Whale Shark season is in high gear!

[Christi]

I have been twice to Holbox for the Whale Shark excursion and now twice leaving out of Cancun! Today was BY FAR the best experience I've had!

I can't recommend or encourage enough to go swim with the whale sharks if you are here now through the end of August! This is PEAK time.

We saw HUNDREDS of Whale Sharks today and we lost count of the Manta Rays - 12 - 20 we estimate. It was like Whale Shark and Manta Ray soup out there today!

We left on the 6am ferry and were back on the island at 6pm - long day, but worth every second!

This is an opportunity of a lifetime - a Discovery Channel/National Geographic experience so don't deprive yourself or let the cost get in your way! It does run in the $180 - $200 range depending on who you book with. But I can't recommend Scorpio Divers Cancun highly enough!!!

Watch (and "like") my Facebook page (link below) for photos and videos over the next few days! Here are just a few teasers!

 

[Ripple in still water]

Mmmm. . . Whale shark and manta ray soup. :drooling::drooling::drooling:

 

[bubba105]

Christi, I was out there on June 26th also. I had no idea about the mantas but was very pleasantly surprised. By a long shot my best experience out there. I agree with your assessment, I said at least a dozen mantas. I had 4 in my camera lens at once. And the whale sharks, as usual, did not disappoint. We had new divers with us who had 6 dives under their belts that day, it's going to be tough keeping things exciting for them.

I've only been out there in August, would you happen to know the timeframe for the mantas?

Anyone who hasn't done this you are missing a check on your bucket list. This is the real deal & although nothing is guaranteed, this is as close as you can come to guaranteed, the whale sharks will be there.

 

[divingpyrate]

so you have to leave the island for this?
We will be there in two weeks

Why is the rum always gone

 

[Christi]

Christi, I was out there on June 26th also. I had no idea about the mantas but was very pleasantly surprised. By a long shot my best experience out there. I agree with your assessment, I said at least a dozen mantas. I had 4 in my camera lens at once. And the whale sharks, as usual, did not disappoint. We had new divers with us who had 6 dives under their belts that day, it's going to be tough keeping things exciting for them.

I've only been out there in August, would you happen to know the timeframe for the mantas?

Anyone who hasn't done this you are missing a check on your bucket list. This is the real deal & although nothing is guaranteed, this is as close as you can come to guaranteed, the whale sharks will be there.

It was amazing wasn't it! Who did you book through? My video is close to being finished!

The Mantas are there in the beginning of the season - which is May/June - they start taking off in mid July/August.

Pyrate, yes - it's an all day trip - but worth it! The whale shark excursions are only in the morning, because the whale sharks feed in the morning, so that is when they are on the surface. About noon to 1:00pm, they start diving down deeper for the night.

You typically have to take the 6am ferry from CZM, depending on who you are going with, they will have transportation for you from Playa to the port in Cancun. This is very regulated and the only operators permitted to provide these trips are part of a few different co-ops. All of the boats go out together and come back in around the same time as well. We were back in Playa at 4pm and got the 5pm ferry back.

FYI - the operator I use, Scorpio Divers out of Cancun - is part of the ONLY co-op that is insured. They are insured through Lloyd's of London and provide very professional, safe and fun service. We were also the only boat I saw out of 50+ boats that actually had satellite communications - important when you are that far off shore.

Anyway - I encourage everyone to put this on your bucket list! You won't regret it and it was worth every peso! I would have happily paid $200+ usd for this experience!

 

[diverokc]

Plan on doing it for the first time in early sept. for the first time. Looking forward to it.

 

[bubba105]

Christi, amazing is the right word. The whale sharks are amazing enough but with the mantas we were on the bonus plan. We stay at Casa Del Mar & they booked us with Yucatek Divers. They had a nice new van and their rep, Luis, served as the second guide so we were in the water a bunch with 8 of us on the boat. After a while people started dropping out so I got even more time until my battery died. I had a spare battery but the other boats were mostly all gone and the others on our boat were giving me that look. We were on both ferries with you. It is a long day but worth every peso, as you say, and I went to bed early so I could dive the next day, which happened to be my birthday. Couldn't miss diving on my birthday.

Pyrate, take a day off from diving somewhere in the middle of your trip, decompress, make the trek, you will not be sorry.

Here is my video from 2011, no mantas.
Whale Sharks of Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico, August 2011 Ocean Horizons Scuba - YouTube

 

[robint]

I am jealous! Maybe next year we will get to do this. We just got back from Roatan yesterday, so not happening this summer.

robin

 

[Ms. Ann Thrope]

We did a Holbox trip a couple of years ago. Just wondering how many turns people are getting in the water with the IM operators.

 

[captnpat1982]

Excellent video! Now I gotta do this.