Silver Bank Whale Trips

What and where the Silver Bank is

The Silver Bank (Banco de la Plata) is a wide, shallow bank of coral reefs and sand in the Atlantic, roughly 70 to 90 nautical miles north of the Dominican Republic's coast. Its name comes from the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, which was wrecked on the reefs in 1641 and partly salvaged decades later. Many other ships have been lost on the bank, which is why it is a hazard for shipping and a natural refuge for whales.

Every winter, thousands of North Atlantic humpback whales migrate south from their feeding grounds off New England, Canada, Greenland and Iceland to the warm, protected water of the bank. Here they mate, give birth and nurse their calves before heading north again in spring. The Dominican Republic protects the area as part of the Marine Mammal Sanctuary, which also includes the nearby Navidad Bank and Samaná Bay.

How a Silver Bank trip works

Only a small number of vessels hold permits to take visitors onto the bank, and they run organized week-long trips during the season. Boats leave from Puerto Plata, cross overnight, and anchor in the sheltered water inside the reef. From there, guests go out in small tenders with a trained guide to look for whales.

When a whale or a mother and calf are calm and resting, the guide may let a small group slip quietly into the water to snorkel nearby. These "soft in-water encounters" follow strict rules: no chasing, no touching, no scuba tanks, and the whale decides how close it comes. On a good day you may watch a calf rise to breathe beside its mother, hear the song of a male through the water, or see males racing in competitive groups at the surface from the tender.

Because the boats are few and the season is short, trips often sell out many months, and sometimes more than a year, in advance. Expect a significant cost: you are paying for a week on a liveaboard in a remote, protected place.

Is it a dive trip?

Not really. Scuba diving with the whales is not allowed, and the experience is about snorkeling and watching from the tenders. You should be comfortable snorkeling in open water, sometimes with waves, and able to climb back into a small boat. Some divers combine the trip with a few days of reef diving on the north coast before or after: see Sosúa scuba diving, a short drive from Puerto Plata.

Samaná Bay whale watching

If a week at sea is not for you, Samaná Bay on the north-east coast is the other place to see humpbacks in the Dominican Republic. From about mid-January to the end of March, licensed whale-watching boats leave the town of Santa Bárbara de Samaná for half-day trips into the bay, where whales come close to the coast. You stay on the boat; swimming with the whales is not allowed there. Samaná has its own airport, El Catey, and it can also be reached by road from Santo Domingo or, on a long day trip, from Punta Cana.

Planning your trip

• Book early and choose your week: February and March usually have the most whales and the most activity.
• Pack a good mask, snorkel and fins you know, a long-sleeved rash guard or thin wetsuit, reef-safe sunscreen and motion-sickness tablets for the crossing.
• Insurance: check that your travel insurance covers a remote liveaboard and that it includes evacuation. See the Dominican Republic dive travel guide.
• Season: the whale season sits inside the dry season. Compare it with diving conditions on the best time to dive in the Dominican Republic page.
• Combine it: after the whales, a few days on the reefs and wrecks of Bayahibe makes a full Dominican Republic trip.