The whale shark—as you’ll often hear said about these gentle giants—was the size of a school bus. So enormous, in fact, that it blocked out the sun for a few seconds, which is how I even knew the animal was there, sharing the vast ocean with me.

I was a good 70 feet below it, I estimated—and just seconds earlier fully engrossed by a pygmy seahorse on a sea fan somewhere in the Spice Islands of Indonesia.

It was our last day on a liveaboard trip and our first whale shark sighting of the week—and my first time ever seeing such a gorgeous animal wild and free in the ocean. But as much as I longed to, I knew there was no way I could beeline it to the surface for a closer look (no fish is worth getting the bends for, after all).

Related Reading: Swimming With Whale and Basking Sharks

The ocean’s largest fish didn’t hang around long enough to taunt me, anyway. Within a matter of seconds and a few strong side-to-side thrashes of its tail fin, the behemoth vanished like a phantom, passing between the two very azure worlds of the wall and great big blue, leaving me wide-eyed and miming the unofficial dive signal for “Dammit!”

It was a breathtaking moment, to be sure. But the next time I encountered a whale shark, I was up at the surface, clad only in a mask, snorkel and fins, and way more up close and personal with the bucket-list animal so many divers long to see.

During the long months of the pandemic, I spent some time in La Paz in Mexico’s Baja California Sur that serendipitously coincided with whale shark season (you can snorkel with the animals here through outfitters like Cortez Club and Red Travel Mexico from October to April or May).

They’re mostly juveniles and arrive in the Sea of Cortez, just a 30-minute boat ride from the marina, to gorge on plankton and fish roe in the shallow waters off El Mogote Peninsula. But nothing prepared me for how readily accessible whale sharks would be the moment the boat cut its engine and our dive guide ushered us into the water, nor how precisely the animals maneuver when you try to swim with them for even just a moment.

The boat’s captain dropped us in a whale shark zone, and I quickly found myself along a whale shark’s path as it went on a mouth-wide-open feeding foray. I kicked with all my might to try to keep up. The white markings on its gray body were like a constellation on a conveyor belt, zooming past me in the blue.

It was incredible to see how the massive animal, zoned in on feeding, its maw gaping, was also so spatially aware of its body and this strange snorkeling thing just a few feet away. It all happened in a flash. And then again and again that morning, as we hopped back into the boat only to backward-roll in for more. If there was ever a moment where you couldn’t have paid me to swap my snorkel for a regulator, it was then.

Related Reading: A Blue Bond

5 More Places to Swim With Whale Sharks

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

June through mid-September brings hundreds of whale sharks on an annual migration to the clear and warm Gulf of Mexico waters off Isla Mujeres (as well as to nearby Contoy and Holbox islands, to the north and northwest). Snorkelers enter the water with animals up to 40 feet long, drawn here to feed in plankton-rich waters.

Donsol, Philippines

Donsol Bay’s whale shark season is from November to June, with the months of February to April considered the sweet spot for snorkeling with the greatest numbers of the animals. It’s common to see at least five whale sharks during a trip, but snorkelers often see as many as 10 to 15, which makes for quite the surface spectacle.

Saleh Bay, Indonesia

The largest bay off the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia is a popular liveaboard stop for snorkeling with whale sharks drawn to fishing platforms called bagans with large nets strung underneath them. All you need to do is drop in and watch the fly-bys as the whale sharks arrive to feed on an easy and reliable meal.

Gladden Spit, Belize

Central America’s hot spot for whale shark encounters is Belize’s Gladden Spit. From March through June, during the days around the full moon, whale sharks and snorkelers eager to see them arrive at the Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve off Placencia for an up-close encounter like no other. The whale sharks arrive to feast during spawning aggregations of mutton, cubera and dog snapper.

Maldives

The monsoon’s prevailing winds move the whale sharks’ food source, plankton, throughout the atolls of the Maldives. So where you’ll snorkel with them depends on which month you visit this spectacular corner of the world. In Hanifaru Bay, the season typically runs from May to November. The marine protected area in South Ari Atoll, however, has whale shark sightings year-round, with the largest aggregations from December through March.