“I want to go diving and I want to see big things – lots of them.” Sound familiar? Nothing is as thrilling underwater as encountering a whale or shark on a dive. Nothing, that is, unless it’s encountering tens or even hundreds of them at once. Here we’ve created the ultimate dive-destination list to help fulfill your big-species bucket lists. The world’s best marine life aggregations range from hundreds of hammerheads to dozens of dolphins. And while the list below contains the areas where you’re most likely to find these creatures, they are wild animals and their location at any particular time can vary, so do your research before buying that plane ticket. Happy hunting!
|
|
Sharks |
Manta rays |
Dolphins |
Whales |
Whale sharks |
Australia |
Western and Southern Australia: great whites When: April to August |
Exmouth, Western Australia and Byron Bay, NSW When: May to Nov. in Exmouth and Dec. to March
|
Hervey Bay, Queensland: humpback whales When: July to Nov. Great Barrier Reef: dwarf minke whales When: and JuneJuly |
Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia When: March to August |
|
Azores |
Bottlenose, common, Risso’s, Atlantic spotted and striped dolphin When: year-round, especially May to September |
Sperm whales year-round; blue and fin whales mid-March to mid-June. sei whales mid-March to mid-July; pilot whales mid-April to October |
|||
Bahamas |
Tiger sharks May to July; great hammerheads Dec. to February; reef sharks year-round; bull sharks February and March; and oceanic whitetips between March and June |
Seven different species of dolphin live in Bimini and Grand Bahama year-round
|
Bimini and Grand Bahama: sperm whales from Dec. to Feb. humpback whales from Dec. to March |
||
Belize |
Ambergris Caye’s Hol Chan Marine Reserve: nurse sharks Year-round |
Ambergris Caye from April to June Sapodilla Cayes from March to June |
|||
Colombia, Panama |
Malpelo Island: January to March large schools of hammerheads and silky sharks |
||||
Costa Rica |
Cocos Island: hammerheads and whitetip reef sharks When: Year- round with hammerheads in larger numbers from June to November. |
||||
Cuba |
Gardens of the Queen: silky sharks and Caribbean reef sharks year- round | Gardens of the Queen from July to November | |||
Dominica |
|||||
Ecuador |
Galapagos: hammerheads, silky sharks and Galapagos sharks When: year-round in varying numbers |
Isla de la Plata When: July to Sept. Galapagos When: Dec. to May |
Galapagos, especially Wolf and Darwin Islands: Bottle nose dolphins. When: Year round.
|
Galapagos: Humpback whales. When: June to October. |
Galapagos: Especially Darwin Island When: June to November |
Fiji |
Beqa in Viti Levu: Bull sharks When: July to September
|
Yasawas, Kadavu, Namena Marine Reserve, Wakaya and Taveuni When: year-round |
|||
French Polynesia |
Tahiti: hammerheads When: Dec. to March Ranginoa: hammerheads When: January to March Reef sharks, whitetips and blacktips year-round |
Tahiti When: June to October Ranginoa When: July to Sept. |
Tahiti: Humpbacks When: July to Nov. |
||
Indonesia |
Raja Ampat: Wobbegong sharks When: Year- round |
Komodo, Flores, Bali, Raja Ampat When: year-round |
Cenderawasih Bay When: year -round |
||
Maldives |
Gray and whitetip reef sharks When: May to November |
Baa Atoll and Ari Atoll When: February to November |
South Ari Atoll When: February to November Male Atoll When: May to November |
||
Mexico |
Socorro: hammerheads When: November to January and April to May |
Socorro When: November to January and April to May
|
Socorro: Bottlenose dolphins When: year-round but especially April and May |
Baja California: Gray whales When: mid- January to mid-March Socorro: humpback whales When: December through March |
Yucatán Peninsula When: June through mid-September Baja Peninsula When: October to February Socorro When: April to June |
Micronesia |
Yap: Blacktip reef sharks When: mid-May to mid-August Palau: Oceanic whitetips, black tips, whitetips, bull sharks and hammerheads year-round |
Yap When: December to April
Palau When: December to March
|
Palau When: January to April |
||
Mozambique |
Ponta do Ouro: Bull sharks When: November to mid- May Hammerheads, oceanic whitetips, white and blacktip reef sharks, tiger sharks and reef sharks When: November to April Tofo Beach: white and black tips year-round |
Tofo and Zavora When: year-round |
Humpback whales When: June to Nov.
|
Tofo Beach When: October to March |
|
New Zealand |
Species include Māui, Hector’s dolphin, bottlenose, dusky, and common dolphins. North Island: Bottlenose April to January Common dolphins March to June and October to April |
Kaikoura: sperm whales year-round North Island: Orcas April to October Bryde’s whales May to July
|
|||
Norway |
When: snorkeling from late December through mid-Feb. |
||||
Philippines |
Malapascua: Thresher sharks year-round and hammerheads in April |
Malapascua: When: December to May and September |
Donsol Bay When: January to February |
||
Red Sea |
The Brothers Islands and Elphinstone Reef: hammerheads and oceanic whitetips May to June Thresher sharks November to January |
Marsa Alam, Egypt |
Eight species in total Samadai for spinner dolphins Shaab el Erg for bottlenose dolphins Between Tiran and the Sinai mainland for Risso’s dolphins When: year-round
|
||
South Africa |
Aliwal Shoal: Tiger sharks When: mid-January to May Cape Town: blue sharks When: November to June Cape Town: Great whites When: April to October
|
Bottlenose, common and humpback dolphins When: year-round
|
Hermanus: Southern right whales When: June to Nov. Cape Town: humpback whales When: August to November Aliwal Shoal: humpback whales When: July and August Sodwana Bay: humpback whales When: June to mid-October
|
Sodwana bay
When: December to March
|
|
Tanzania |
Mafia Island When: Nov. to Jan. |
||||
Thailand |
Similan Islands: whitetips, blacktips and leopard sharks When: year- round |
Koh Bon When: November to April Similan Islands When: mid- October to mid-May. Hin Daeng and Hin Muang When: February to April |
Koh Tao When: mid- March to mid- June Koh Phi Phi When: January to April Hin Daeng and Hin Muang When: February to April |
||
Tonga |
|||||
U.K. and Ireland |
Connemara coast, Ireland: Blue sharks When: mid-June through Sept.
Oban and Inner Hebrides, U.K: Basking sharks When: mid-May to August
Plymouth, U.K.: Basking sharks When: June-July |
Common and striped dolphins common year-round |
Oban and Inner Hebrides, U.K.: minke whales When: July through mid-August.
|
