Swimming with Sperm Whales

Islands visited on this trip: Dominica

Overview

With its innumerable waterfalls and a river for every day of the year coursing through her vast tracts of primary rainforest, Dominica is affectionately known as “the Nature Island of the Caribbean,” and offers a snapshot into what many of the more developed islands of the region would have resembled in years gone by. It is on this island, world-renowned for its rugged outstanding natural beauty, that we offer you a wildlife experience quite unlike any other, and one that is sure to remain etched on your memory for a lifetime.

Dominica is the only island in the Caribbean (and one of only two countries on the planet) to boast a resident population of Sperm Whales. These magnificent creatures are drawn to the deep ocean trenches and placid warm waters of the Caribbean Sea off the island’s west coast, and on this tour, we invite you to get up close to these gentle giants as you sink beneath the surface to swim amongst them.

This tour can be added as an extension to any of our Caribbean tours, or it can be taken as a stand-alone nature holiday of a lifetime!

Upcoming Tour Dates

This tour currently runs exclusively on request. To express your interest, please contact us here.

In addition to our 7-day trips, we are delighted to be able to offer shorter packages, and private day-by-day trips for you and your group (min. 1 person, max. 8 persons) to swim with the whales. Please contact us here for further details.

You can add this tour as an extension to our Every Endemic in the Lesser Antilles trips, or incorporate swimming with whales into a private Build Your Own tour to the Lesser Antilles.

Tour Price

Packages starting at USD$1200 per person - for detailed pricing, please scroll to the bottom of this page.

Daily Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival onto Dominica, where you are collected by pre-arranged transport from the airport and taken to your accommodation perched on a clifftop overlooking the black sands of Salisbury Bay. Here, you can enjoy a cocktail with a stunning view of the sunset before taking dinner at the hotel’s clifftop restaurant.

Days 2-6

Each morning, you are collected from your hotel by an experienced boat captain and Sperm Whale guide. From the launch dock, you will spend the next 5 days on the glittering Caribbean Sea in search of unforgettable and incredibly close encounters with the largest toothed whale on the planet, along with myriad other cetaceans known to frequent these rich tropical waters.  

Over the course of this incredible trip, you will be given the opportunity to sink beneath the water’s surface and find yourself immersed in the presence of multiple whales! The pods found here primarily consist of females and their calves, and over 20 of such family ‘units’ have been identified in these crystal-clear waters - numbering over 200 individuals. 

We will be accompanied by experienced guides throughout, who will advise on protocols to be adhered to while in the ocean and at close proximity to these gentle giants. Diving is not permitted due to potential disturbance to the whales by the bubbles from the breathing apparatus. Therefore, all that you need to bring with you to experience this once in a lifetime wildlife encounter is your snorkel and fins (or these can be provided to you by the captain should you prefer). 

Day 7

After a delicious breakfast enjoyed at your hotel’s restaurant atop the towering cliffs known for flybys of Brown Pelican, Roseate, Royal and Cayenne Tern, board pre-arranged airport transfers to connect you with your onward flight.

Pricing

2024

For detailed pricing, please click here.

Tour Info

Group Size: There is a limit of 8 participants for this tour, and to limit disturbance to the animals, there are to be only 3 persons (including the whale guide) in the water at one time. 

Please note: All participants must be able to swim, unaided, in the sea for up to 20 minutes at a time in order to participate fully in this tour. Travel insurance is a requirement of participation. A non-refundable deposit is required upon booking in order to secure the permits to swim with the whales.