World Wildlife Fund WWF Travel Blog

The narrow wooden boat glides smoothly through the Philippine waters. Nervous tension hangs in the air; your eyes scan the waters for signs.

Signs of what?

The peaceful waters surrounding the quiet Indonesian islands of the Raja Ampat Archipelago are a magnet for diverse and abundant marine life. This region contains more than 1,000 fish species and 100s of types of coral. The Coral Triangle itself is a marine wildlife hotspot teeming with almost 600 species of reef-building corals and housing six of the seven marine turtle species found in the world. For first-time travelers to the islands, it’s an incomparable sanctuary.

Preparing for one of WWF’s highly sought-after snorkeling tours? Take a look at our packing list to make sure you’ve got everything you need before taking to the waters.

1. Mask
Taking the time to find a mask that fits your face well is critical. If you suction the mask to your face, without using the strap, it should stay put by itself. Any air leakage means it’s not a good fit.

2. Mask defogger
Goggle defogger can help prevent your mask from fogging up. Be sure to choose one that’s non-toxic, biodegradable and alcohol free, for your protection and for the safety of the reefs and their inhabitants. A simpler option is to spit into the mask and rub the saliva around before washing it out.

3. Snorkel
A critical factor in choosing the right snorkel is the mouthpiece—you want to make sure it feels comfortable. A “purge valve” is a nice feature on many snorkels that lets water out but not in. And you want to choose a snorkel that comes close to your head, which will prevent drag.

4. Swim cap or bandana
Not only will a swim cap or bandana keep hair out of your snorkel, but it will also prevent your scalp from burning on a sunny day. The surgical caps that doctors wear are an ideal type of bandana because the ties prevent them from slipping off. Pick one up from a medical supply company for cheap.

5. Float Vest
For the less confident swimmer, renting or purchasing a float vest is a great way to keep you buoyant and relieve any nervousness.

6. Wetsuit
Besides keeping you warm in cooler water, wetsuits also help prevent sunburns, offer protection from stingy particles in the ocean and provide buoyancy. Shorty wetsuits—ones with short sleeves and leggings that stop right before the knee—are perfect for water that’s just a little cooler than you could swim in comfortably, plus they’re easier to pull on and take up less room in your suitcase.

7. Rash guard
When the water is too warm for a wetsuit, a rash guard will provide the same protection from the sun and ocean stinging bits.

8. Biodegradable sunscreen
Choose a reef-friendly sunscreen, which biodegrades in water. That way you won’t be damaging the reefs you’re there to see.

9. Fins
For snorkeling, shorter fins are often desired—you can change direction easier and they’re not as heavy, making it easier to kick. If you’d like to try free diving, go for longer fins that will help you swim deeper faster.

10. Neoprene socks
Even fins that fit well can cause blisters on your feet, especially on the backs of your ankles. Neoprene socks provide comfort and can also help keep your feet warm.

For travel clothes and items featuring WWF’s logo, check out online apparel retailer New Headings.

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Whale sharks are not whales at all but rather the world’s largest fish, measuring up to 45 feet in length. Given their size, you’d think researchers would know a lot about them. But little is actually known about whale sharks compare with other species; researchers don’t even know how many exist in the world’s oceans. During a WWF tour, snorkelers have the opportunity to swim alongside this mammoth species.

10. With the exception of the Mediterranean Sea, whale sharks can be found in all temperate and tropical oceans around the world and migrate thousands of miles to different feeding grounds.

9. The whale shark has distinctive light-yellow markings (random stripes and dots) on its very thick, dark gray skin.

8. Despite their size, whales sharks are considered harmless and are often referred to as “gentle giants.”

7. It is thought that whale sharks may have a lifespan of 100 to 150 years.

6. The whale shark is a filter feeder and can neither bite nor chew. Although its mouth can stretch to four feet wide, its thousands of teeth are so tiny that it can only eat small shrimp, fish and plankton by using its modified gill rakers as a suction filter.

