Saleh Bay Whale Sharks

Saleh Bay sits on Sumbawa's north coast, a wide sheltered gulf where fishermen anchor floating lift-net platforms called bagan. They work the nets at night under bright lamps, and at dawn whale sharks drift in to hoover up the small fish and plankton trapped around the bamboo. That feeding habit is the whole reason you can get in the water with them here.

The animals are wild and free-swimming, often four to seven metres long, and they are filter feeders with no interest in you. You snorkel from a boat tied near the bagan, slipping in quietly while a guide watches the platform.

Unlike Oslob in the Philippines, the sharks are not fed by tour operators, so behaviour stays natural and sightings are never guaranteed.