Visit the whale sharks at Gladden Spit, the most easterly part of the Belize Barrier Reef that is part of the Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve. It is a spawning aggregation site for many different tropical fish species including the cubera, mutton, and dog snappers which produce tons of spawn. This spawning occurs around the full moon to last quarter during the months of March to June. This is what attracts the whale sharks at Gladden Spit near Placencia in Southern Belize. Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean growing up to lengths of 60 feet/18 meters and are gentle filter feeders that eat minute plankton and spawn.

We are scheduling whale shark tours from April 1 to 11, May 1 to 11, and May 31 to June 10 in 2026, but I need to caution you. In 2025, there was one whale shark sighting in April, and none were observed in May or June. In 2024, there were no whale shark sightings. In April 2023, there was one whale shark sighting, and no further sightings were reported in May or June. In 2022, we did one whale shark tour in April and two in May (saw lots of bull sharks but no whale sharks). In 2021, we did three whale shark tours and saw a whale shark on one of them. In 2020, we did not do any whale shark tours due to COVID-19, although there were sightings by fishermen at Gladden Spit. For the first time, in 2019, there were no whale shark sightings. In 2018, we saw whale sharks on fewer than 1/2 of the days we went out.

Dates for 2027 are April 20 to 30, May 20 to 30, and June 18 to 28.

While appearance by whale sharks is uncertain, you can certainly expect to see black tip reef sharks and bull sharks and dolphins who come to feed on the spawning aggregation of cubera snapper, dog snapper, mutton snapper and horse eye jacks. One of our guests said a whale shark trip with no whale shark sightings was the best dive she had ever done – dolphins were repeatedly diving for snapper and returning to the surface to eat them right beside her. We snorkel during the surface interval/lunch break in an area just inside the barrier reef – lots of reef fish and healthy corals in this area which is normally only visited for three 10-day periods in April, May and June.