5. A whale shark can process more than 6,000 liters of water an hour through its gills.

4. A whale shark’s mouth is at the very front of its head—as opposed to the underside of the head like most sharks.

3. It is thought that less than 10 percent of whale sharks born survive to adulthood. Upon giving birth, the mother shark leaves her young to fend for themselves.

2. Whale sharks are slow swimmers, moving at speeds of no little more than 3 miles per hour.

1. The main threat to whale sharks is the growth of unregulated and unsustainable fisheries to supply international trade demands for shark fins, liver oil (used to waterproof wooden boats), skin and meat in East Asian counries.

Swim with whale sharks on a WWF tour.

Snorkeling gives travelers the best of all worlds: The chance to see brilliant and vibrant seascapes without the expense and special training that scuba diving requires. In fact, many of our snorkeling guides no longer strap on their air tanks and descend deep below the surface in scuba gear, because there’s so much to see just below the surface

If you’re considering one of WWF’s highly sought-after snorkeling tours, the following tips are ideal to help beginners and advanced aficionados alike:

10. Suiting up: Most people think wetsuits are only for use in chilly water. But they serve multiple purposes: They’re great at warding off dangerous sunburns, they keep most of your skin shielded from stingy particles in the ocean and they provide buoyancy.

Shorty wetsuits are suitable for nearly all of WWF’s snorkeling tours. One important tip: Don’t forget to put sun block on the backs of your calves, which seems to be the No. 1 spot to burn when you’re snorkeling. (And choose a reef-friendly product.)

9. Floating around: If you aren’t a strong swimmer, don’t have the stamina to stay in the water for a long time or don’t plan to free dive, consider using a float vest (either one that goes around your waist or one that straps across your shoulders). They’re also very helpful in snorkeling spots where currents can be swift.

8. Take the waters: Most of WWF’s snorkeling trips take place near the equator or in other tropical destinations. That means the sun is strong and dehydration is common. Even if you’re immersed in water, its salt content will sap your skin of moisture. Make sure to hydrate with water, juice or other non-alcoholic beverages.

7. Flood insurance: If your mask floods with water while snorkeling, beginners can go above the surface to let the water out. An effective advanced technique, however, doesn’t require that you surface.

Merely hold the top center portion of the mask’s faceplate tight to your face—use the back of your hand to hold it steady. Then blow air out of your mouth. The air should force the water out of the looser bottom portion of your mask.

6. Keep your distance: Give marine life space and don’t approach too closely. Even if an animal approaches you—maintain a safe distance, and do not touch them.

This especially applies to corals. Some are toxic and can cause nasty cuts or even massive infections—not to mention that even an unintended kick to a coral head can damage decades’ worth of growth. During some of our snorkeling outings, the water over reefs is so shallow that you cannot even wear fins—follow your guide’s instructions when visiting these spots.

5. Test swim: Everyone should test out a new snorkel before going on a trip, but no one more so than a snorkeler with a prescription mask. It is common for small holes or tears to be created when a snorkel mask is being fitted with specialty lenses. Be sure to test it out with time to get it fixed if needed.

4. Cranium care: Wearing a swim cap or bandana around your head not only keeps hair out of your snorkel but also helps to keep your scalp from burning on a sunny day. An especially good style of bandana to wear is the one that surgeons don in the operating room—the ties prevent them from slipping off. Pick one up from a medical supply company for cheap.

3. Steamy moments: Like the inside of a car during a winter day, a snorkeling masks fogs up because you are generating heat. Prior to hopping in the water, wet the inside of your mask and dump out the water. Then spit into the mask and rub the saliva around before washing it out. This will prevent some degree of fogginess.

Special anti-fog gels are available on the market that work rather well; be sure to choose one that’s non-toxic, biodegradable and alcohol free, for your protection and for the safety of the reefs and their inhabitants.

