Where and when to see reef sharks

Grey reef, whitetip, blacktip and Caribbean reef sharks patrol channels, walls and drop-offs. They are resident in many regions, with bigger aggregations where currents bring food or during mating seasons.

This guide documents sightings in 34 Good Dives regions. The most regions are in peak season in December–April.

Colored-pencil illustration: one blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus).

Reef sharks sighting calendar

Calendar months, every year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Ari AtollMaldives	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Peak
North Malé AtollMaldives	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Peak
South Malé AtollMaldives	Peak	Peak	Peak	Peak	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Peak
Andaman IslandsIndia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Belize Barrier Reef & AtollsBelize	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
BunakenIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Cayman IslandsCayman Islands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Chuuk LagoonMicronesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Cocos IslandCosta Rica	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
DjiboutiDjibouti	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Fernando de NoronhaBrazil	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
FijiFiji	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
French Polynesia (Tuamotus)French Polynesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Jardines de la ReinaCuba	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Kimbe BayPapua New Guinea	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Koh TaoThailand	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
KomodoIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
MalapascuaPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
MauritiusMauritius	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
New CaledoniaNew Caledonia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Northern GBR & Coral SeaAustralia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
PalauPalau	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Puerto GaleraPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Roatán & Bay IslandsHonduras	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Rowley ShoalsAustralia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Saba & St KittsCaribbean Netherlands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Seychelles (Inner Islands)Seychelles	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Sipadan & SempornaMalaysia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Sudan Red SeaSudan	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
TrincomaleeSri Lanka	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Tubbataha ReefsPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Turks & CaicosTurks & Caicos Islands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
YapMicronesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●

Peak = best odds · ● = regularly seen · blank = unlikely.

Calendars describe animal presence, not weather or site access; check each region’s dive season. For grouped animals, a marked month may apply to only one member of the group. Sightings vary by site and dive.

Where and when to see reef sharks

Reef sharks sighting calendar

Explore all 34 documented regions