We had such an amazing time. Afro Whale Shark is by far the best and most ethical whale shark safari company in Mafia. Our guides were very knowledgable, respectful of the whale shark's well being, and gave us an experience that we will never forget. We also loved that the company is locally owned.

Wat een ervaring! Alles was goed geregeld. De ophaalservice van bij het hotel, de vlucht en transport naar de locatie waar we vertrokken. Met 6 mensen gingen we op een kleine boot de woelige Indische oceaan op. We vernamen van anderen dat ze al 3 dagen geen walvishaaien hadden gezien dus het was spannend. Na 2.5 uur dobberen zag het er voor ons ook niet goed uit. Enigszins teleurgesteld keerden we terug naar de kust, ondanks de grote inspanningen die de gidsen deden om er toch één te vinden. En dan plots sloeg de stemming over naar spanning. Ineens diende alles snel te gaan en sprongen we in het diepe. Door het troebele water zagen we niet direct wat er gaande was. Toen plots 2 meter onder onze voeten er een mastodont verscheen. Het was een jonkie van ongeveer een 5 meter lang. Wat een prachtig dier en wat een privilege dat we dit mochten zien. Een groot wowgevoel, verwondering en dankbaarheid kan het beste omschreven worden. De gids nam me bij de arm en leidde me in de juiste richting, deze mannen hebben ervaring wat je een veilig gevoel geeft. Het is niet de goedkoopste uitstap maar als je kan moet je deze (waarschijnlijk) eenmalig ervaring meemaken! Bedankt afro whalesharks voor de goede zorgen.

WOW is all I can say about this once in a lifetime experience.

We made two trips with Afro Whale Shark Safari, the first was not great but the second was amazing. The weather was not good for the first trip and, when it rained, we all got wet and cold. The poor weather was also probably why we did not find any whale sharks. The staff of Afro Whale Shark Safari did their absolute best to find whale sharks, and spent many hours in the rain looking for them, but to no avail. My issue with the tour operator was merely that they were ill prepared for the cold weather. A few light weight rain capes, some dry towels, or a flask of coffee would have made a huge difference. On the second trip the staff were once again assiduous in their efforts and, after quite a few hours, found us two whale sharks. The first was a mature animal that was immense and impressive. Sadly it was swimming quite deep and fast so the experience was short. Some operators would have stopped at this point, mission accomplished, but not Afro Whale Shark Safari. They continued scouring the seas until they found another that was moving slower and near the surface. It was a juvenile but was still an incredible creature and we enjoyed at least 30 minutes of swimming alongside it. In the end, it was all worth it and I'd rank this as an experience that should sit on anyone's bucket list.

The trip itself was amazing, we were a small group (two friends of mine, me and another couple), the guides were friendly and helpful when swimming with the whale sharks together. Lunch was included - delicious with a vegan / vegetarian option available on the spot. We were able to book our trip the night before and things worked out great considering how last minute it was. The only downside was that apparently they forgot to book our return flight for two of us - we had to message the team several times during the trip until they sent us a flight confirmation like two hours before the actual flight, and since we ended up on a different flight than our friend, we assume this was done at the very last minute. You can imagine this was quite stressful as we were already on Mafia Island, and what if we hadn't had a decent internet connection there?... All in all, however, it was a wonderful experience and now a favourite travel memory!