Caribbean · Dominican Republic
Silver Bank
Permit-only snorkel encounters with breeding humpback whales on an offshore bank
Photo: Christopher Michel · CC BY 2.0
Roughly 70 to 80 miles (up to 129 km) north of Puerto Plata, Silver Bank is a shallow carbonate platform where an estimated 3,000–5,000 North Atlantic humpback whales gather each winter to breed and calve. The Dominican Republic protects the bank as a marine mammal sanctuary, and only three permits are issued for the whole season, capping every liveaboard allowed to enter. Guests moor inside the reef for a week, riding tenders out for passive, whale-initiated snorkel encounters — scuba is banned outright. The bank runs 18–30 m deep, with coral heads breaking the surface at low tide.
About diving in Silver Bank
The trip is a week, not a day. Boats leave Ocean World Marina in Cofresí, just west of Puerto Plata, on a Saturday evening and cross overnight, reaching the bank around nine the next morning after roughly ten hours at sea. The mothership then moors inside the reef for five full days, and every day but the travel days brings two tender outings, morning and afternoon, built around the same routine: run out, watch for blows and surface activity, ease alongside a resting or socializing group, and slip snorkelers into the water a few at a time to hold position and let the whale close the distance or not.
Only three permits are issued for the entire Sanctuary for the Marine Mammals of the Dominican Republic, capping the whole season at roughly 540 guests, and no vessel may cross onto the bank without one. Scuba is banned outright — the guidelines are built around a passive, whale-initiated approach: float still, breathe through a snorkel, and let a resting mother and calf, or a competing group of males, come to you. A strong encounter can mean an hour close to motionless in the water with an animal the length of a bus a few metres off; a slow one can mean nothing surfaces close enough to enter for at all.
Conditions are open Atlantic, not a sheltered reef trip. Water sits in the low-to-mid 20s Celsius, sanctuary rules halt tender operations outright once wind passes 25 mph, and both the overnight crossing and the week at anchor move with ocean swell, so seasickness remedies are worth packing alongside mask, fins, snorkel and a wetsuit. The minimum age is eight, with a parent required in the water for younger children. Whale activity is never guaranteed on any single outing — operators plan for six to eight hours of searching most days and treat a close, calm approach as the payoff for the outings that come up empty.
Best time to dive Silver Bank
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season |
| Sea surface | 27°C81°F | 26°C79°F | 26°C79°F | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 27°C81°F |
| Daytime high | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 26°C79°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F |
| Rain | 44 mm1.7 in | 29 mm1.1 in | 33 mm1.3 in | 43 mm1.7 in | 75 mm3.0 in | 55 mm2.2 in | 54 mm2.1 in | 72 mm2.8 in | 82 mm3.2 in | 89 mm3.5 in | 100 mm3.9 in | 49 mm1.9 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 27°C81°F | 26°C79°F | 26°C79°F | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 26°C79°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 44 mm1.7 in | 29 mm1.1 in | 33 mm1.3 in | 43 mm1.7 in | 75 mm3.0 in | 55 mm2.2 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 27°C81°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 54 mm2.1 in | 72 mm2.8 in | 82 mm3.2 in | 89 mm3.5 in | 100 mm3.9 in | 49 mm1.9 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
Whales are present roughly December to mid-April, but permitted trips run only late January through early April; no vessel may cross onto the bank outside that window.
Best months: January, February, March
Silver Bank water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface runs from 26 °C (79 °F) in February to 29 °C (84 °F) in September. Most rain falls from August to November, peaking at about 100 mm (3.9 in) in November; February and March are the driest. Daytime highs reach 30 °C (86 °F) in September and drop to 26 °C (79 °F) in March. Below the surface the water can drop to about 22 °C (72 °F), so pack a 5 mm suit.
Dive types & marine life
Humpbacks arrive from the North Atlantic feeding grounds to breed and calve, with an estimated 3,000–5,000 whales using the bank in a season that runs roughly December to mid-April. Numbers build through January and February and taper by early April as animals begin the return migration north; outside that window the bank sees no whales and no permitted trips.
- Pelagic & blue water
- Whales
Best dive sites in Silver Bank
Polyxeni Wreck
Grounded freighter resting mostly above the surface among the coral heads; boarding needs government permission.
Navidad Bank
Neighbouring bank in the same sanctuary, across the Navidad Bank Passage; not part of the whale-swim itinerary.
Samaná Bay
Coastal bay also protected under the sanctuary; whale-watching there is boat-based, with no in-water swimming permitted.
How to get to Silver Bank
Fly into Gregorio Luperón International Airport (POP) in Puerto Plata, then it's a short taxi to Ocean World Marina in nearby Cofresí, where the boat boards the evening before departure. The whole trip is liveaboard: an overnight crossing out, a week moored on the bank, and an overnight crossing back — there is no day-boat option.
Photos from Silver Bank
Christopher Michel · CC BY 2.0
Christopher Michel · CC BY 2.0
Photo credits
- A humpback whale glides close to the camera underwater, its long white pectoral fin trailing beside it in clear blue Silver Bank water by Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A snorkeler's arm reaches into the water above two humpback whales swimming just below the surface on the Silver Bank by Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Two humpback whale tail flukes break the ocean surface side by side against an open Atlantic horizon on the Silver Bank by Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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