The 5 Best Places Around the World to Dive With Whale Sharks, Mantas, and Other Pelagics

See the full list of the world’s best places to dive

Love the idea of being in the water with big marine creatures, but not too keen on sharks? Then pelagic diving may be up your alley. The chance to dive with whale sharks, mantas, and other big fish known as “pelagics” is a distinct experience from the reef dives most divers are familiar with. Pelagics are large, open-ocean species like sharks, rays, tuna, and billfish, all of which thrive in deep water away from the shelter of coastal reefs. During pelagic dives, the focus is open the open expanse and the creatures that navigate it, not colorful corals or tiny schools of fish.

Pelagic dives often take place in deeper waters, where strong currents and unpredictable conditions are common. They’re often drift dives, as large creatures frequently travel in stronger currents. The absence of reef structures means fewer visual cues, creating a sense of endlessness that heightens the thrill when a large marine creature suddenly appears — a quiet dive can quickly turn into an unforgettable encounter in a second.

Because pelagics are powerful swimmers that cover vast distances, sightings are never guaranteed. However, the sites below are places where large schools of pelagics are known to congregate, either at certain times of the year when they migrate or due to year-round populations. In some cases, you may have to travel quite far from land to reach the sites, though some are in shallow areas where pelagics congregate at certain times. Dives are often timed with specific conditions, like tidal changes, to increase the chances of encounters. Safety protocols may be more stringent, as divers need to be comfortable with open-water ascents, rapid descents in choppy conditions, and quick responses to shifting currents.

Sharks, too, are technically pelagics. But for the sake of making this guide easier to use, and because shark diving is so popular, that’s it’s own category.

We’ve recommended below some of the most popular and most convenient places to stay (mostly dive resorts) in each destination. Just so you know, Matador may collect a small commission from the links on this page if you decide to book a stay.

Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia

• Where to stay: It’s almost always done via liveaboard only
• Recommended operators: Coralia Liveaboard, Calico Jack Charters
• Best season: March to May

If diving with whale sharks is the most important goal on your dive vacation, head to Cenderawasih Bay, where there’s the rare opportunity to see whale sharks in shallow water. It’s in the remote Bird’s Head Peninsula of West Papua and has become a hotspot for whale shark interactions due to the presence of traditional bagan fishing platforms. Local fishermen use small baitfish off these platforms to attract the fish they’re trying to catch, drawing the attention of whale sharks. Unlike many other locations where whale shark encounters are brief or fleeting, the sharks here linger, creating extended and intimate interactions.

The whale sharks here are unusually comfortable around humans and fishing boats, sometimes staying for hours as they feed on the baitfish spilling from the nets. Divers often find themselves swimming alongside these gentle giants for the entirety of their dives. It’s one of the best places in the world to take photos with just a GoPro, thanks to the combination of giant fish (they can be up to 30 feet long), shallow depth, and fact that the whale sharks don’t scurry away from humans. It’s a relatively new destination for divers, with lots left under the water to explore.

Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia

• Can’t-miss sites: Manta Point, the Blue Corner
• Where to stay: Sunset Star Huts are tropical, affordable, comfortable, and within walking distance to beaches and dive shops
• Recommended operators: Two Fish Divers for multi-island dive packages, Legends Diving Lembongan is also a great pick
• Best season: July and August

Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan, off the coast of Bali, are known for some of Indonesia’s most thrilling marine encounters — particularly with manta rays and the elusive mola mola. Manta Point off Nusa Penida is a cleaning station where reef mantas, with wingspans reaching up to 15 feet, ride the currents to the relatively shallow dive site. Divers can often see multiple mantas circling in a slow, hypnotic ballet as small reef fish clean their bellies.

Equally prized is the chance to encounter mola mola, or giant ocean sunfish. Mola mola usually live in cold, deep water 650-to-2,000 feet below the surface. However, they often come into shallow cleaning stations early in the morning, before there are too many divers to scare them away. You may see them at Manta Point, as well as other well-known sites like the Blue Corner and Crystal Bay. Because of the strong currents, it’s recommended that divers have an advanced open water certification before heading to Nusa Lembongan.

