Ralph Capeling
Contributor
Every year I post whale shark sightings at Gladden Spit. There has not been a lot to post in recent years. This is the script I use to reply to whale shark inquiries. We are scheduling whale shark tours April 2 to April 12, May 2 to May 12 and June 1 to June 10 in 2023 but I need to caution you. In 2022, we did one whale shark tour in April and two in May (saw lots of bull sharks but no whale sharks). In 2021 we did three whale shark tours and saw a whale shark on one of them. In 2020 we did not do any whale shark tours due covid-19, although there were sightings by fishermen at Gladden Spit. For the first time ever, in 2019 there were no whale shark sightings. In 2018 we saw whale sharks on less than 1/2 the days we went out. We are reluctant to take bookings for whale sharks until our monitoring indicates that they have arrived. We have lots of great diving and snorkeling on the Belize Barrier Reef and Glover’s Reef Atoll has pristine conditions due to its remoteness. I suggest you consider booking trips other than whale sharks with the option of switching to whale shark tours if they show up.