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Whale shark tour operator recommendations? Preferably those, that have smaller groups and let you swim longer with them.
The whale shark experience is highly regulated by the Mexican government. You have one experience to have, you can't really do anything custom. Gov limits it to 12 people max on the boat, 2 people in the water max at a time. Must be accompanied by a certified guide in the water and the boat has to have a whale shark license to approach them. The price is fixed at $125 per person. If you find somebody doing anything different then this they are doing it illegally.
Your times in the water with the whale sharks will be limited to a combination of factors -
1) how many whale sharks are in the vicinity which will dictate how long you can be there, if the sharks decide to start diving down and avoiding the surface then the shows over.
2) how many people on the boat are not so sea sick they are able to get in the water over and over again when it's there turn
#2 is something to think about. You'll always most likely be on a full boat of 12 people. However, the ride is rough on it's good days to very rough on bad days, (you're miles out in unprotected ocean on a small boat), the more people that get sea sick the less of them will want to get in the water and the more rotations you'll get.
My devious advice would be to book with an operator catering to Cancun tourists!
6 of them will end up sea sick by the time you reach the whale sharks, they will only get in the water once or twice or some not at all, and then pretty soon you'll see nobody at the rail wanting to go in next so you kindly ask "are you guys going?" they will wave you to go ahead and you'll find yourself in the water over and over again.
Eat a light breakfast of just toast, take your sea sick pills, maybe hand out some tequila shots to your fellow passengers on the way out.
Originally Posted by PansSiren
Afterwards, we stopped by the beach at Isla Mujeres (never stepped on land, but waded in 3' water... which was PERFECT in my opinion!) to have fresh shrimp ceviche, guacamole, and cervezas! The scenery was beautiful, sparkling clear blue water, white "ashtray" sand (the softest sand my feet ever felt!), not a cloud in the sky, and the food was delicious!
That was North Beach, you were right in front of our hotel. When out boat made the beach stop instead of getting back on the boat and heading back to the dock in Cancun to let off some guests and then riding it back to Isla Mujeres, we opted to instead just say good bye and wade to shore back to our hotel and lunch.
Thank you everyone for the compliments! I'm really happy you enjoy it!! I'd like to have gotten some varied shots of them, but once I hit the water, my excitement threw all plans out the window!! I just wanted to swim alongside them for as long and close as I could and just kinda tried to keep the camera facing the sharks! It's a good thing the GoPro has such a wide angle!!
Originally Posted by Cumbo
Whale shark tour operator recommendations? Preferably those, that have smaller groups and let you swim longer with them.
We've been trying to find an operator, that would leave earlier, would be there longer, would have smaller groups or something like that. Really hard to differentiate between any of the operators. Based on all the reviews, everyone has just been really satified with their company.
Mike pretty much covered all the regulation regarding a day out with the sharks, but I will add that it is TIRING!! We got 3 rounds of swimming with the sharks for about 10 min each time, and when we asked if we could have another turn, it was no problem (so we got 4)! On the other hand, some people stopped after 2 turns and just watched from the boat. The boat will do their best to drop you off near/in the path of a shark, but you have to do a lot of swimming! We had a pretty calm day on the water and it was still very tiring, I imagine this could be a lot worse if conditions are rough! I also knew my time was limited, so I was racing all over from shark to shark to see as many as I could for as long as possible! After 10 min, I was kind of ready to get back on the boat - but I could have kept going out all day! It was also nice watching the sharks from the surface, so I enjoyed my time on the boat as well. It was even really fun pointing out the sharks and directing the other snorkelers where to go!
As far as boat assignments go, they will fill those suckers up to the max! There were a lot of groups at the dock that morning (both big and small), and they were being combined and split up to make sure 12 customers were on each boat. I'm sure you could do smaller groups, but I'd be more sure that it will cost a much shinier peso!
Originally Posted by James R
Really good video John... i hope you don't accidentally upload "that" video clip, though hahahah!
HAHA, which one?!?!? There's LOTS of 'that' video clips... and you remember what NetDoc said... anything that happens in Cozumel, gets posted on ScubaBoard!!!! hahahahahaha. But don't worry, you'll be safe! lmao
Originally Posted by bbarada
We went from Cozumel last Thursday, July 5th. It was truly an awesome experience. I took GoPro video too. You can see it here:
VERY cool!! You got to hang around that shark for an eternity! Awesome awesome awesome!!! Great shot of the mouth at the beginning, and I loved when the 2 little fish swam out of it's mouth when it opened up!! "WE'RE FREEEEEE!!!!" hahahaha
Originally Posted by Mike
the more people that get sea sick the less of them will want to get in the water and the more rotations you'll get.