2. Dive into it: Diving underwater and descending 10 to 30 feet is an advanced snorkeling technique that can add tremendously to the experience. Not only do you get a closer look at things below the sea, but you’ll also get yourself into a better position to snap photographs of supersized coral tables or take a closer look at a sea fan.

Diving while snorkeling requires that you learn to force your ears to “pop” to equalize pressure and swim below the surface more comfortable. You also need to practice expelling water from your snorkel by forcing a strong burst of air through the tube as you clear the water’s surface. Special “purge snorkels” are available on the market for those who want an extra line of protection against getting water in your mouth.

1. Don’t be touchy: Resist the temptation to pocket a pretty souvenir shell or seemingly dead sea star—it’s not ecologically sound, and it could even be illegal.

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“Over there, over there!!!  Get your masks and flippers on!” our interaction officer, Embet Guadamor, yells. He’s standing high on the mast of an outrigger pointing southwest to what looks like open ocean. But it’s not open ocean to his eagle eyes. He’s spotted a dark, spotted mass under the water, and it can only mean one thing: We’re about to enter the realm of the whale sharks.

We quickly put on snorkels and masks and wait for his order to jump in. Once underwater, a swirling mass of bubbles, flippers, algae and plankton give way to an ominous sight. A giant hulking mass is heading straight for us, like a bus on a collision course. We wait a couple of seconds longer and then the mouth, wide open, comes into view. Like the opening scene in “Star Wars,” the massive, hulking body slowly and silently floats by in what seems to take minutes.

As we get to the end of the body, I realize that the tail is coming a little too close for comfort. I need to get out of the way quickly because getting swatted by the tail is about the only way to get hurt by what must be the most inappropriately named animal in the world.

The whale shark is the world’s largest living fish species, and it is just that … a fish. Whale sharks are filter feeders that eat plankton and algae and are about as likely to attack a human as William Hung is to win a Grammy. Little is known about their behavior, feeding patterns or reproductive habits. Because they range over vast areas, we don’t even know how many there are. And perhaps most importantly, they are classified as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

I came to Donsol, the Philippines, with a crew from ABC New’s “Nightline”—Correspondent Bill Weir and Producer/Cameraman Almin Karamehmedovic. They wanted to document one of the most successful conservation stories in recent history – how a sleepy fishing village was transformed into the undisputed “whale shark capital of the world.”

It’s a 40-minute flight, followed by 1 ½-hour drive to Donsol. But it’s a world apart from the traffic-choked streets of Manila. You are met at the airport by spectacular views of Mayon Volcano, the world’s most perfect cone volcano. And once you arrive in Donsol, it doesn’t take long to enter an underwater experience that should be ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

It wasn’t always this way. While the locals have known about the whale sharks for more than 100 years, the scientific world didn’t find out about them until 1998 when local scuba divers captured the first video documentation and alerted staff from WWF-Philippines. WWF then worked with the community and other conservationists and scientists to begin developing a scientific and ecotourism program.

Now the fishermen, who had previously been afraid of (or even hostile) to the whale sharks, are reaping major benefits and they are the whale sharks’ fiercest defenders. Thousands of visitors from around the world descend on Donsol every year to snorkel with the whale sharks, leaving behind millions of Philippine pesos that are shared equally among the community, boat operators, whale shark interaction officers and others. 

Over the course of two days, we swam with around 10 whale sharks, including a 25-foot behemoth that stayed with us for almost five minutes. We were careful to follow the guidelines written by WWF staff to ensure the safety of swimmers and the conservation of the whale sharks. No scuba gear is allowed – only snorkels – because WWF wants to limit time spent with whale sharks, and bubbles from scuba gear may disturb them. And we have to maintain a respectable distance from the fish, mostly for our own safety, but also so they stay near the surface. Getting too close usually results in them diving for deeper water.

