Darwin's Arch (Darwin's Towers)
Galápagos, Ecuador
Wall drift beside the pillars of the arch that collapsed in May 2021, with large numbers of hammerheads, silky and Galápagos sharks.
- Experienced
- Drift
- Whale sharks
Where to dive with dolphins, seals and sea lions
56 destinations where dolphins, seals and sea lions are documented by published sources, with the months to go when we know them.
When to go
Dark: peak season. Light: regularly seen.
| Destination | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida SpringsPeak Nov–Mar | ||||||||||||
| Bohol & PanglaoPeak Mar–Jun | ||||||||||||
| Farne Islands & St AbbsPeak Aug–Nov | ||||||||||||
| Salish Sea (Vancouver, Victoria & Nanaimo)Peak Sep–Nov | ||||||||||||
| Aliwal Shoal & Protea BanksAll year | ||||||||||||
| AzoresAll year | ||||||||||||
| Fakarava & RangiroaAll year | ||||||||||||
| Finistère (Brest, Crozon & Glénan)All year | ||||||||||||
| HurghadaAll year | ||||||||||||
| Ningaloo ReefAll year | ||||||||||||
| PondicherryAll year | ||||||||||||
| Sodwana BayAll year | ||||||||||||
| Plymouth & South CornwallJun–Aug |
Also documented here
Sources confirm them, but don't say in which months.
- Abrolhos Marine Park, Brazil
- Andaman Islands (Havelock & Neil), India
- Argyll Sea Lochs (Loch Fyne & Loch Long), United Kingdom
- Bahamas
- Bali & Nusa Penida, Indonesia
- Belize
- Bonaire
- Cancún & Isla Mujeres, Mexico
- Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon, Micronesia
- Cocos Island, Costa Rica
- Côn Đảo, Vietnam
- Conception Bay & Bell Island (Newfoundland), Canada
- Coron, Philippines
- Crete, Greece
- Dahab, Egypt
- Dorset (Portland & Swanage), United Kingdom
- Dumaguete, Dauin & Apo Island, Philippines
- El Nido, Philippines
- Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
- Galápagos, Ecuador
- Komodo, Indonesia
- Kona (Big Island), United States
- Lundy Island, United Kingdom
- Maldives
- Malta, Gozo & Comino, Malta
- Marsa Alam & the Brothers, Egypt
- Maui, United States
- Narvik & Lofoten, Norway
- Netrani Island (Murudeshwar), India
- Oahu, United States
- Pembrokeshire & Skomer, United Kingdom
- Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand
- Port Hardy & God's Pocket, Canada
- Portofino & San Fruttuoso, Italy
- Raja Ampat, Indonesia
- Scapa Flow (Orkney), United Kingdom
- Sharm El Sheikh & Ras Mohammed, Egypt
- Socorro (Revillagigedo), Mexico
- Southern Leyte (Sogod Bay), Philippines
- Tofo, Mozambique
- Trincomalee & East Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
- Utila, Honduras
- Wakatobi, Indonesia
Dive sites known for dolphins, seals and sea lions
Kicker Rock (León Dormido)
Galápagos, Ecuador
- Advanced
- Wall
- Blacktip reef sharks
Marsa Abu Dabab
Marsa Alam & the Brothers, Egypt
Easy shore dive to 20 m in a bay where you may meet a dugong among many giant green sea turtles.
- Open Water
- Dugong
Los Islotes
La Paz & Sea of Cortez, Mexico
- Open Water
- Pelagic
- Sea lions
Kelp forest
down to 20 m
Porthkerris Cove
Plymouth & South Cornwall, United Kingdom
A beach dive on the Lizard where gullies and kelp shelter anemones, urchins, cuttlefish and occasionally John Dory.
- Open Water
- Basking sharks
Drift
down to 76 m
Browning Wall
Port Hardy & God's Pocket, Canada
Vertical, current-swept wall covered in orange and red soft corals, giant Metridium anemones and nudibranchs.
- Experienced
- Sea otters
Drift
down to 35 m
Castle Rock
Komodo, Indonesia
North Komodo site where grey, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks cruise the blue alongside big schools of giant trevally, dogtooth tuna and barracuda.
- Advanced
- Grey reef sharks
Reef
down to 30 m
Conger Alley
Argyll Sea Lochs (Loch Fyne & Loch Long), United Kingdom
Two reefs on the north end of Loch Long with conger eels, dogfish, the occasional lobster and sometimes a friendly seal.
- Advanced
- Lesser spotted dogfish
Drift
down to 40 m
Cabo Pearce
Socorro (Revillagigedo), Mexico
A rocky finger of reef on Socorro's east side known for manta cleaning stations and near-daily bottlenose dolphin encounters.
- Advanced
- Manta rays
Wreck
down to 20 m
Knivestone wrecks
Farne Islands & St Abbs, United Kingdom
Wreckage on the Knivestone reef in the Farnes, from a 3-5 m kelpy plateau among the seals down to hull sections at about 20 m.
- Advanced
- Seals
Reef
down to 25 m
Manta Bay
Bali & Nusa Penida, Indonesia
A shallow bay with a manta cleaning station at 13 m, where Dive Concepts quotes a 95% chance of mantas year-round.
- Open Water
- Manta rays
Drift
down to 50 m
Punta Vicente Roca
Galápagos, Ecuador
Cold-upwelling wall off Isabela where mola mola are a signature sighting and seahorses and frogfish hide in the crevices.
- Advanced
- Sea lions
Photo credits
- The two pillars left after the collapse of Darwin's Arch, 2024, Scopoli, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dive boats beside Kicker Rock (León Dormido), Galápagos, MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Green sea turtle in the bay of Abu Dabbab, Marsa Alam, Jan Beránek, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sea lion on the rocks of Los Islotes, AlexisSalinas01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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