Whale Shark Snorkeling, Saleh Bay

Dawn with the whale sharks in Saleh Bay

An early morning in the water beside feeding whale sharks in Saleh Bay, Sumbawa. The boat leaves before first light, because the sharks gather at dawn under the bagan, the lifting platforms local fishermen use overnight, and drift away once the sun is properly up.

They are filter feeders and entirely harmless: the largest fish alive, moving slowly, with no interest in you at all. The first one that passes at arm's length rearranges your sense of scale permanently. No certification is needed and no diving is involved, because everything happens in the first few metres of water.

What to expect

• A small group and a local crew who work this bay year-round.
• Roughly thirty to sixty minutes in the water, in short rotations.
• No touching, no chasing and no flash, which the crew enforce.

Sumbawa sits between Lombok and Flores, so this fits naturally into a route heading east toward Komodo. Sightings are good year-round here and best in the dry season, which is a longer window than Indonesia's other whale shark site at Gorontalo in Sulawesi.