My devious advice would be to book with an operator catering to Cancun tourists!
Eat a light breakfast of just toast, take your sea sick pills, maybe hand out some tequila shots to your fellow passengers on the way out.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! I LOVE the way you think!! Reminds me of a not-so-water-confident couple on our boat. The wife was trying to get back on the boat, had her mask off and her fins on. The husband was telling her to take her fins off, I was telling her to put her mask on...but she didn't listen as she kept trying to climb the ladder. Water was splashing in her eyes the entire time, I felt pretty bad, really. She would almost get part of her foot on a rung of the ladder before she got washed away, then flailed all around because she had no snorkel or mask on (holding them both in her hand) and could barely keep her head out of the water... and this repeated a few times! ::face palm::
Originally Posted by Mike
That was North Beach, you were right in front of our hotel. When out boat made the beach stop instead of getting back on the boat and heading back to the dock in Cancun to let off some guests and then riding it back to Isla Mujeres, we opted to instead just say good bye and wade to shore back to our hotel and lunch.
What a beautiful photo, that's exactly the spot!! I was kind of glad we never made it to shore, saved me the time of having to walk into the water!
---------- Post Merged at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:32 AM ----------
Originally Posted by Mike
The price is fixed at $125 per person.
Originally Posted by DandyDon
So the feds jacked the price so much...?
We paid $175... OUCH!! Worth EVERY penny though, and I ain't complaining about it! It is something I will remember forever, and one of the most magnificent things I have ever witnessed - but I doubt I would ever do it again at that price point! I chalked it up as a "once in a lifetime" thing.
HAHA, which one?!?!? There's LOTS of 'that' video clips... and you remember what NetDoc said... anything that happens in Cozumel, gets posted on ScubaBoard!!!! hahahahahaha. But don't worry, you'll be safe! lmao
I hope you do post "safety stop shenanigans" actually. The "other" video that we laughed about in the bar is the one I am referring to hahahah!
I hope you do post "safety stop shenanigans" actually. The "other" video that we laughed about in the bar is the one I am referring to hahahah!
Oh heck yeah, now I don't have to ask for permission! lmao! and yeah... this board will flip upside down when I get to the OTHER video, OMG HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You know what they say, photos are better than words, and video is better than photos!!!
... now just to think of where I should put it... Basic, Advanced, for the agencies, or the pub??? lmao!
You can probably always find someone cheaper, it will be a you get what you pay for, cheaper will always equal a smaller boat. It's open ocean, biggest boat you can get is well, well worth it for comfort in the conditions that exist out there and can change so quickly. Small panga equals a long slow ride and a nasty ride. The size of the boat will dictate how fast you can go as the waves will beat the living hell out of you the faster you go. There were 52 boats at the whale shark site when we did it, we saw a large variety of sized boats there, from tiny pangas who you felt sorry for, all the way up to the big sea worthy boats we were on.
Keep in mind anything you do on the water around Isla Mujeres, be it diving, whale shark snorkeling, or sport fishing, is going to be like being on the east side of Cozumel, not the serene protected west side of Cozumel where everyone is used to the glass like conditions. You're basically on unprotected ocean waters for anything associated with Isla Mujeres. Boat size is really something to always consider for anything you do there.
Originally Posted by PansSiren
We paid $175... OUCH!! Worth EVERY penny though, and I ain't complaining about it! It is something I will remember forever, and one of the most magnificent things I have ever witnessed - but I doubt I would ever do it again at that price point! I chalked it up as a "once in a lifetime" thing.
You had transportation costs in that $175 also right? They charged you the $125 for the actual boat trip, the other $50 was for getting to the boat I believe.
But it's my understanding a straight - jump on a boat, go out, snorkel with the whale sharks, come back, they can't charge more than $125 per person legally. They can tack on to the $125 I'm sure by just adding to the trip, such as adding on a snorkel stop on the way back or transportation.
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Originally Posted by bbarada
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! I LOVE the way you think!! Reminds me of a not-so-water-confident couple on our boat. The wife was trying to get back on the boat, had her mask off and her fins on. The husband was telling her to take her fins off, I was telling her to put her mask on...but she didn't listen as she kept trying to climb the ladder. Water was splashing in her eyes the entire time, I felt pretty bad, really. She would almost get part of her foot on a rung of the ladder before she got washed away, then flailed all around because she had no snorkel or mask on (holding them both in her hand) and could barely keep her head out of the water... and this repeated a few times! ::face palm::