Silver Bank Humpback Whales: The Rules for Swimmers

A boat at anchor far out in the Atlantic. No land on the horizon. The sound of whales blowing all around you. You slide into the water from a small tender, very quietly, and you wait. That is the idea of the Silver Bank. So can you really swim with humpback whales here, legally? Yes, but only in one way: as a passive snorkeller, from a permitted liveaboard, inside the Dominican Republic’s Marine Mammal Sanctuary, during the winter season.

Here is how the Silver Bank humpbacks are protected, how access really works, and why it is worth understanding before anyone sells you a dream.

A sanctuary older than most whale rules

The Dominican Republic protected this place early. In October 1986 it created the Silver Bank Humpback Whale Sanctuary to protect the mating, calving and nursery grounds of humpback whales. In 1996 a presidential decree made it larger and gave it a new name: the Sanctuary for the Marine Mammals of the Dominican Republic. Sources give slightly different exact dates for these decrees, so treat the day and month with a little care.

The sanctuary is much bigger than the Silver Bank itself. It also takes in other nursery areas, the Navidad Bank and Samaná Bay. According to NOAA, it protects all marine mammals in an area of about 19,438 square miles, and the Silver Bank holds the densest concentration of humpbacks found in the North Atlantic.

Distance is part of the protection. NOAA places the bank roughly 50 miles north-east of the Dominican coast, while divers’ accounts describe it as more than 70 miles offshore; the figures change with where you measure from. Liveaboards usually leave Puerto Plata in the evening, cross deep water overnight and reach the bank in the early morning. There is no day trip here.

Why the humpbacks come to the Silver Bank

The whales come to these warm waters in winter for the reasons the sanctuary exists: mating, calving and nursing. This is their nursery. For a mother with a young calf, it is a place to rest and to feed her baby, and every quiet hour matters.

This population is one of the ocean’s good news stories. In 2016, NOAA Fisheries divided humpbacks worldwide into 14 distinct population segments. The West Indies population, which breeds in the Caribbean, was one of nine that no longer needed listing under the US Endangered Species Act, because it is growing. NOAA documents give different growth rates for it, around 2 to 3 percent a year, depending on the period. All humpbacks remain protected in US waters and on the high seas under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

“Recovering” is not the same as “safe”, though. NOAA has also reported an ongoing unusual mortality event in humpbacks along the US East Coast since 2016, with vessel strikes behind most of the deaths. Some of these whales belong to the same wider population that travels south in winter.

Can you swim with humpbacks on the Silver Bank? The rules

Every vessel needs a permit from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to enter the sanctuary, and operators report that the Port Authority cannot clear a boat to leave without it. That entry permit is separate from the usual safety and navigation papers.

In the water, encounters are limited to snorkelling at the surface. Operators’ accounts say scuba diving and freediving with the whales are prohibited, and one reason they give is that whales may read scuba bubbles as a threat. Guests slip in quietly from small boats in what operators call a “soft in-water encounter”, and there are rules about the speed and direction of approach. Encounters usually happen with calmer groups, such as resting whales or a mother and calf. The whale decides how close it comes. Wildlife encounters are unpredictable. Snorkelling with humpback whales should always follow local regulations and experienced professional guidance.

Access is very limited, and only a very small number of liveaboards hold permits for time in the water. Operator sources and older articles disagree on the exact number, and we could not find it in an official government document, so please ask your operator and check with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

What changed in the 2026 season

The Ministry of Environment officially opened the 2026 humpback season on 16 January 2026, under an inter-institutional management agreement that covers Samaná Bay and the Silver and Navidad banks sanctuary. The ministry said it would issue 46 environmental authorisations, 43 for whale watching and three dispatching from Puerto Plata, with the paperwork handled through a digital system.

The ministry also announced a committee to oversee the season, with roles that include issuing permits, inspecting boats, training captains, scientific monitoring and technical reports. Sanctuary and port fees are not the same every year, and the liveaboards publish them themselves. Please check the current rules and fees before you travel.

The conservation layer: a nursery, not an attraction

The most important thing to remember on the Silver Bank is what the whales are doing there. Many of them are mothers resting with young calves. A good encounter is one where nothing in their behaviour changes because of you.

The Silver Bank model has real strengths. Very few boats are allowed, the trip is far offshore, guests snorkel only, and the government is involved in monitoring. It is also a long trip with a real carbon cost: flights, then a liveaboard running for days. We think it is fair to say both. For a closer look at how it compares with boat-based watching in Samaná Bay, read our piece on Samaná Bay vs the Silver Bank, and our article on why whale rules get stricter around mothers and calves.

Where Ocean Calling stands

The Silver Bank is not an Ocean Calling trip today. If it ever becomes one, it will be as hosted guests on someone else’s authorised ship, and we will say so plainly rather than let a page suggest we chartered the boat. We have not chosen which permit holder we would travel with.

If you go with any operator, ask: which permit do you hold, and may I see it? How many guests go in the water at once? Who decides when we get out? Our guide on choosing an ethical whale swim operator has more questions you can use. For long days at the surface, a long-sleeve rash guard means less sunscreen in the water, and a well-fitting low-volume mask and snorkel makes it easier to float calmly and stay still.

If this made you curious about meeting the ocean this way, you can explore our upcoming retreats.

Questions people ask

Wildlife encounters are never guaranteed and never forced. Ocean Calling works only with vetted, ethical local operators, and every animal is free to approach, or not, entirely on its own terms.