This morning was up at 6:30 am for coffee. Had a dive briefing at 7 and on the boat at 7:30.  Did our usual coral reef dive. Today is was on a wall. Nice dive and uneventful.  Was told upon arrival here that whale shark sighing trumps everything.  It is early to see whale sharks, but all the divers are hopeful. Back on the boat after our dive the captain announced that he saw a whale shark.  It is easy to find them, just look for all the commotion on top of the water.  The water is turbulent, there are swooping birds, fish jumping about, and reef sharks following scooping up the remains.  Captain Roland zoomed the boat to the sight. When you see the whale shark close to the surface, jump in quickly on snorkel.  It was a bit intimidating to see the dorsel fins of the reef sharks on the surface. I jumped in anyway.  The whale shark was coming right toward me!  It looked me right in the eye and smiled!  Then proceeded on swimming right under my feet.  I could see its spots and the full length of its 40ft or so body, seemed close enough to touch it. WOW! What an  experience! Too bad I did not have my camera for that perfect moment.  We went back to the island, gathered some of the islands diving staff that are monitoring, tagging, photographing and logging each sighting.  An expedition was quickly organized, to go back out try to see the whale shark again.  Some of the guest went and some of the staff. I went and took my camera.  Capt. Roland found the spot, waited for it to come near the surface. He called it, “NOW”, we all jumped in on snorkel, doing backwards rolls into the water,,. I was about 10 ft away to see it swim by, got pics this time. This whale shark was a little smaller, maybe 15- 20 ft or so. Then the whale shark took a a dive straight down into the ocean depths.  Got back in the boat. Captain followed the water commotion, pulled alongside, NOW!, all jumped in. This time I only saw the tail. Next time, I was one of the last and missed it, that was it, could not find them after much searching. It was such an exciting day, the highlight of my trip.