r/ocean • u/Successful_Tadpole39 • 4d ago
Whale Watch Swimming with a Blue Whale in Timor 🇹🇱
I just finished what was honestly one of the trips of my life in Timor-Leste.
The funny thing is, until about a year ago I had barely even heard of the country. A friend of mine travelled there and told me about this tiny country between Indonesia and Australia where he had gone swimming with blue whales.
That was basically all it took for me to put Timor-Leste on my list.
Timor-Leste is one of the youngest countries in the world and has a pretty intense history. It was a Portuguese colony for centuries and was later occupied by Indonesia before finally becoming independent in 2002.
But what really got my attention was the whales.
Every year around October and November, pygmy blue whales migrate through the waters of Timor-Leste on their way from the Banda Sea towards Australia. And the crazy part is that their migration route takes them right past Dili, the capital.
After Sri Lanka stopped allowing people to enter the water with blue whales, Timor-Leste has become one of the very few places where you can still legally have this kind of encounter.
So this year I finally followed my friend’s recommendation and booked a 3-day open trip with Twin Expeditions.
And yeah… it was insane.
We would head out early in the morning and spend the day searching along the coast. Apart from the guides, there were three local Timorese fishermen on the boat and I genuinely don’t understand how good their eyes are. Half the time they had already spotted a whale before I could see anything at all.
Once a whale was found, everything was actually much calmer than I expected.
There was no chasing it around with the boat. The crew watched the direction the whale was travelling, moved well ahead of it and then we entered the water and waited.
And then suddenly you’re floating there and this enormous blue whale appears underneath you.
Honestly I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
You see it coming out of the blue, completely silent, moving underneath you for a few seconds and then disappearing back into the deep.
We had three days on the water and they were probably three of the most exciting days I’ve ever had while travelling.
What I also loved was Timor-Leste itself. Tourism is still very small, the coastline around Dili is beautiful and once you leave the city you pass little fishing villages and stretches of coast where there is basically nobody around.
The whole thing felt much more like an expedition than a normal wildlife tour.
If anyone here is thinking about Timor-Leste or wants to know anything about swimming with the blue whales there, feel free to ask. I did the trip with Twin Expeditions and would definitely do it again.
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 4d ago
Pygmy blue whales aren't so "pygmy" huh. Thanks for sharing your photo and experience in Timor-Leste!
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u/WantMoFun 3d ago
This is so cool! I spent 3 months in Timor and the diving is next level. Glad it’s getting more attention
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u/ResolutionOk8995 2d ago
How much was it? I looked it up and maybe I'm looking at the wrong site.
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u/Successful_Tadpole39 2d ago
I think they mostly run private expeditions, but I managed to join one of their open trips. It cost $900 for 3 days. Another tour operator offering open trips wanted $1,200 for the same duration. Hope this helps!
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u/ResolutionOk8995 2d ago
That's amazing, any chance I can dm you for the companies information please and thank you.
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