Snorkeling with a whale shark

These photos were taken in July 2011 from MV Saimai while snorkeling with a whale shark at Phuket Shark Point. This is really rare but in July and August (low season months in Phuket) sightings are more common than the rest of the year. These divers had just finished their dive during which they had not seen the whale shark. They only noticed it when the got back on the boat so the jumped back in with mask and snorkel.

Phuket shark point is a series of submerged pinnacles located about half way between Phuket and Phi Phi Islands. They are identified by a navigation light that sits on the rock that just breaks the surface. The rock desccents to about 20 metres depth and is a favourite Phuket dive site but when conditions are right it’s great for snorkeling because the top few metres of rock are covered in colourful soft coral that gets bathed in sun light. It’s also possible to see Leopard sharks here plus moray eels, banded sea kraits, turtles and much more. But often the snorkeling is not easy because of the number of dive boats moving around the area.