Swim With Whale Sharks in Sumbawa: How To Do It and Is It Ethical?
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- By: Peter Orsel
I had wanted to swim with whale sharks for years. When I was on Lombok and had the chance to extend my trip spontaneously to Sumbawa, it seemed like the obvious moment to finally swim with whale sharks in Sumbawa.
What I found was more complicated than I expected. This article covers how to get there, what the trip actually looks like, and what I think about the experience now that I have had some time to reflect on it.
In This Post
Where Can You Swim With Whale Sharks in Sumbawa?
The whale sharks are found in Saleh Bay, a wide, sheltered bay on the north coast of Sumbawa. The nearest village is Labuhan Jambu, roughly two hours from Sumbawa Besar, and this is where the tours depart from. The bay is calm and protected, which is one of the reasons the whale sharks return here consistently.
The spot is a cluster of traditional fishing platforms called bagan. Local fishermen have used these platforms for generations to catch small fish at night using lights. Whale sharks learned that food concentrates around the platforms and began showing up regularly. That is the foundation of the entire experience.
What Is Being Done for the Whale Sharks?
I came across an information board in the area that put some numbers to what is actually happening here. Between 2017 and October 2025, 172 individual whale sharks have been recorded in Teluk Saleh. In 2024, the IUCN designated the bay as one of the globally important locations for whale sharks as a feeding and migration area. Teluk Saleh is also being developed as the first whale shark-based Marine Protected Area in Indonesia, a process that started with population research in 2017, moved into ecotourism in 2018, and has been working toward official conservation status since 2023.
The economic case is real too. The ecotourism operation generates an estimated 1.2 billion IDR per year and supports more than 1,000 local people. Whale sharks are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and have been fully protected under Indonesian law since 2013.
So the framework exists. The research is ongoing, the local incentive to protect the animals is genuine, and the international recognition is there. Whether the day-to-day reality of the tours reflects that conservation intent is a different question, which I will come back to.
When Is the Best Time to Go?
The best time to swim with whale sharks in Sumbawa is between May and October. The dry season brings calm seas, good visibility, and more predictable conditions. Outside of this window the weather can be rough, particularly from December to March. During my trip, I heard that there was a two week window in March where the whale sharks didn’t show up at all. After that, they returned as usual.
One thing worth knowing before you book: whale shark activity is closely tied to the fishing cycle on the platforms. Around the full moon, fishermen do not operate the bagan because the bright moonlight makes their nets less effective. Without the fishing activity, whale sharks are less likely to appear. Check the lunar calendar before you fix your dates.
How To Get to the Whale Shark Spot in Sumbawa
There are three main ways to swim with whale sharks in Sumbawa.
Join a Tour From Lombok to Sumbawa (or to Komodo)
The lowest-effort option is an organised tour from Lombok. There’s a great 2D1N tour from Lombok where everything will be taken care of. If you are already planning a longer trip through the region, the four-day, three-night boat tour from Lombok to Komodo is worth considering. Most boats on this route stop at the whale shark platforms in Saleh Bay, but confirm this before you book as it is not included with every operator. This is a fantastic journey, showing you the beauty of Sumbawa and Komodo, and I highly recommend it for those in for an adventure. The tour below arranges a pickup from all major towns in Lombok and Gili.
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Take a Day Trip From Sumbawa Besar
Sumbawa Besar has a small airport with direct daily flights from Bali and Lombok. From there you can book a hotel in town, arrange a shuttle for the following morning, and be on the water before most people have woken up.
The shuttle from Sumbawa Besar to Labuhan Jambu takes around two hours, which means leaving around 2AM. If you are only in Sumbawa for this experience, flying in and out via Sumbawa Besar is the most practical option. A great option is to include Moyo Island to your trip as well. Booking this tour will arrange everything for you.
Self-Drive to Labuhan Jambu
This is the route I took. I rode from Bali to Lombok by scooter and then continued onto Sumbawa. If you are considering something similar, I cover the full route in my post on the best photography spots of Sumbawa and Lombok.
