Whale Sharks in Utilla

[Zippsy]

A quick search in Yahoo gives up these varied results:
http://www.deepdiscoveries.com/bayislands.htm says "March-June & Sept-Nov."
http://www.sfreefdivers.org/august2001.pdf says "spring & fall"
http://www.utila.com/dive.html says "year-round"
http://www.changeofscene.com/scuba/honduras.htm says "May thru Sept."

Before I went there, I saw all kinds of conflicting information too. As best as I could tell, they were around all year but you only had a 50% chance of seeing them if you were there for a week. After getting there and talking to the dive masters, I figured my estimate was right - but only on average! If you are there in February, you have an 90% chance. If you are there in June, you have a 10% chance. I learned my lesson and stopped listening to marketing hype. Now, when I plan a trip, I try to talk with divers who have experience at the site.

I hope this helps. One way or another, I hope you get to see them.

 

[dedhed]

The reason I went last year in March was due to advice given to me from friends that instructed there years ago. Feb-Mar-Apr is the best season, but it's better for marketing purposes to say that sightings happen year round (they do during other time of the year, but only once in a while). Mix up your dive times, during my two weeks more Whale Sharks were seen in the morning, but it seemed that better(longer) encounters were happening in the afternoons. Good luck!

Peace,
Stephen

 

[sealkie]

if whalesharks is your goal contact the shark reseach institute - they specialise in whale shark research and have a base in Utila - they run trips specifically to look for whale sharks and tag them and take research data

www.sharks.org