Swim with Sperm Whales

There are a few resident pods in the area. The family groups are large so there's a variety of interactions. Sometimes the encounters are brief and the whales are just passing by, other times they are very social, curious about us, and socialize with each other. Usually, we find them within a few hours and spend some hours with them each day.

Typically we swim with sperm whales every day. On a 5-day trip, you can expect to be in the water with sperm whales multiple times each day. The encounters typically last between 1 minute and 20 minutes, as the whales dive into deep waters for feeding, with brief intervals between swims.

Typically we do 3 guests with the trip leader/guide. We find small encounters usually work better. At the captain's discretion, there might be a time when they sends everyone in the water.

There are a couple of other boats in the area but we usually don't encounter them often. Of course, it depends on what's happening, how much activity there is in the area, their schedules, etc. But it's much less crowded than Mexico, Tonga, or French Polynesia. Often our group is alone in the water.

Sometimes the whales come directly towards the boat, the boat will drop us in the water (with the guide) and you don't need to swim at all. The whales pass directly next to you. Other times the whales are moving around more so there is more swimming, or if they are more shy, the boat might drop us and we swim slowly to where they are. If you ever get tired, the boat stays close to us and you can get back on the boat.

Most interactions are individual sperm whales unless it's a mother and a young calf. The calves can't hold their breath for as long, so they come up to the surface and rest for quite a while, often left unattended. Sometimes they are very curious and come extremely close. You do get pairs, and groups of three as well.

What you see in many photos is the adults all together sleeping and socializing which is the most spectacular behavior (it is more heavily represented on the internet than the reality of the behavior because it makes for good photos). We typically see that once or twice every 10 days.

The water is usually quite warm in June and July, at 27.5 Celcius (84.5 Fahrenheit)

Water clarity is usually very good. You can get little particles, but even then it is still usually very good.

Oftentimes you don't even need a wetsuit, however, we always recommend bringing a shortie or a 3 mm. Even in tropical locations, if it's windy, cloudy, rainy and you spend a long time in the water, you can get cold. It's also good to have protection against the sun.