Tonga

• Can’t-miss sites: Hunga Magic and Hot Spring Cavern
• Where to stay: Serenity Beached Resorts is focused on humpback whale snorkeling, Matafonua Lodge is a full-service dive resort
• Recommended operators: Dive Tonga, if your hotel doesn’t have a shop
• Best season: August and September

If you’re dreaming of seeing humpback whales underwater, you’ll want to make the trip to Tonga, a country of more than 170 islands west of Australia. Each year, from July to October, thousands of humpback whales migrate from the frigid feeding grounds of Antarctica to the warm, sheltered waters of the Vavaʻu archipelago to breed and give birth. Tonga is one of the few places on earth where swimmers and snorkelers are legally allowed to enter the water with these gentle giants under regulated conditions. If you book humpback whale tours, they’ll only be for snorkeling or swimming.

However, you can dive in Tonga during humpback whale season, which means there’s a chance you may be able to see them on any given dive in the area. The chances are still somewhat slim, but much higher than they are almost anywhere else in the world. Many divers head to Tonga for a few days of diving around Vava’u, the northernmost point of the country, before dedicating a day or two to seeing humpbacks from the surface. That way, snorkeling with the whales is a back-up option if you don’t see them on dives.

Inhambane, Mozambique

• Can’t-miss sites: Manta Reef, Anchor Bay
• Where to stay: Liquid Dive Adventures offers dive packages and beach bungalows, but there are a solid number of options in the area
• Recommended operators: Try Tofo Scuba or Peri Peri Divers
• Best season: June to October

Mozambique may not be the first destination people think of when planning dive trips, but its long stretch of coastline offers some of the most rewarding pelagic encounters in the Indian Ocean. The waters off Inhambane, particularly around Tofo Beach and Barra, are known for their currents, giving divers a good chance of seeing big creatures no matter the time of year. You may be able to dive with whale sharks on any given month as they come and go, but the region is known for sand tiger sharks in December and January, large tuna in March and April, and humpback whales from June to September.

Tofo is considered one of the best places in the world to swim with whale sharks, and mantas are common at sites like Manta Reef. It’s the strong currents in the region that bring larger species in, so be prepared for mostly drift dives, where you may cruise past larger schools of fish like barracuda, tuna, and marlin. This page has a great chart of what species you may see when.

Sipadan, Malaysia

• Can’t-miss sites: The Drop Off, Barracuda Point
• Where to stay: Borneo Divers Mabul Resort for budget-friendly luxury, or Seaventures Dive Rig
• Recommended operators: Scuba Junkie Sipidan knows how to find the good stuff
• Best season: April to June

Sipidan is an island that rises 2,000 feet from the ocean floor. It was formed by a volcanic cone, creating an associated volcanic topography under the surface. It has steep walls and drop offs, making it easy for bigger creatures to come up from the depths and cruise through the nutrient-rich water. Because of this, it’s a hot spot in Malaysia for big marine life encounters.

Schooling barracuda and jackfish are a signature sight at Sipadan, often so tight they resemble fish tornados in the deep blue. Sharks like grey reef and whitetips are common, though hammerheads may occasionally make an appearance. Green and hawksbill turtles are a common sight, too.

One of the most well-known dive sites in Sipadan for pelagic diving is the Drop Off, a vertical wall known for tuna, giant trevally, and the elusive thresher shark. As with most sites in Sipidan, strong currents are common, and most dive operators will require or strongly suggest divers have an advanced open water certification.

Where else can you dive with whale sharks (and other big stuff)?

Diving with large pelagic species is usually going to mean venturing into deeper water, no matter where in the world you are. They’re often at sites with strong currents and updrafts that bring plankton higher up, which bring fish higher up, which bring pelagics higher up. Deep drop-offs and oceanic pinnacles are also common features of pelagic hotspots, often acting as cleaning stations for mantas and other large species.

Many pelagic species follow predictable migration routes linked to seasonality, water temperature, and food availability. Whale sharks, for example, often appear during coral spawning events or plankton blooms, while humpback whales migrate to warmer waters to give birth. As a general rule, the larger an animal is, the fewer of them there are, so you’ll always want to plan multiple dives at a specific site if seeing pelagics is your goal.

A good place to start is by looking at the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) listing for the place you’re thinking about diving — many have tables showing what species are present in which months. These tables can help guide when and where you should go; for example, you should head to Komodo in the summer to see black-tip reef sharks. If you’re headed to La Paz, go in October to possibly see hammerheads, and December through March to see grey whales.

Other places known for the ability to dive with whale sharks and other big species include the Galápagos Islands between June and November, Richelieu Rock in Thailand between November and May, and Australia’s Ningaloo Reef between March and July. Read more about places you can swim (not dive) with whale sharks in Mexico, the story of a whale watching guide in Tonga who lived alone on an island for more than a year, or places around Queensland, Australia, where you can see fantastic marine life no matter what time of year.