WWF is documenting the sharks through a simple, but effective tool. Every day, WWF researcher Dave David dives with the sharks and photographs their gills. He then enters the photographs into a global whale shark database and compares each photograph with others by carefully aligning the gills and then comparing the spot patterns.  He then determines if it is a new sighting or an existing one because a whale shark’s distinctive spots are like a human fingerprint – no two are alike. In fact, anybody who photographs a whale shark can enter their photo into the ECOCEAN database.

David also works with scientists from around the world to satellite tag the sharks to help determine their behavior and migratory patterns. They can travel thousands of miles and very little is known about where they go, so by attaching satellite buoys on thin ropes to their bodies, we can get priceless data that will help determine how best to protect them.

It was hard to leave Donsol, its whale sharks and its people behind. I wanted to keep diving past the point of exhaustion because each encounter was unique and exhilarating. During one encounter, I was eye-to-eye with a whale shark who simply stared at me with an almost perplexed look, probably wondering why in the heck I found him so fascinating.

We hit a clear, plankton-free patch of water and sunlight just poured in and lit up the spots on his immense body. He stayed with me for about 45 seconds and then gently peeled off into deeper and darker water. While for him this encounter was probably like hundreds of others he’ll have in Donsol during the season, for me it was 45 seconds that will last a lifetime.

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See a video of whale sharks filmed during this outing.

Alvaro Hernandez jumps at every chance he gets to dip into the ocean with whale sharks. As a former senior fisheries officer with WWF’s Mesoamerican Reef team, Hernandez is among the researchers and conservationists trying to learn more about the elusive, massive fish.

We spoke with Hernandez from his office in Cancun, Mexico, about the first time he swam with whale sharks.

WWF: It’s a thrill to see a whale shark from a boat, but how is it different in the water?
Alvaro Hernandez: In a boat, you can see the mouth and head, but sometimes you can’t see the rest of the body. You don’t have an idea exactly how big it is. But when you’re in the water, and you see a whale shark coming to you, you suddenly understand!

WWF: What are your memories of the first time you ever swam with a whale shark?
AH: Aside from it being such a huge species that is so impressive? I remember the whale shark was so quiet. It was incredible to be near such a giant who is so silent. It’s a thrill, yet it really gives you a calm feeling to the core.

WWF: Is it difficult to keep up?
AH: You swim as hard as you can, kicking as hard as you can, just to stay six feet away, to look him in the eye. When you can’t keep up any longer, you just let him continue on, and you get to see the whole body, all the way back to the tail.

WWF: Were you able to look into its mouth?
AH: Oh, yes, absolutely! One whale was around 30 feet long, and his mouth was, maybe one yard open. I remember the mouth looked like a cave—so dark, you couldn’t see anything.

WWF: Was that frightening?
AH: Maybe it’s a little bit scary, but you know nothing will happen! They are very peaceful animals.

WWF: The waters near Holbox Island weren’t always regulated. Is it correct that fishermen used to let tourists ride on the backs of whale sharks?
AH: Yes, that’s true. The whale sharks then started to avoid those areas, and the fishermen would chase them with their boats. The sharks would get hurt by the propellers. When some researchers saw the practice, it became a concern.

WWF: And today?
AH: I’m very impressed by the guides there now. They make sure to tell you the rules, and you had to comply. For example, only two people are allowed to be in the water at a time [besides the guide], and they really enforced that. They seem to regulate themselves well.

Join a WWF tour to Mexico to swim with whale sharks.

The third in an occasional series about nature and wildlife photography.

Of the wide-ranging variety of subjects you could photograph on a nature tour, marine life may be the most daunting. In fact, only 10 percent of all travelers take photos underwater on snorkeling and scuba diving tours, according to expedition leader and underwater photographer Thomas Baechtold.

“You need quite good diving skills before you can take really good pics,” says Baechtold, a dive master who often helps lead WWF voyages. “For snorkelers, using ‘snappy cams,’ as I like to call point-and-shoot digital cameras, is slightly more challenging because you’re on top [of the water’s surface] looking down.”