Even though this sounds like the cheapest and best option, it is more adventurous than you might expect. You will get many encounters with people who do not speak English, you have to arrange your ferries yourself, and there are not a lot of accommodations between Poto Tano and Sumbawa Besar.
From the ferry port at Poto Tano it is roughly four hours to Labuhan Jambu. The best approach is to make the full drive in one go and arrive in Labuhan Jambu the evening before your tour. If you have time to spare, Sumbawa Besar makes a decent stop for a day of sightseeing before you continue to Labuhan Jambu. From there you take a boat to the whale shark spot in Saleh Bay.
For accommodation in Labuhan Jambu, Alffiah Hotel is one of the few options in the village and works fine for a single night before your early morning departure. I stayed here and picked it for a couple of reasons: it is slightly cooler than the beachfront accommodations as the sun does not shine on it directly all day, and it is quieter because it is set a bit further back from the main road. Keep in mind that this is the main cross-island road through Sumbawa with consistent traffic, so that distance matters.
How Much Does it Cost?
If you arrange everything yourself from the town of Labuhan Jambu, the tour costs around 700,000 IDR, roughly 40 USD per person. This covers the boat, a snorkel kit, a videographer, and a small breakfast on the return journey. Transport from Sumbawa Besar is not included and needs to be arranged separately. Tours are slightly more expensive, but often include accommodation, private or shared transport and a relaxed experience.
What to Bring?
The tour provides snorkel gear, but bringing your own mask if you have one is worth it for the fit. The bay has jellyfish, so wearing a swim shirt in the water is a good idea. Bring a dry bag for your phone and any valuables. If you want your own content or prefer photos rather than video, bring your own underwater camera or a GoPro.
What Does The Trip Look Like?
The shuttle arrived at my door at 4am sharp and had me at the harbour in under five minutes. The boat was supposed to leave at 4.30am, but we ran a bit late as not everyone made it on time. It’s still Indonesia, right? The crossing to the fishing platforms takes around an hour and a half. The sea inside the bay was completely flat. A thin mattress is provided and some pillows, so you can sleep a bit longer on the way.
The first thing you notice when you reach the platforms is a man spraying water onto the surface. The air bubbles this creates attract the whale sharks from below. Once the animals arrive, the platform crew feed them continuously to keep them in the area. My first concern.
There were up to three whale sharks at the platform when we arrived, and one other tourist boat. The animals were large and moved slowly around the platform.
Everyone on board received a snorkel kit. The crew brought GoPros and filmed throughout the swim at no extra cost. The footage is shot in 1080p and primarily in vertical format, ready to use directly on social media. Still photos are not taken by the crew, but you are welcome to bring your own gear.
As this was my first ever swim with whale sharks, I was a bit hesitant at first. I did my research upfront and made my way into the water. There was no safety instruction or briefing before we got in. That was my second concern, after seeing the platform crew feeding the animals.
A positive note: we got to stay as long as we wanted. The boat only returns when everyone is ready, and if people want more time, they get it. They try to make sure everyone gets the experience they came for.
After the swim the boat headed back. By the time we reached the harbour the footage had been exported and shared with the group. Coffee, tea, and toast were served towards the end and on the return journey.
Is Swimming With Whale Sharks in Sumbawa Ethical?
Tourism has changed. Things that were considered normal a few decades ago, elephant rides, performing animals, small cages, are now widely recognised as harmful. Most travellers today want experiences that do not come at the expense of the animals involved. Saleh Bay falls into that grey area.
There was no briefing. When we arrived at the platform, people put on their gear and jumped in. Nobody explained that you should keep your distance or that touching a whale shark stresses the animal. It was assumed that everyone knew, or perhaps that nobody cared.
Some people in our group touched the whale sharks. When I kept a distance of around five to ten meters, the guide kept signalling me to come closer and told me not to be afraid.
The feeding is the bigger issue. Whale sharks are drawn to the platforms by the air bubbles, and once they arrive they are fed to keep them there. Without the food, they leave. That is not a natural encounter. It is a managed one, and the way it is marketed as a wild and untouched experience does not reflect what is actually happening.
