The World’s Best Marine Life Aggregations

"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				Sperm whales When: year-round, especially Nov. to March
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			Lofoten Islands: orcas 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				Humpback whales between July and October
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.

 

 

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