Still, underwater enthusiasts shouldn’t be dissuaded from purchasing a waterproof camera casing and trying their hand at underwater photography. Baechtold shared his five best tips for capturing stellar photos below the sea:

Turn off the flash. The reason many non-professional underwater photos often look hazy is because the flash illuminates particles and nutrient material in the water in front of your subject, rather than lighting up the subject itself.

Professional underwater photographers often use a highly specialized underwater strobe on an extendable arm to shoot, for instance, the pastel hues of huge gorgonian fans clinging to underwater canyon walls off Roatan, Honduras. While they’re mandatory for professional underwater photographers, the strobes are pricey and not travel friendly for the layman photographer.

For photographers with simple equipment, Baechtold suggests changing your ISO setting to 400 or 800 and shooting without a flash on a sunny day.

Use the macro setting on point-and-shoot cameras. Whereas professional photographs will opt for wide-angle lens for their SLR cameras when shooting underwater, the macro setting is best for layman photographers. You won’t be able to get a stellar shot of a gam of patrolling juvenile blacktip reef sharks, but for subjects that you shoot close up—jewel-toned mandarinfish in Palau, or perhaps a coral pinnacle off the island of Tuvalu in the South Pacific, for example—the close up will lead to a vibrant and clear photo.

Shoot slightly upward. If you take photos with your camera pointed downward, you’ll have a very dark background that looks like a hole. Shoot upward, and you’ll likely capture sunlight sparking above the reefs.

For snorkelers, this can be tough, because you’re already at the water’s surface. Those who are comfortable holding their breath should free dive below the surface to get slightly lower and shoot upward, Baechtold advises.

Anticipate what the marine life is going to do before you take a photo of it. Otherwise, you’ll risk getting a shot of just a turtle flipper or a whale fluke. Baechtold says he will swim in a wide circle around a marine creature to get ahead of it before attempting a photo.

Try to hold your breath once you’re ready to snap the photo. This applies to both snorkelers and scuba divers. Your camera will stay steadier and you won’t scare away the animal with your air bubbles.

Go on a WWF snorkeling or diving expedition.

See Thomas Baechtold’s nature photography.

How many travel experiences can honestly, truly be defined as “surreal?” Few come close to the extraordinary experience of slipping into a quiet, dark lake with millions of marmalade-colored jellyfish on the rock island of Eil Malk in Palau.

Known locally as Ongeim'l Tketau, the isolated saltwater lake was once connected to the ocean by a tunnel or another outlet that naturally became closed off from the sea. Losing all natural predators, the jellyfish population grew to an estimated 10 million.

WWF’s Elissa Poma told us about her experience in the lake during a WWF’s trip to Micronesia.

WWF Travel: How do you get to the lake?
Elissa Poma: We motored by boat to the island and checked in at the ranger station. From there you have to hike along a trail. It takes around 15 minutes to go up and another 10 minutes or so to get down to the lake.

I wouldn’t classify the walk as easy—definitely a moderate hike, but very short and not too difficult, thanks to the stairs that the national park service carved into the limestone island. Limestone can get a little slippery, and some of the steps are steep, but there are ropes to hold onto. We did just fine wearing rubber-soled sandals, which we left on a lakeside dock.

WWF: What was your first perception of the lake?
EP: Upon approaching the lake, I was immediately taken by how quiet it was. Besides our group of 16, there was another small group of Japanese tourists, but everyone was eerily silent. And swimming so gently that you barely heard a splash.

About two-thirds of the lake was shaded – the rest was lit by a gorgeous, golden sunlight that envelopes the Palauan islands in the late afternoon. The whole lake was sheltered by tall trees, so it had a sunken-in feeling, too.

WWF: So then you got into the water?
EP: Yes, I climbed down the small ladder from the dock. I swam toward the rest of our group. Or doggy-paddled, more like it. You’re not allowed to wear fins, because the lake is so packed with fragile jellyfish – a fin blade would slice a jellyfish in two with little effort.

