Snorkeling with Whales in Mirissa: Unique Underwater Experiences

The opportunity to swim with whales is a privilege. The act of swimming with whales is an art. Every day is different on the water, and every encounter is unique. We swim with whales most days, but on some days this may only be briefly. Other days we swim for longer periods.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Mirissa - The opportunity to swim with whales is a privilege. The act of swimming with whales is an art. Every day is different on the water, and every encounter is unique. We swim with whales most days, but on some days this may only be briefly. Other days we swim for longer periods.
What's Included
  • Bottled water
  • Snacks
  • Use of snorkeling equipment
Additional Information
  • If no whales are spotted, the booking can be reschedule
Location
Mirissa
We provide transport in a tuk tuk
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(30 Ratings)
5 stars
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1 star
James_h
Apr 21, 2024
Amazing experience - Fantastic! I saw pilot whales, dolphins and turtles. Then, unbelievably, a massive fin whale swam underneath us. Incredible. The skippers are skilled in finding the whales and are friendly and helpful.
Review provided by Viator
Sherpa68627089317
Mar 12, 2024
Amazing - That was amazing!! 🤩 we really really recommend that experience It was incredible the moment when we swam with the whale and the baby also! And we did it 3 times!! The guys on the boat were so professional they really knew when to jump on the water. We’ll never forget that for sure!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Indigoes224
Mar 1, 2024
Honest company - I didn't manage to actually snorkel, but I thought I'd leave a review to appreciate how honest this company was. They were upfront that water visibility was very poor and we'd most likely not be able to spot whales, and gave us a full refund without any hassle. Also, it would be good to note that while the picture shows diving, it is actually snorkelling
Review provided by Tripadvisor
N7546gkshannonm
Dec 11, 2023
<3 - Such a special experience! The guides were fun to spend time with and we were lucky enough to swim with a blue whale 🫶🏽 I did wonder if our presence was pestering the whale though as we were kind of playing tag with it and there were 3 whale tour boats out there at the same time and just one whale. And I watched a documentary a while ago about how whales are super sensitive to boat noise. So the ethics of the whole thing is questionable but I did pay for it and have a great time and then feel guilty later so I don’t know. Worth mentioning though if you are a whale lover. I identify as one so I am thinking a lot about if there are other ways to go about swimming with whales that might feel more consensual with the whales Other thoughts / helpful things - bring sunscreen. Reapply often - bring snacks - and nausea medication just in case! There were many waves to boat through to get to the whale spot so the risk of sea sickness is there. About 40 min there / 40 min back. And also - put out those good vibes.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
795rayanas
May 23, 2023
unforgetable experiance - we had an unforgettable experience! we managed to spot more then 30 pilot whales and swam with them. the team were great and extremely accommodating to our needs. i would definitely recommend them !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Syp00001
Apr 26, 2023
Amazing time swimming with a whale in Mirissa - Amazing once in a lifetime experience!!! The guides were knowledgeable about where to spot the whale and guided us through the experience. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
L9854micharlottea
Jul 4, 2024
ZRI Adventures. All compliments!!! - Due to the bad weather we didn't manage to swim with the whales. ZRI Adventures spent three days trying to schedule this and always kept us informed about the developments. Unfortunately, we had to move on. Nature remains nature. Nice again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Robertonueri
Jul 19, 2023
Great experience! - Super experience, even in low season. We have seen whales despite rough sea. But they were not as many as in the high season, which is why we have voluntarily waived snorkeling. Thanks for the super effort!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michael_s
Mar 20, 2024
Not sure but felt like a scam this day - Well it was one of our most looking forward moments on our Sri Lanka Tour. The booking and booking personal was smooth. 1 Star for this. The pickup was file as well. Just arrived we got a quick welcome and our mask and flippers. Flippers are really not needed like they told us. Then a guy spoke to us and another guy who went with us and mentioned dolphins and turtles which was a bit suspicious … but finally came with … but you’re here for the wales as he found out that were not really exited for that. And mentioned there was a Finnwale around. So off we go with some hope. Well after some time we saw a lot of boats. And we were a bit exited. Coming closer we saw a lot of dolphins. The crew asked us if we wanna try to jump in there. All 4 of us said yes and we tryed. We did this 2 or 3 times you could see them …. Maybe for a second cause they were really scared of the 10 or more boats chasing and surrounding them. So after some tries the feeling got worse cause the dolphins obviously were scared and not very amused about the witchhunt. The Crew felt that and asked us if we wanna try some more or wanna try for the „whale“. All Pax wanted to see the whale so we drove a bit further. But sadly it looked like they don’t communicate anymore and it looked like we needed a lot of luck to see a whale. At this Point i, and i guess the other pax, lost our hope. So we made a big comeback Route with some 10-15 min stops. „The whale needs to breath after this time“ From now on i think the Crew knew there was no whale this day if they didn’t knew this much earlier. At least it felt like that. So i tryed to enjoyed at least the boat trip. The first time on the trip i felt a bit scammed. Some stops later we were back like i imagined. And the crew asked us if we want to see the turtles. We said yes and they drove us there. After a quick search they found two. And one of the crew jumped into the water and lured them with some food. So we jumped into this water and they were quite used to humans. So we could touch them a little and make some nice pictures. A fun thing was that a guy came and we could feed them a little. That was a good Experience at least. So another star for the crew trying to give their best to make the best out of a bad situation and for the qt turtles. After a while we got back to the starting thing. As everybody sorted their minds we were asked if we want a refund or we want to go the next day. So all pax said we want the refund cause we unfortunately have no time to go another hole day. The guy needed to phone and come back with the offer of a 35 percent refund. Because we saw the turtles and dolphins. Now i really felt scammed because there was the official deal: 50 percent refund if you don’t see a whale. So we were a bit pissed and 1 guy immediately left. We showed the guy the deal again because a dolphin is not a whale. Then he came up with: „Of course you can have the 50 percent.“ At this point I felt bad about this trip and had a feeling really got scammed. So the guy organized us a Tuk Tuk which brought us back to the hotel. Looking back at this we are not happy about that trip and it felt like there never was a whale on that day. For sure that’s just how it felt to me. But the straight to the dolphins and the slow turn back made me feel this way. They should be honest about if there is a whale or not cause you at your vacation have no time to waste for a mediocre boat trip. I hope they read this and think about that. If I ever do this again, or try, i would plan some days to have a higher chance to get this experience.
Review provided by Viator
Isabellek775
Dec 15, 2023
Unethical expirence - As amazing as it was to be so close with a magnificent blue whale, this experience felt non consensual with the whale and like we were chasing this whale around the Indian Ocean all day. The guides will spot a whale and drive the boat with its loud engine very fast as close as they can to the whale and scream “Jump out!!”. Whales have very sensitive ears so it felt like we were disturbing the whale. I was under the impression we would drive our boat ahead of the whales and wait for them to come close but that is not what happened and the reviews were all positive ones for this company. I should have done more research and asked more questions. Unfortunately, the experience is tainted for me and I think we need to spread awareness about these companies operating this way.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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October 2024
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