Swimming With Whale Sharks in the Maldives: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Updated: Aug 20
Swimming with a whale shark in the Maldives can be one of the best wildlife experiences you will ever have. It can also be done very badly.
We visit South Ari Atoll, one of the best known places in the Maldives for whale shark encounters.
Whale sharks can be seen in the area throughout the year, and South Ari Marine Protected Area was created to help protect the wildlife found here.
Here is what the experience is actually like, what can go wrong, and how we approach whale shark swimming at Indy Escapes.
The good
Seeing a whale shark in the wild is ridiculous. They are the largest fish in the world, but incredibly calm to swim alongside. South Ari Atoll is particularly special because whale sharks are regularly seen here throughout the year.
There are no tanks, no feeding and no staged experience. You get in the Indian Ocean and, if you are lucky, there is a whale shark cruising through the water beside you. That is exactly how it should feel.
The bad
Whale shark swimming in the Maldives is popular, very popular. When a whale shark is spotted, several boats can sometimes arrive in the same area. Suddenly everyone wants to get into the water and everyone wants the perfect photo.
That is where a great wildlife experience can quickly become a bad one.
For us, seeing the animal is never more important than respecting it.
The ugly
People touching whale sharks, swimmers getting directly in front of them, people crowding around them, flash photography, and everyone jumping back into the water again and again just because they want another photo.
The Maldives has introduced specific rules for whale shark encounters. These include keeping at least three metres from the body and four metres from the tail, not touching the shark, not blocking its path and not using flash photography.
How Indy Escapes swims with whale sharks responsibly
We want you to have an unbelievable experience, but we also want the whale shark to be able to carry on being a whale shark. So we have some pretty simple rules during our Maldives Island Hopping group tour.
We learn about them first
The night before our whale shark experience, we give the group a presentation about whale sharks. We go through what they are, why South Ari Atoll is important, how we should behave around them and what to expect the following day.
You know the rules before you even get on the boat.
Before anyone gets into the water, our experienced snorkelling guides run through the safety briefing and explain how the encounter will work. Nobody should be figuring it out while a whale shark is swimming past.
We stay five metres (16 ft) away
Our Indy rule is five metres at all times. We do not swim above the whale shark, directly in front of it or block its path, and we do not use flash photography.
The official Maldives guidance allows a minimum distance of three metres from the body and four metres from the tail. We simply prefer to give them even more room.
Touch it and your tour ends there
This one is not complicated. Touch a whale shark and your Indy Escapes tour ends there.
They are wild animals and we are visitors in their environment. Look, swim, enjoy it. Do not touch.
If it is too busy, we do not get in
Sometimes the right decision is doing nothing. If an encounter is already too crowded, we stay on the boat, missing a photo is better than adding another group of people to an already busy whale shark.
Not everyone needs a second go
If half of our group has already had a great encounter but a few people missed it, we do not automatically send everyone back into the water.
If the area is busy, only the people who missed the first encounter go again. Everyone else has already had their moment.
Once we have seen it, we leave
We are not there to chase a whale shark around South Ari Atoll for hours. Once the group has had a proper encounter and enjoyed it, we move on.
Simple.
Is swimming with whale sharks in the Maldives ethical?
But how you do it matters.
Whale shark tourism can give people an incredible appreciation for these animals and the ocean they live in, but it only works if the animal comes first. Keep your distance, never touch, do not block its path and do not chase it.
And sometimes, accept that today might not be your day, on our Maldives Island Hopping group tour, the animal's wellbeing is the absolute priority.
Swimming with whale sharks on an Indy Escapes Maldives trip
Whale shark snorkelling in South Ari Atoll is one of the highlights of our Maldives island hopping trip, but getting the photo is not the goal.
Seeing one of the world's most incredible animals properly is.
Want to swim with whale sharks in the Maldives? Check out our Maldives group trip and upcoming dates.
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