Whale Shark in Thailand
by Julie Anne Furlong
(Dublin, Ireland)
I found them to be truly mesmerizing. They had always fascinated me, and I never thought that during my open water training I would end up diving with one. I have it on DVD, something that I can watch time & time again bringing a massive smile to my face!
Diving Operator Performance
Online and through people, I had heard great reports about Big Blue Diving (Koh Tao, Thailand), they seem to be very well established.
They are also one of the few dive companies on the island that I noticed are very much into all the environmental issues especially marine, they take it very serious and demonstrate very strict rules and teachings to make sure all of their rules are abided by.
The captain of the boats would have a fair idea if the whale sharks were around. But they do not go chasing them. The Whale Sharks actually approached us.
I would very much recommend this company and cannot wait to go back again to do my Dive Master Training.
Out at Sea
The weeks running up to this and at that time there were Whale Sharks spotted everyday near the island. Supposedly the young stay around the Island for much of the year.
Although as soon as we finished our course we went on to do lots more diving and our advanced, night dives & deep dives etc and spotted a few more Whale Sharks throughout that time.
But what I am submitting is the final day of our open water course, day four!
Each day we did 2 dives per day, one am and one in the afternoon.
I would say the diving boat was about 65ft roughly. With about 30 passengers and about four or five different dive groups in that.
This day the weather was beautiful, bright and sunny! Visibility was very good; I think it was nearly 30 metres, when the whale shark swam with us it was at about 18 metres.The Shark
We knew there were whale sharks present the day of our dives. We were strictly told to give them space and under no circumstances not to touch them.
We were told about them, a lot of the information given was to make us aware of the fact that their numbers are dwindling due to the fisheries and it was more of awareness of saving and protecting these amazing fish.
It was 7am, a beautiful morning, with our group of six including instructor bobbing on the surface about to go down. Suddenly an instructor from another group signalled for us to look below as it swam right under our toes.
I cannot explain the excitement I felt and so down we went.
It was a very calm experience and the whale shark was very curious. So much so that on a few occasions I had to get out of the way as it swam towards me!
We think it was about 5 metres, so it was a juvenile. It also had a large indent on its side, it looked like it had been rammed by something, but had definitely healed well and seemed perfectly healthy.
It stayed with us for a good 15 mins, swam off into the blue…about another 10 mins later we were coming around a pinnacle where it returned right in front of us where it stayed for another few minutes…unbelievable, happiest day I think I can honestly remember, how lucky we were!
After the high of our whale shark dive when we were still under water, and on a massive high we were presented our dive cards, while our group was kneeling in a circle on the sea bed, fantastic!!!
After we came back up we logged all of our information, and talked about the experience. We shared our days experience with some of the other divers from the company and later that evening we were called to watch our open water DVD (whale shark DVD)! With a large audience and a beer! Many cheers were had as the whale shark came onto the screen! It is a great set up the company have there!
Accommodation
The Big Blue company provides a range of different accommodation to suit all needs, from free dorms to great beach huts to the newly built block with beautiful rooms, which is only a five minute walk away.
As long as you are diving you get discounted accommodation, or even free! During our stay, we tried all the different accommodation, all of which was very good and lovely staff.
They have there own restaurant where everyone congregates in the evening to discuss the days exciting events!
And not forgetting the free pick up and drop off from the main port, when you're leaving or arriving on the island.Disappointments
I wish I could have stayed longer and done more diving!
Tips and Advice
I would recommend this area if people were interested in diving with Whale Sharks, as it seems there is a strong possibility that you would encounter one if you were there for a few weeks.
We were given a dive computer to use which monitored depth & bottom time and other main essentials, which I found great and also thought you a lot.
I really hope more people become aware of these huge beauties and of the massive amount of shark fishing in these waters. The more that can be done to stop it and save the sharks the better!
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