and just marvel at these beautiful fish. Tick this one off your bucket list in these places:
Guadalupe Island in Mexico,
cage diving at Neptune Island in South Australia.
A variety of sharks: In a world where shark populations are under threat, sadly there are some places that are no longer worth visiting. However, there remain some dive destinations with healthy shark populations and a variety of species. These may include local reef sharks as well as pelagic visitors. So where might be worth diving and what type of sharks might you see there (we hear you ask)? Well:
Socorro Island in Mexico - Hammerheads, silky sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, silvertip sharks, Galapagos sharks, tiger sharks and whale sharks.
Sipadan Island in Malaysia - large numbers of whitetip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, occasional hammerheads, whale sharks and even thresher sharks.
Galapagos Islands - Galapagos sharks, hammerheads, whitetips, whale sharks and horn sharks.
Palau - Grey reef sharks, whitetips, blacktip reef sharks, occasional hammerheads, oceanic whitetips and whale sharks.
Cocos Island, Costa Rica - Hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, whale sharks, silkies, tigers, blacktips, silvertips and guitar sharks
Pacific Harbour, Fiji - Bull sharks, tawny nurse sharks, whitetips, blacktips, grey reef sharks, sicklefin lemon sharks, silvertips and tiger sharks.
The Maldives - Whale sharks, tawny nurse sharks, whitetips, grey reef sharks, hammerheads, threshers, tiger sharks, guitar sharks.
Raja Ampat in Indonesia - Wobbegong sharks, epaulette sharks, grey reef sharks, whitetips and hammerheads.
The Red Sea - Hammerheads, grey reef sharks, whitetips, oceanic whitetip sharks, threshers and whale sharks.
Bahamas - Hammerheads, Caribbean reef sharks, blacktips,
tiger sharks, nurse sharks, bull sharks and lemon sharks.
Philippines - Whale sharks, hammerheads, blacktip reef, whitetip reef and grey reef sharks, thresher sharks, bamboo sharks, guitar sharks, tawny nurse sharks.
Saba - Caribbean reef sharks, blacktips, nurse sharks, occasional hammerheads, bull sharks, tiger sharks and whale sharks.
Solomon Islands - Hammerheads, grey reef sharks, silvertips, blacktip and whitetip reef sharks.
Turks and Caicos - nurse sharks, hammerheads, Caribbean reef sharks, bull sharks, lemon sharks, and tiger sharks, occasional whale sharks.
Cuba - Silkies, Caribbean reef sharks, nurse sharks, and occassionally lemon sharks, great hammerheads, bull and whale sharks.
Whales and Dolphins
Creatures in the ocean don't come much larger than whales. They can be among the largest animals ever to have existed! While diving with blue whales is not likely to feature in any recreational scuba diver's vacation plans, there are certain whales that you can plan to dive with, in these destinations:
Socorro Island, the
Sea of Cortez, and
Magdalena Bay, Mexico - grey, fin and pilot whales, orcas (killer whales), sperm and humpback whales;
Dominican Republic snorkelling safaris with humpback whales;
Great Barrier Reef, Australia - dwarf minke whales;
Saba - humpback whales;
the Solomon Islands - pilot whales;
Turks and Caicos - humpback whales.
...and another dream underwater encounter that scuba divers long for is the chance to dive with
dolphins. Among the most intelligent sea creatures, they are often shy and wary of bubble-blowers and stay away. However, you have a greater chance of running into them for prolonged encounters in these great spots:
Galapagos Islands,
Cocos Island,
Socorro Island,
Turneffe Atoll in Belize,
Hurghada in Egypt, as well as
The Bahamas, and
the Turks & Caicos Islands.
Sunfish
Another extraordinary big marine creature that people long to encounter is the enigmatic sunfish, also known as
mola mola. There is nothing like coming face to face with this odd looking flat disc lolling near the surface staring at you with large, dopey eyes. There are not many dive destinations with a high chance of encountering these creatures but among the best of them are:
Lembongan Island (near Bali) and
Komodo in Indonesia, , and at some
Galapagos dive sites like Punta Vincente Roca.
