The whitetip reef shark is found mainly at coral reefs, but it is also found over sandy flats, in lagoons, and near drop-offs to deeper water. They prefer very clear water and rarely swim far from the bottom. This species is most common at a depth of . Sometimes, they may enter water less than 1 metre deep, and there is a record of a whitetip reef shark being captured from a depth of in the Ryukyu Islands.