Travel Tips

It is always surprising to find the biggest animal is usually a vegetarian or in the case of the whale shark who only eats tiny little planktons in the water. It's not a threat to us at all and I can only stress over and over again - stop eating shark fin - protect all sharks! -

We were in Baa Atoll which is usually frequented by whale sharks during this time of the year due to the rich content of planktons in the water. As we were nearing our dive site, our dive guide suddenly shouted - "Whale shark! Gear up and jump in!!!"

There was great excitement on the boat as we all scrambled to get our fins and masks on and jump into the water. As soon as I was in the water, I started looking around, in my mind this thought repeated itself - "where's the whale shark???"

Suddenly divers were frantically finning towards 1 direction and I followed. And there it was - the magnificent whale shark.

It was huge! At least 25 feet long. There was no way my little point and shoot camera could capture the entire animal. All this whale shark wanted to do was eat and eat. Visibility was blurry due to the planktons.

It was not afraid of any divers as it came circling around us over and over again. After a while, we did not have to chase after the poor chap. All I did was wait patiently at the shallow depths and soon the whale shark would make an appearance.

Each time the whale shark appears, the poor manta rays would soon be forgotten as everyone wants to get a good shot of the whale shark. It was pretty hard as the whale shark would go close to the surface of the water. There were many snorkellers too and I could not decide whether I should snorkel or dive. Decisions! Decisions!

We called this the insane dive as there were at least 50 manta rays partying with the whale shark that day. There came a point in time that I could not decide where to shoot as there were big action everywhere! Decisions! Decisions!

Manta rays are such joyful animals. I love the way they enjoy doing reverse cartwheels at mid water. It looked like a lot of fun and I wished I could do this stunt too :-)

I would never get tired of looking at the antics of manta rays.

This diver was busy looking for the whale shark when this manta ray came to check him out haha!

Yup, it was quite a party as mantas and whale shark came to feast on the planktons. We the divers were the gatecrashers as I don't think we were invited in the first place!