You MUST go see the WHALE SHARKS!!!

[ocdiver1]

Good to hear Mike..now that I'm thinking about it we pmed about them before when you were asking for info

[Cumbo]

That's a good point, Mike. Now, can you recommend a nice company, that is not in a big hurry and has bigger boats (or, at least not the smaller ones)?

Price is fixed at $125 maximum.

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.

[Mike]

That's a good point, Mike. Now, can you recommend a nice company, that is not in a big hurry and has bigger boats (or, at least not the smaller ones)?

We let our hotel's concierge book our whale shark snorkel for us. We told him what we were looking for and he did the leg work to set it up. Unfortunately, I didn't pay a lick of attention to the actual name of the operation. They did have 5 brand new, large, comfortable boats at their dock and I think they were all yellow, all had logos and custom paint jobs.

I'm betting that if you go to tripadvisor.com and go to the Isla Mujeres forum or go to one of the Isla Mujeres forums that exist on one of the local Isla tourism websites and ask who is the operator on Isla Mujeres with the 5 big brand new yellow whale shark boats somebody will certainly know who they are. http://www.islamujeres.info/communicating/QA_forum.asp

* keep in mind that it's $125 USD, and you should try to pay it in USD, if you try to pay in pesos they will try to screw you hard on the exchange rate.

[ccannon707]

I first swam with the whale sharks in Holbox in Sept '06 and did it again from Isla Mujeres last July. The 2 night stay in Holbox was an interesting look-see at that spot in itself, but the water was somewhat Gulf murky IMHO, especially in comparison to the IM trip. There you get the clear Caribbean. My IM trip was US$100 - that included a snorkel off the boat near the north end of the island and a fish BBQ back at the dock. I usually fly into Cancun so it was easy to detour to IM for a few days to stay over, cruise around there and swim with the dominoes. Then I traveled on to Coz.

I brought my shortie wet suit and therefore was not required to wear a life vest.

Haha on plotting to get your fellow boat passengers sea sick. We had a few like that on our boat, so I got a couple extra turns. It can be exhausting to swim and keep up with them. Our guide timed it so we got in the water at their head - that mouth!, but I still remember seeing a lot of tail. Once one turned and I had to break the "no-touch" rule and literally push off the thing to maintain space. It felt like wet leather and thankfully did not react to my touch. An incredible experience both times to see these magnificent creatures.

[BTravlin]

I swam with the whale sharks just this past Sunday and had an excellent time. We used Scorpio Divers and paid $170 pp which included round trip shuttle from Playa, sandwiches, drinks/cervesa and freshly made shrimp ceviche. Nice boat that I'm guessing was about 25-30' long and had twin 225's and shade canopy. Dealt with Jorge at Scorpio who handled all details smoothly and he speaks very good English.

[Sharkphoto]

I am heading down there with my two groups in a few weeks. I will be chartering the boat for 4 days again in July / Aug 2013. It was a sell out this year, check my blog for the action while I am down there and contact me to prebook for next year. Gregory Sweeney Photography and Photography Tours I am also putting together a group to go to the same place Isla mujeres to do the sardine run and sailfish this January - any takers?

[Shepman]

Great vid, John. Looks like a great time.

The music did seem a little out of whack.

'Last Kiss' and some of your more mellow stylings would go with this vid a lot better than the "head bang" stuff you used for the opening.

[Pelagicsal]

Great vid, John. Looks like a great time.

The music did seem a little out of whack.

'Last Kiss' and some of your more mellow stylings would go with this vid a lot better than the "head bang" stuff you used for the opening.

But it's JOHN'S music and probably seemed just right to him. It may not have been a mellow experience for him. Saw him at Senor Frogs in Playa as he was headed back to CZM, and the excitement in his eyes was ANYTHING but mellow!

Rock on, amigo!

[bobfmdc]

PansSiren's trip sounds like the same format for the whale shark trip we took in July (2012) with Ocean Tours of Playa. My advice--STAY AWAY FROM OCEAN TOURS! Find someone else. The employee who was responsible for our tour, introduced as “Van,” left eight of us sitting in our vehicle in the sun for an hour after the whale shark trip while he sold company t-shirts and pictures in at the dock. Two of our people at different times went to find him to get us moving, and “Van” simply told them we would get started when he got through. Then he stuffed 3 more riders in with us on the way back to Playa del Carmen where we had to catch the ferry back to Cozumel. Throughout the trip he carried on loud company cell phone conversations from the front seat and at the end offered no apologies for the delays. He even had the gall to hold out his hand for a tip.

Because of this delay, we missed the 6pm ferry back to Cozumel. So “Van” basically blew off the customers whose money he already had and cost us two hours of our vacation time.

I would encourage you to do see the sharks, just not with Ocean Tours. It is important to understand that the company Ocean Tours does not take you on the whale shark trip—they are a middle-man group that hires a company to get you to the dock where the independent boat operators take you out. The success of the whale shark part of your trip depends largely on the capabilities of your boat operator—most of them are very good—and luck. In our case, Ocean Tours failed in the only part of the trip they were really responsible for--getting us home quickly and comfortably.

It didn't end there. I filed a negative Trip Advisor review and have received three or four harassing emails from one of the Ocean Tours officers. One of the other members of our trip contacted him to complain and got the same treatment. The guy had the audacity to blame the whole screw-up on the poor dive guide on Cozumel who was our go-between with Ocean Tours.

---------- Post Merged at 05:54 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:43 PM ----------

Whale shark tour operator recommendations?

See my comments elsewhere about staying away from Ocean Tours of Playa.




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