Tiger Harbour is a shallow plateau beneath the entrance to Fuvahmulah's harbour, no deeper than 12 m, where tiger sharks are encountered through every month of the year and sometimes in dozens. Dives run in groups to a schedule the local guides set, with tuna heads used to bring the sharks in close and hand feeding prohibited. Silvertip sharks, turtles, dolphins and whales use the same water.
Also known as Tiger Zoo, Tiger Shark Point.
Where it is and how deep
0.3065° S, 73.4412° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is done from a boat even though the site sits at the harbour entrance, and all of it happens between the surface and 12 m on a shallow plateau of reef and sand. Local guides organise divers into groups with designated dive times on an approved schedule, so the briefing carries more weight than any route: this is a short, shallow site rather than a reef to swim along.
Tiger sharks are the constant. They are here throughout the year and often in numbers, the largest adults reaching 5 m and 900 kg and identifiable by the dark stripes down their flanks. Tuna heads are used to draw them in close and hand feeding is prohibited; the aggregation itself is tied to the waste fish products that the local market and returning fishing boats discard in these shallows.
Silvertip sharks move through the same water, and turtles, dolphins and whales are all recorded at the site. Because the plateau bottoms out at 12 m, gas and no-decompression time are rarely what end the dive — the group's slot in the schedule is. That makes it an unusually shallow way to spend a dive among large sharks, with time to watch rather than to work a profile.
Background
The site was discovered and named in April 2017. Tiger sharks are drawn to this shallow water by the waste fish products that the local fish market and fishermen discard as they return to harbour, and dive operations use tuna heads to bring them in close, while hand feeding is prohibited. Long-term study using photo identification and laser photogrammetry has recorded at least 239 individual tiger sharks around the island — the largest known aggregation of the species anywhere — with unusually high site fidelity, particularly among adult females.
Marine life and season
- Tiger sharks
- Reef sharks
- Sea turtles
- Dolphins
- Whales
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Prime |
Season follows Fuvahmulah: Tiger sharks are resident year-round; the dry NE monsoon (Dec-Apr) gives the calmest seas, while the Oct-Nov transition brings choppier open-water conditions.
Know before you go
- Adult tiger sharks reaching 5 m and 900 kg come close in only 12 m of water; hold the position you are briefed into and keep the group together rather than moving towards the animals.
- Tuna heads are used to attract the sharks and fish waste from the harbour is in the water, so bait is present even though hand feeding is prohibited — carry nothing a shark could take for food.
Dive videos
Tiger Zoo Dive – Fuvahmulah 2026 🦈 | Tiger Sharks at 9m, 30°C (Part 1) · Adrien Vidart on YouTube
Tiger Harbour · Barefootwanderers on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the dive at Tiger Harbour?+
It is shallow. The plateau has a maximum depth of 12 m, so the entire dive is spent between the surface and that depth, and the site is reached by boat from the harbour it sits beside.
When can you see tiger sharks at Fuvahmulah?+
Tiger sharks are resident here and are encountered right through the year, sometimes dozens of them at once, so there is no season to plan a trip around for this animal.
Are the tiger sharks fed at Tiger Harbour?+
Hand feeding is prohibited. Tuna heads are used at the site to bring the sharks in close, and the aggregation itself is associated with the waste fish products that the local market and returning fishing boats discard at the harbour.
Sources
- Tiger Zoo dive site — PADI
- Fuvahmulah Island dive sites — Dive The World
- Tiger shark — Wikipedia
In The Logbook
- Where to dive in DecemberTrip planning · 10 min read
- Where to dive with tiger, bull and white sharksBig animals · 14 min read
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