Ningaloo Whale Sharks and Humpbacks: Seasons and Rules

Can you swim with whale sharks and humpbacks at Ningaloo, Australia? Yes, but only through an operator licensed by the Western Australian government, and never on your own. Whale sharks visit from about March to July, and humpback swim tours run from July or August to October. That condition, the licence, is the whole story.

It sounds simple, but it hides a few details worth knowing, especially if you compare Ningaloo with places where the same encounter is sold without any licence at all. I have tried to separate what I could verify from what I could not.

When is whale shark season at Ningaloo?

The Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) says whale sharks visit Ningaloo Marine Park between March and July each year. A 2024 Tourism WA release gave the tour window as late February to late July from Exmouth, and to late June from Coral Bay. Those dates move a little from year to year, so treat them as a guide.

Humpback swims follow a different calendar. Australia's Coral Coast, the regional tourism body, says humpback tours usually run from 1 July to October in Coral Bay and from 1 August to October in Exmouth, though dates vary. The 2025 season was reported open in July.

I did not find a reliable official source for water temperature or for the peak weeks of the whale shark season, so I will not give numbers for them. If you plan around a specific month, ask the operator what they have actually seen in recent years.

What the law says

For whale sharks, DBCA states that only operators licensed by the department may run commercial tours with them inside Ningaloo Marine Park. It also describes two interaction protocols, written in law with tour operators: one for people swimming with whale sharks, and one for vessels, private and commercial, around a whale shark. An older code of practice I found mentions a 30 metre vessel distance and a large exclusive contact zone, but those figures come from older material, so I will not repeat them as current. Ask for the present rules.

For humpbacks, the in-water programme is newer. It began in 2016 as a trial that let existing whale shark operators run humpback swims in state waters of the park and the Muiron Islands. DBCA’s own page says 15 licensed whale shark operators were offered a place in the trial, under licences issued through the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984, and that the trial “will continue until 2023 and will transition to a licensed industry by 2024”, with a restricted number of licences. I could not find an official record of how that change was completed, so ask your operator which licence they hold for humpback swims. The same DBCA page says that under state law it is illegal for individuals to swim within 100 metres of a whale, which is why a do-it-yourself swim is not an option.

DBCA publishes a management programme for humpback interactions along the Ningaloo Coast (the 2020 edition, with documents updated in September 2023, is the latest I found), and earlier reporting mentioned limits on how close a vessel may approach resting and travelling whales. Because those numbers were reported in 2019 and may have changed, please check the current DBCA rules before you travel.

What I can say safely is the principle: licence first, written rules, and no do-it-yourself approach. If someone offers you a swim with either animal here without mentioning a licence, I would walk away.

Why the licence is not just paperwork

The whale shark is a species that needs the care. The Ningaloo Coast was inscribed on the World Heritage List on 24 June 2011, and the yearly whale shark gathering was one of the reasons. DBCA and the IUCN World Heritage Outlook put it at an estimated 300 to 500 whale sharks arriving each year. The IUCN Red List moved the species from Vulnerable to Endangered in 2016.

Boats are part of that picture. One conservation assessment of the site says nearly 10 per cent of the whale sharks visiting Ningaloo carry scars believed to come from boat strikes. I read that as a reason to prefer fewer, slower and well-regulated boats, not a reason to blame one kind of boat. Licensing is the tool Western Australia uses to keep the number of operators low and to attach rules to each one. DBCA's own page says the aim is to manage commercial operations and reduce disturbance.

For mothers and calves, evidence from nearby Exmouth Gulf is a useful reminder that a quiet-looking whale can still be disturbed. A 2020 study of 42 humpback mother-calf pairs found that loud boat noise reduced resting time and raised breathing rate. Exmouth Gulf is not the marine park, so this tells us something about the species, not about Ningaloo's operators. Our page on why whale rules get stricter around mothers and calves explains more.

Wildlife encounters are unpredictable. Swimming with whale sharks and humpbacks should always follow local regulations and experienced professional guidance.

Where we stand

Ningaloo is not an Ocean Calling destination. It is legal, licensed and, from everything I could read, taken seriously. It is simply a long way from where most of our guests start, and the day-boat rhythm there is a different kind of trip from ours. We keep this page because people ask, and because "legal and licensed" is worth knowing when you compare it with places where the same encounter is sold illegally. For a detailed look at the rules for sharks, see our guide to the Ningaloo whale shark code, and for a wider comparison see ethical whale shark encounters worldwide.

If you go: small choices that add up

Wear a long-sleeved top so you need less sunscreen in the water. A rash guard does the job. If you use sunscreen, remember that the US National Park Service warns that "reef-friendly" labels can still hide harmful ingredients, so read the ingredients on a mineral sunscreen before you rely on it. A mask that fits well, such as one from a low-volume mask list, is better than a hire mask that leaks, because it is easier to follow the guide when you are not fighting your gear.

Keep the distances you are given, even when the animal comes closer by itself, and do not try to keep up if it swims away. Flying to Western Australia has a real carbon cost, and I would rather you stay longer than visit often.

If this made you curious about meeting the ocean this way, you can explore our retreats, where groups stay small and every plan leaves room for the animals to decide.

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.