While staying on Koh Phan Ngan in Southern Thailand, we ventured to the north east of the island and heard rumors that a friendly Whale Shark, the holy grail for a lot of divers, had been seen the previous days. The whale shark is a harmless “shark” and more akin to a whale, being the largest of the fish species. Dark grey with white spots it can grow to be up to 42 feet long and weigh 47,000 pounds!! We booked a spot with a local dive operator to the dive sight Sail Rock, a large rock jutting out of the ocean halfway between Koh Tao and Koh Phan Ngan. The two dives were some of the most magical dives we had ever done with thousands of fish in schools, encircling us as well as turtles, barracudas, and lion fish encounters. On the second dive we were rewarded with multiple visits from a very friendly Whale Shark. It swam by us several times throughout the dive and even came up to the surface to say hello to the snorkelers. We were exhilarated and at the end of the dive came to the surface whooping and slapping high fives with each other. An experience not to be forgotten and we are grateful to have captured it on film.
Enjoy!
Don't Miss The Boat
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, narrow-mindedness, all foes of real understanding. Likewise, tolerance, or broad wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime" – Mark Twain
Don't Miss The Boat 
Wow. That was seriously AMAZING. Thanks you for sharing! Go sea turtles!
I concur with Samantha – that was amazing! Almost surreal – meditative, beautiful, and inspiring. Thank you. Your videos and photos are GORGEOUS. My heart yearns to be there! 🙂
I miss you both….
Amazing footage! Not sure how I feel about my baby girl swimming with the sharks! Yikes! Thanks for filming the Turtles for me 🙂 See you soon!!!!!!!
I’ve never encountered a whale shark, but I really hope I get the chance one day soon.
Great video – probably not a day you will forget any time soon:)
Exceptionally jealous of your whale shark encounter. Did our first sea dive as part of our open water at sail rock. Meter and a half waves and about 2 metres visibility max. And no whale shark! Congrats and great blogs. Drawn here originally after being blown away by ‘Peter Kim’ at the cope centre in vientiene. Thanks for you conscious thoughts.
Woods.