All activities / Freediving / Silver Bank
Freediving in Silver Bank
A shallow bank of coral heads about 90 kilometres north of Puerto Plata, part of a national marine mammal sanctuary and one of the main winter breeding grounds for North Atlantic humpback whales. Reachable only by liveaboard.
Why here
The Silver Bank is one of very few places on earth where you can slip into the water with humpback whales. Thousands gather here between January and April to mate and calve, and the Dominican Republic protects the bank as a marine mammal sanctuary, capping access to three permitted vessels and enforcing a soft, passive-encounter rule: you snorkel at the surface, you do not chase, and you let the whales decide. Curious calves, singing males and mothers resting with newborns all pass within metres. This is a breath-hold, surface-snorkel experience rather than a deep freedive, and no scuba is allowed, which is exactly what keeps it calm for both whales and people. It is a week-long liveaboard trip out of Puerto Plata, small tenders ferrying guests to the animals.
Best months
The season runs January through April, with February and March the peak for mating groups and newborn calves. Encounters are snorkel-only and permit-limited, so numbers in the water stay small. Seas on the open bank can be choppy, and time with the whales depends on their behaviour on the day. No scuba and no diving down are permitted under the sanctuary rules.
Getting there & around
Access is by liveaboard only, sailing from the Puerto Plata area (Cofresi/Ocean World Marina) on fixed week-long cruises that must be booked well ahead through one of the three permitted operators. There is no day access and no independent way onto the bank. Guests transfer to small tenders each day to reach the whales.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Aquatic Adventures Silver Bank
OutfitterThe pioneering Silver Bank whale operator, run by Tom Conlin and now in its fourth decade of expeditions to the humpback breeding grounds. Trips sail aboard the 124-foot liveaboard M/V Turks and Caicos Explorer II, which sleeps 20 guests across 10 cabins, and use small tenders for passive, snorkel-only time with the whales. The company counts more than 900 weeks logged on the bank and holds one of the three permits issued for the sanctuary.
Conscious Breath Adventures
OutfitterOne of only three operators licensed to run in-water humpback trips on the Silver Bank, sailing the mothership Sea Hunter 2 out of Cofresi near Puerto Plata. Guests transfer to small tenders for passive, snorkel-only encounters with calving humpbacks, following the sanctuary's soft-encounter rules. The company, registered as MEF3, has refined its whale operation over nearly twenty years and runs week-long liveaboard cruises between January and April.