3 Best Places to Swim with Whale Sharks

The Experience 

For anyone unfamiliar, whale sharks are not actually whales.

They are sharks, but not the predatory kind. They are gentle, filter-feeding giants that mostly dine on plankton. The “whale” part of the name comes from their size alone.

Our very first whale shark encounter happened off the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and it remains one of the most unforgettable experiences of all our travels.

There is a backstory to this one.

Just before the trip, I tore a ligament in my thumb in a car accident. My orthopedic surgeon wanted to put my arm in a cast immediately. I asked if we could hold off until after the whale shark tour.

He agreed, probably against his better judgment. I wrapped my hand as securely as I could and decided an injury was not going to stand between me and the largest fish in the ocean.

Here is the thing nobody tells you about swimming with whale sharks: it is not a leisurely paddle.

These animals cruise faster than they look, and you have to move to keep up. With one hand out of commission, that should have been impossible for me.

My guide never left my side.

When the whale shark was spotted and everyone jumped in, he grabbed my good arm and pulled me through the water himself, bringing me right up alongside the shark (photo below).

One-armed, wrapped hand, face to face with a whale shark. Absolutely surreal.

After our time in the water, the boat crew served fresh ceviche and guacamole as we cruised past Playa Norte, frequently listed as one of the best beaches in the world.

Ceviche, a world-class beach view, and a whale shark encounter still sinking in. The perfect way to close out an already amazing day.

When to Go

Mid-May to mid-September is the best time to visit Isla Mujeres if you’re hoping to swim with whale sharks.

Cost

~ $160 USD per person

Experience Overview

We got lucky. Twice.

The Maldives is made up of 26 atolls, but if whale sharks are the goal, the South Ari Atoll is where you want to be.

The smartest move is to book a highly rated resort within this atoll and confirm before you arrive that they run whale shark excursions.

We stayed at the Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru, one of our favorite boutique resorts anywhere, and booked the whale shark tour the moment we arrived.

The Outrigger also has a fantastic house reef and offers manta ray tours, so the snorkeling does not stop at whale sharks.

If you are planning a Maldives trip around time in the water, my guide to the best Maldives snorkeling resorts has videos and reef ratings for each one.

The excursion delivered beyond what we hoped. For a few unforgettable minutes, we had a whale shark entirely to ourselves. No other boats, no fins in our face, just the two of us swimming alongside this massive, unbothered giant in open Maldivian water.

Other tour boats eventually showed up, and the moment shifted. But those first few minutes alone with it are burned into my memory.

Then, on the boat ride back to the resort, a playful pod of dolphins appeared and swam right alongside us. I could not have scripted the day any better.

Nichole Pro Tip: Double-check with the dive shop on which days they run whale shark tours.

Not all resorts offer them every day, and you wouldn’t want to travel all the way to the Maldives only to miss out on this unforgettable experience!

When to Go

Whale sharks can be found here year-round, but the best time for higher concentrations is typically from December through March.

The Maldives is one of the few places on Earth where you can experience swimming with whale sharks no matter the season.

Cost

At the Outrigger, the whale shark excursion cost us $175 USD per person.

Experience Overview

Full transparency: this is the one spot on the list we have not visited yet.

It is firmly on our radar, so what follows is my research rather than firsthand experience, and I will update this section once we finally get in the water there.

Ningaloo Reef in Australia is consistently called one of the best places in the world to swim with whale sharks, and it is the reason this destination rounds out the top three.

Tours operate out of two towns: Coral Bay and Exmouth. Exmouth has more tour options and appears to be the most popular starting point.

The pattern I found across operators: small groups win. Larger groups mean more waiting for your turn in the water and less space around the shark when you get it.

That matches everything we learned firsthand snorkeling in the Galapagos and the Maldives, where group size shaped the entire experience.

Live Ningaloo is the only Exmouth company that caps tours at 10 participants, which is my kind of setup. The smaller group, however, comes with a higher price tag.

If budget is the bigger consideration, Three Islands Whale Shark Dive is the other highly rated operator at a better price point.

They take up to 20 guests per boat, but only allow 10 in the water at a time, so the in-water experience stays manageable.

Their other standout feature: they partner with Ningaloo Aviation, whose spotter plane scans the reef from above to locate whale sharks.

Having eyes in the sky means they can often work away from the crowds and still find sharks on the tougher days when sightings are tricky from the water.

When we make it to Ningaloo, we will report back on how it compared to our Mexico and Maldives experiences!

When to Go

• Coral Bay: March through the end of June
• Exmouth: March through early August

Bonus Tip: From August through October, you can also swim with humpback whales.

If you time it right in August, you might be lucky enough to encounter both whale sharks and humpbacks.

Cost

~ $430 – $620 USD per person

Only 1 in 3 million people globally will swim with a whale shark in their lifetime, according to the Australia Coral Coast tourism website.

We have done it twice, once with my hand wrapped from a torn ligament, once completely alone in open Maldivian water, and both times my brain refused to accept the size of what was swimming next to me.

Out of the 87 snorkel sites we have logged around the world, nothing else comes close to that feeling.

Whether it is Isla Mujeres, the Maldives, or Ningaloo, make it happen. Be the 1 in 3 million.

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Questions about our whale shark experiences in Mexico or the Maldives?

Let me know in the comments below!