Coming face to face with one of nature’s top predators might be the stuff of peoples’ nightmares, but swimming with sharks can be an exhilarating experience for daredevils and wildlife enthusiasts. With more than 500 species in our oceans, sharks are much misunderstood and maligned creatures that are under threat from overfishing and demand for their fins and meat.
Although there are risks to swimming or diving with sharks (as there are with encounters with any wild predator), you are much more likely to get hurt doing home improvements, as long as you are in a controlled environment with a responsible operator.
Swimming with sharks can be an amazing opportunity to see these incredible aquatic creatures in their natural environment.
Below are some of the best places to get up close and personal with one of nature’s apex predators.
Where are the best places to swim with sharks?
- Gansbaai, South Africa
- Nassau, Bahamas
- Sipadan, Malaysian Borneo
- Pacific Harbour, Fiji
- Fuvahmulah Atoll, Maldives
- Malapascua, Philippines
- Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia
- Cocos Island, Costa Rica
- Guadalupe, Mexico
- Ningaloo Coast, Western Australia
Gansbaai, South Africa
This is the place to go cage diving with sharks. The rugged South African coast has a resident population of great whites (the planet’s largest predatory fish) who feed on the 50-60,000 Cape fur seals that inhabit Gansbaai. Furthermore, South Africa strived to preserve its shark population as it is the first country to grant protection to these endangered giants. Here you can swim with great white sharks in the safety of a cage.
Gansbaai is a 170 km drive from Cape Town and has a number of affordable hotels. Visit between March and September for the best visibility as the ocean is at its clearest.
Nassau, Bahamas
Famous for scuba diving and snorkelling, Nassau is truly one of the best places to swim with sharks in the world! There are many sites for you to choose from and plenty of certified instructors to ensure that you receive the safest and happiest experience with the sharks. Many shark species reside in this area, including the great hammerhead, lemon, caribbean reef, oceanic white tip, silly and nurse sharks.
For optimal weather conditions and to encounter a wider variety of sharks, visit from January to Mid-April. There are a few resorts that cover free swimming-with-the-sharks experiences, so do look out for those to save more! There’s an international airport in Nassau so, travelling is convenient.
READ MORE: Other than swimming with sharks, you can swim with dolphins in the Bahamas too!
Sipadan, Malaysian Borneo
Resting on the peak of an extinct volcano, this reef in the Celebes Sea is an ideal location to swim with sharks. It is home to a plethora of shark species including whitetip and grey reef sharks, blacktip, leopard, hammerhead, and thresher sharks. In addition, hawksbill and green turtles, massive schools of jackfish and barracuda, (as well as interesting caves) make this spot a truly exciting dive destination.
Visit from April to June or September to November for the best experience of scuba diving with sharks and to avoid the summer month crowds. It is no longer possible to stay on Sipadan, but there is an array of accommodation options on the nearby islands of Kapalai and Mabul.
Take a flight to Tawau on the Bornean coast to get a speed boat from Semporna jetty to the islands.
Pacific Harbour, Fiji
As one of the renowned swimming with sharks locations, you can easily see multiple species of sharks in one dive including the silvertip, tawny nurse, lemon, grey reef, tiger and bull sharks. Thanks to the surrounding waters being labelled as protected areas, marine kinds get to thrive and more than 400 species of fish visit the area each year. Also famous for the beauty and variety of its corals, you get to observe more than just majestic sharks under the water!
Good news to all, most sharks can be seen all year long in Pacific Harbour! You can head down to Fiji any time of the year, however, June and August will have the most tiger shark sightings while November and December host lesser bull sharks.
Do note that swimmers will need to pay a levy before going down to swim with the sharks as part of the effort to keep shark-hunters at bay.
READ MORE: Fiji also entails one of the most amazing overwater bungalows in the world
Fuvahmulah Atoll, Maldives
Fuvahmulah Atoll is one of Asia’s top destinations to swim with sharks. Tiger sharks are the big draw here and can be encountered daily. This isolated spot also has hammerhead and thresher shark populations so this is an excellent location for those wanting to experience swimming with larger sharks (tiger sharks can grow over 4 metres, whilst thresher and hammerhead sharks can be 6 metres in length!). Yellowfin tuna, barracuda, pilot whales and otherworldly mola (sunfish) can also be spotted here.
The best time to visit to swim with sharks is from December to March. Though Favahmulah is an isolated destination, situated in the open ocean, there is a range of accommodations on the island atoll which can be reached via an hour-and 10-minute flight from Malé.
READ MORE: Discover the best places to scuba dive in the world
Cocos Island, Costa Rica
The stunning backdrop to the Jurassic Park films and a designated UNESCO world heritage site, Cocos Island offers the opportunity to take swimming with sharks to a whole new level.
On this island in the Pacific, you can dive with not one, but hundreds of schooling hammerhead sharks. There is also the chance to spot whale sharks, whitetip sharks, manta rays and occasionally pilot and humpback whales. You will need an Advanced Diver Certification here as the dives can go to great depths.
The closest airport is in San Jose, where you can get connections to Cocos Island. Accommodation is prohibited on the island, so you will need to visit by booking on a liveaboard dive boat (for example Okeanos Aggressor II).
READ MORE: Are sharks one of the most endangered species in the world?
Malapascua, Philippines
With excellent resorts, stunning beaches, and reefs teeming with life, Malapascua is a great destination for scuba diving with sharks. The highlight here is experiencing thresher sharks being groomed at dawn by cleaner wrasse fishes that nibble debris and parasites from the sharks’ skin.
Come from March to May to get the best weather and avoid crowds. There are a number of resorts and guest houses available on the island that suit most budgets.
Take a bus or taxi to Maya in the north of Cebu, followed by a 45-minute ferry trip to Malapascua for your shark swimming experience.
READ MORE: Malapascua has ranked itself in our top 10 best places to scuba dive!
Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia
This remote location was designated the Maimana Marine Protected area in 2008. Renowned for whale sharks, Triton Bay is also home to wobbegong sharks and even boasts its own species of walking shark!
Plan your trip between October to December for cooler temperatures and best for swimming with sharks. You can stay at the Triton Bay Divers resort to enjoy a beautiful beach with quiet diving spots.
Fly from Jakarta to Kaimana in West Papua to be picked up by Triton Bay Divers resort staff at the airport.
READ MORE: What are the best places to swim with whale sharks?
Guadalupe, Mexico
With a sizable population of great white sharks, at Guadalupe, Mexico you can also experience swimming with sharks in a cage. The island has excellent visibility (34-45 metres) and 350 unique great white sharks have been identified in the bay where the dives operate.
Like Cocos Island, to get to Guadalupe, you will need to book on a liveaboard. Depart from either Ensenada in Mexico or from San Diego in the U.S. from August to October to experience great white shark swimming at this remote island location.
READ MORE: If you are on a budget, Mexico also has cheap beach resorts for you to choose from!
Ningaloo Coast, Western Australia
Whale sharks, the iconic sight of Ningaloo Coast, measures up to 10 metres (32 feet) long! While other species of sharks are already giants to us, the whale sharks are more than that. Notably, these sharks are slow-moving and harmless, so you can observe them at your own pace.
Head down to the UNESCO World Heritage Site from mid-March to mid-July to get a swim with the big friendly giant! You can take a flight to Exmouth (Learmonth LEA airport) and take a bus down to the Ningaloo Coast. Stay at the beach resort there to get a relaxing stay but do book early as there are limited rooms available.
READ MORE: Here are some other of the world’s best places to swim with whale sharks!
Pick from our selection of exciting locations and get your scuba gear ready to meet one of the earth’s top predators when you go swimming with sharks.
