Whale Shark Point

Whale Shark Point is the best place in the area in which to have the chance to snorkel with the awe inspiring whale shark! These gigantic gentle sharks come to Whale Shark Point to feed on anchovies which have gone astray from the surface fishing pontoons. If you're lucky, you may get to snorkel with these amazing animals - In the past, our guests have been lucky enough to have seen 8 of these giants at one time!

As these tours are organised through the local community, and are dependent on location, weather conditions and of course whether or not the whale sharks are around (best chances are on and near to the New Moon)- these excursions can only be booked once on the island. Currently the rate for the snorkel excursion at the Derawan location is 750,000 IDR for 4 people. If the tour is at Talisayan, the rate is 2,000,000 IDR for 4 people.

Whale shark point is approximately 20 minutes speed boat drive from our resort on Derawan Island. However as the fishing pontoons are floating platforms they do change their location from time to time so this distance can vary slightly. The whale sharks appear to be most common in the days running up to and just after a new moon. The closer to a full moon, the lower the chances of seeing these gentle giants on this excursion. The local captain (who will take you on these trips) will communicate with the fishermen on the pontoons so that you have the most up to date information on where the Whale Sharks are.

Please note it's not 100% guaranteed that you will see the whale sharks during this trip, they are wild animals and do come and go as they please. It is also important to note that when the south winds come to the area (which is usually mid-June to mid-September) the fishing pontoons and therefore also the whale sharks move to a more sheltered area called Talisayan which is approx. 2 hours boat ride from Derawan.

The whale sharks are most often seen feeding between 6-8am in the mornings. When they are close to Derawan, you will have the chance to get up early for some whale shark spotting before the days diving even begins! The captain will aim to depart for the excursion at 5:30am and will then spend an hour waiting for the whale sharks to come and feed. Just before 7am you will return to the dive centre so you can have a quick coffee and light breakfast before the diving day begins. If you get lucky (and a lot of our guests do) then it's definitely worth the early wake up!

If you want to try your luck and go to Talisayan during the months of mid-June to mid-September, you would need to leave Derawan at 5am in the morning and you would not get back to the resort until around 12 noon. This means unfortunately that you would not be in time to join our dive boats on these days.

It’s also important to note that the whale shark excursions can only be arranged on the island and they are very weather and lunar dependent. The local boats that take you are not dive boats and therefore won't be able to take you if the weather is not favourable.

Scuba Junkie is an eco dive centre and we have a very strict NO TOUCHING policy on all marine life while diving or snorkelling with us. Even though we do not operate this excursion, we do ask all of our guests who chose to take join this trip, to respect the whale sharks and also their space and NOT to touch them. Any guest that does touch the whale sharks will be not allowed back into the water during the tour. There are not many places left in the world in which you can have such an amazing experience with these gentle giants and we want to be able to offer this experience to visitors for generations to come.

As Scuba Junkie works closely with the local community to encourage alternative livelihoods, this tour will be run directly by the local community, and as a result you will pay the local captain and guide.

Please note Scuba Junkie makes no money from this tour and thus will not take any pre-bookings, responsibility or liability for this excursion.

We believe it's very important to involve the local community in alternative livelihoods as this is the best way the area and its' amazing marine life can be protected for generations to come.

As these excursions are not operated by Scuba Junkie, we request any bookings for this trip to made once on Derawan- this way our dive team can check with the local captain / guide when and if the excursion is running during your stay. To increase your chances, we advise booking over the New Moon period.