Cenderawasih Bay · Indonesia · Pelagic & blue water
Kwatisore Bagans
Whale sharks feeding under lift nets, all year round
Area photo: Rogistira · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kwatisore is the stretch of Cenderawasih Bay where whale sharks feed at bagan lift-net platforms, hanging under the nets to take the small baitfish the fishermen raise. Divers and snorkellers get in beside the platforms and stay put while several animals circle near the surface. The behaviour holds all year round, which makes this one of the few whale shark encounters that does not depend on a season.
Also known as Kwatisore Bay, Kwatisore whale shark platforms.
Where it is and how deep
3.2500° S, 134.9500° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Boats tie up alongside the bagans early and stay put, and then very little happens above water. You get in beside the platform and hang a few metres below the surface, in open water with the hulls and net frames above you and nothing below to hold on to. There is no route to follow and no reef underneath: the dive is a station rather than a swim, and you hold it for as long as the session runs.
The animals come to the platform rather than the other way round, and several whale sharks often gather at once for the easy meal spilling from the lift nets. They pass close enough that the main job is staying out of the way, with no touching and a wide berth given to the flanks and tail. Sessions run long, on snorkel or on scuba depending on the hour and the operator, and it is common to log more hours in the water across one of these days than on a conventional three-dive schedule.
Marine life and season
- Whale sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Cenderawasih Bay: Whale sharks feed at the bagans all year; most liveaboards visit from June to October, when rough weather around Raja Ampat pushes routes into the sheltered bay.
Know before you go
- Long shallow sessions in warm water still chill you: divers routinely stay in until they are cold rather than until they are low on gas, so plan exposure protection for hours, not minutes.
Dive videos
Papua Uncovered - The whalesharks of Kwatisore Bay · The Big Koslowski on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Are whale sharks at Kwatisore year-round?+
Yes. The sharks are reported at the bagan platforms all year round, which is what separates Cenderawasih Bay from the seasonal aggregations elsewhere; May to October is simply the calmer half of the year for reaching the bay.
Do you need a scuba certification for the bagans?+
Not necessarily, since sessions run on snorkel as well as on scuba depending on the hour and the operator. For divers, Open Water is enough: the encounter happens a few metres below the surface beside the platforms rather than at depth.
Sources
- Diving Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia — Dive The World
- Cenderawasih Bay Liveaboard Diving — Dive The World
- OpenStreetMap: Kwatisore — OpenStreetMap
In The Logbook
- Where to dive in every month of the yearTrip planning · 14 min read
- Where to dive with whale sharks, month by monthBig animals · 16 min read
More dive sites in Cenderawasih Bay
Wreck
A well-preserved PBY Catalina airframe with glassfish inside
Wreck
Seven-plus landing craft on one sand slope, sharks when it runs
Three P-38 fighters in two metres of water
Wreck
A 120 m Japanese transport on her side, blast holes and all
Similar dives elsewhere
Whale shark season and a current-fed point to 40 m
Breath-hold encounters with juvenile whale sharks feeding at the surface
A massive shoal was reported off the bay during the 2011 run
Baited blue-water dives with blue sharks and makos