Rincon Humpback Whale Diving
Dive site
Every winter, hundreds of North Atlantic humpback whales pass through the Mona Passage to breed and calve — and Rincon is the closest launch point. From January through March, operators run dedicated whale encounter dives: you slip in quietly when a whale is resting or at the surface, descend to mid-water, and wait. Mothers with calves are the headline encounter. Outside whale season the same boats run reef dives on the Rincon shelf, a gently sloping terrace of plate corals, sea fans, and reef fish that holds up well despite the hurricane exposure.
Conditions
Depth
8 to 30 m
Open water and up
Current
Can be moderate
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
10 to 18 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
25 to 30°C
Shorty wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Vis (m) | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| Current | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Strong | Moderate | Gentle | Gentle |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Bottlenose dolphin
Photo: Frank Krasovec · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Caribbean reef shark
Photo: Rafi Amar · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Green sea turtle
Photo: MARC MARTIN SOLA · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Humpback whale
Photo: Wayne and Pam Osborn · CC BY-NC
Rare
Now and then
Field journal
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