I do not think the people running these tours have bad intentions. The local fishing communities benefit from the income, and that matters. But there is no tourism cap and no enforceable regulation on how the interactions are conducted. That absence of structure is what allows things to go as far as they do. The continuous feeding, the lack of a briefing, the crowds in the water, none of it is checked or corrected by anyone.
My verdict: go if you want to see whale sharks up close and you understand what you are signing up for. Do not go expecting a wildlife encounter on the animal’s terms. And if you do go, keep your distance regardless of what the guide tells you, and do not touch.
Is Sumbawa the Best Place to Swim With Whale Sharks?
That depends entirely on what you are looking for.
I have also been to Oslob in the Philippines, which is probably the most well-known whale shark destination in Southeast Asia. The setup is similar to Sumbawa: feeding is used to keep the animals in place, crowds in the water can be significant, and the experience is managed rather than wild. The only difference is that the whale sharks in Oslob are just hundred meters from the coast. Oslob operates year-round and attracts far more visitors than Sumbawa, which means more boats and more pressure on the animals.
If you want a whale shark encounter that does not involve feeding and where the animals are genuinely wild, there are better options. Donsol in the Philippines operates under strict guidelines developed with WWF Philippines. No feeding is allowed, trained interaction officers accompany every trip, and the rules are actually enforced: a minimum distance of three metres from the head and four metres from the tail, no touching, no flash. The trade-off is that sightings are not guaranteed, because the whale sharks are not being held in place by food. The season runs roughly from November to May, peaking between February and April. Since 2007, WWF Philippines has recorded 771 unique whale shark sightings in Donsol, with individual animals identified by their unique spot patterns.
The Daymaniat Islands in Oman are another option worth mentioning. Whale shark encounters there happen in open water without feeding or crowd management, and the experience sits much closer to what a genuine wildlife encounter should feel like. I cover the Daymaniat Islands in my Oman photography guide if you want to read more about what to expect.
Sumbawa is a reasonable choice if you are already in Indonesia and the experience is on your list. I just want to prepare you so you know what to expect.
How to Photograph Whale Sharks
Most people come back with footage that does not do the experience justice. A few things make a real difference.
Shoot in RAW and the highest resolution. GoPro’s let you shoot in 8:7 now, so you can use it horizontally or vertically, a great option! Slightly underexpose to protect the highlights, which blow out quickly near the surface. Set your ISO around 800. Edit in Lightroom, and if you have an underwater colour filter, use it. Water absorbs red tones fast, and a colour correction filter makes a significant difference to the final result.
For compositions, wide angle is the way to go. Shoot from around five metres away to get the full scale of the animal in frame. The crew films in vertical format at 1080p, which works fine for social media. If you want stills worth keeping, bring your own underwater camera or a GoPro.
After the tour: Skip Labuhan Jambu, Head to Moyo Island
Your trip will be finished around 10AM. Time to pack your bags. Labuhan Jambu is a small fishing village with one purpose: the whale shark tours. There is nothing to do there beyond the morning trip, and there is no reason to extend your stay. Book a room the night before your tour and move on the next day. Even the hotel staff recommends this.
If you want to add something to your Sumbawa trip, Moyo Island is a great choice. Moyo Island is just off the coast near Sumbawa Besar and is one of the more undervisited islands in the region. The waterfall on Moyo Island is famous, and the pace of life is entirely different from the organised chaos of the whale shark platforms. It works well as a one or two night addition before or after the tour.
Conclusion
Swimming with whale sharks had always been on my bucket list. Seeing them up close in real life was something else, and it is something I won’t easily forget. On the boat journey back I was reflecting on the experience, and I honestly left with more doubts than enthusiasm. There were so many guarantees that we would see the whale sharks, and the whole thing felt a bit too set up. Decide for yourself, but I would most likely not go back.
More about Indonesia
Looking for a road trip in Lombok and Sumbawa? Read about The Best Photography Spots of Sumbawa and Lombok
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About Me
Peter Orsel is a Dutch travel photographer based in Bali, specialized in drone and landscape photography. He has visited over 40 countries and writes detailed, no-nonsense guides based on firsthand experience.