Dive Review of Nosy Sakatia/same in
Africa/Madagascar, Nosy Sakatia Lodge

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Nosy Sakatia/same: "whale shark season", Oct, 2023, by Michael Joest, Kehl, DE ( Top Contributor 48 reports with 29 Helpful votes). Report 12702.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Nosy Sakatia Lodge Madagascar (see undercurrent 9/22) The whale sharks appeared last year end of Sept just when I left the island. This year I planned better to get the chance of an encounter with these amazing gentle giants. Bingo, it worked as Giorgia our marine biologist and dive guide had promised “these guys are cruising around somewhere”. We looked for seabirds flying around on one spot or floating in a tight circle. Often we saw a feeding frenzy of Bonitos around these places. Gi explained, it´s some kind of food chain, there are small fish close to the surface feeding on algae and plankton floating in a thick layer around. The Bonitos and birds were chasing these. Underneath often cruised a whale shark with open mouth. Already on our first try we encountered one of these awesome creatures swimming in slow motion towards us. It was a huge one at least 11 m. One yellow pilot fish right in front of his mouth, a couple of remora hanging underneath it´s pectoral fins or cruising around on the animal. The Go Pro Heroes clicked away like hell. The results we together looked at later at the beach, each one showing his best shots, some I feel had already edited theirs. We several times met these guys then. Some bigger w sharks stayed around a while even sometimes turned around to meet us head on. The smaller animals often accelerated even though it´s tail moved slowly onwards, soon disappearing in the plankton soup with no chance for us to follow. On our way home from one of these outings with dolphins jumping beside the boat, our captain shouted “balleine” which means whale, pointing to the horizon. Everybody is frozen in motion then wild action starts. With Hero to far away some tried with their cell phones to take pictures. And really in the distance two humpback whales surfaced, blew, and seconds later to flukes lifted out of the water to say bye before their dive down into deep blue. The captain told us it could take 40 min or more before they would come up again and nobody knows where. The M government does not allow you to enter the water with ... Subscribe to get the full story. Active subscribers continue reading here
Websites	same
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	worldwide more than 100 destinations, mostly South Pacific and Asia, Africa and Caribbean
Closest Airport	Nosy Be	Getting There	best with Air Ethiopia or Air France
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	27-29°C / 81-84°F	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	5-30 M / 16-98 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	no
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None] ... Subscribe to get the full story. Active subscribers continue reading here

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Dive Review of Nosy Sakatia/same in Africa/Madagascar, Nosy Sakatia Lodge

Nosy Sakatia/same: "whale shark season", Oct, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Nosy Sakatia/same in
Africa/Madagascar, Nosy Sakatia Lodge