At first I didn’t see a single jellyfish – just a few sardine-sized silvery fish, which are the only other inhabitants of the lake besides the jellyfish.

Then, an orange orb appeared. Then another. And another. Suddenly, it was like swimming in a lava lamp—all these gelatinous blobs undulating around me, bouncing off my arms and my head and my feet. It reminded me of those films you watched in science class as a kid showing what gas molecules look like—bouncing off one another, moving at different speeds and in different directions.

I think we spent 45 minutes in the water. I lost all sense of time and place because it was an experience unlike anything I’ve ever had in my life.

WWF: What was the water like?
EP: Like a slightly murky, emerald-colored bath. The water was warm—slightly chillier in the shaded parts of the lake, where the jellyfish like to congregate, but still tropical. The color is a rich blue-green color, glistening with nutrient bits picking up sunlight. It all made for a nice contrast for the marmalade-colored jellyfish.

Interesting enough, it’s highly dangerous to go more than 50 feet deep, because the bottom portion of the lake is a giant layer of hydrogen sulfide. For that reason, scuba diving is prohibited.

WWF: Are the jellyfish really stingless?
EP: Technically, these jellyfish do possess stinging cells, called nematocysts. But the cells are so small that human tissue can’t perceive any stinginess—perhaps just a little tingle on thin layers of skin, like when a jellyfish brushed one WWF snorkeler’s lips.

Having spent every summer on the Jersey shore and thus encountered my fair share of the stingy kinds, I was definitely skeptical of this before I got into the water. But trust me: The only thing you’ll feel is that you’re experiencing one of the most astounding moments of your life.

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Skimming water above a coral reef off Ngeruktabel Island in the Republic of Palau, Ron Leidich takes a deep breath and free dives 35 feet to the sea floor. Snorkel mask strapped on, he’s gripping a stick that looks more like a sharpened broom handle than an important tool in marine conservation.

Leidich, a biologist and WWF snorkeling tour leader, spots his target—a spiny, dinner plate-sized crown-of-thorns starfish clinging to the side of a roughly textured coral head. This particular starfish is a carnivorous species that feeds on coral polyps. One starfish can eat its weight in coral daily and can consume up to 65 square feet of living coral reef a year.

Raising the wooden stick above his head, Leidich thrusts its point through the spiky sea star. He shimmies his way to the surface, carefully holding the spear so that the starfish’s poisonous barbs keep their distance from his arms. He put the starfish in a bucket on his boat, later dumping his bounty in a small cave carved into one of Palau’s many uninhabited rock islands.

The spear might appear homemade and Leidich’s harvesting technique may be slow, but the method has proven to be effective in the battle to save coral reefs from the invasive species that’s destroying some of the region’s oldest-growth coral gardens.

Leidich leads removal efforts, having ridded reefs of more than 5,000 of them and recruited dive shops, conservation organizations, fishermen and concerned citizens to help.

“I explained that the crown-of-thorns plague was like a wildfire burning down the coral city,” he says. “We couldn’t expect to save everything, but we could protect our most precious assets.”

Leidich first witnessed ancient coral heads being decimated by the ravenous starfish in 1997. By 1998—the same year an El Nino event led to widespread bleaching throughout sun-loving reefs in the Pacific—he began removing the starfish.

“Like firefighters protecting the city's cathedrals, museums and capitals, we chose to remove the starfish from the oldest and most diverse gardens in Palau,” he explained. “Using a site-specific management strategy, we did not move on until a reef was completely free of crown-of-thorns threat.”

As a result, important fish habitats, nurseries and old-growth coral gardens were protected, and additional vigilance will ensure the reefs’ survival.

“Every time I snorkel these reefs, I feel a measure of pride in our accomplishments, Leidich said. “We could’ve stood by and let the starfish destroy these precious gifts, but instead we chose intervention.”

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