Whaleshark trip week of July 18-26?

[alohagal]

Hey all,

I went with Tank Ha out of Playa Del Carmen last week. They refer it out to Eco Tours. I would go with them! They are awesome. We went out of Cancun from the dock at Puerto Juarez on a speed boat. Took less than an hour to get to over 100 whale sharks infesting the waters.

When I went back to Cozumel for another week of diving people had booked LONG, TIRING trips to Holbox to see whale sharks. They saw 4 whale sharks in very murkey water.

If you are on Cozumel...do not go to Holbox! It adds 4 hours to your trip and you don't see as many this time of year as you do north of Isla Muejeras. Go with ECOTOURS!

Mary

 

[DandyDon]

Love it. With all of you people doing day trips out of Cancun Holbox won't lose its charm as fast. Getting there was an adventure, but then adventures are part of why some of us go. Following correct road directions would improve the experience I am sure. I posted some on the Mexico forum if anyone wants them.

The trips out of Holbox were $70 US last year. Some were cheaper, but advance communication was challenging so I let my hotel set it up. Plenty of Dominoes to go around, some dolphins and even swam with one Manta. The Dominoes go where they want when they want, not always predictable, but I'm sure the Holbox boats are doing well too. Other side trips available there as well.

Not my place to tell anyone how s/he should do this tho. Personal calls as always. The Cancun instant gratifications trip probly does have a lot of appeal. You day trippers have fun.

 

[alohagal]

Dandy Don,

I agree that Holbox was probably a great adventure. I am only suggesting that in July and August, if time is important and you only have one day to spare, and whale sharks are the point of your journey, from COZUMEL, I would forgo Holbox and go out of Cancun!

HUNDREDS of whale sharks...and that is NO exaggeration...was pretty darn kewl. Versus 4 in murkey waters off of Holbox, that were hard to keep up with when swimming, being reported only a few days ago for those who had a long 16 hour journey to Holbox from Cozumel. They had to be at ferry dock at 4:30 AM and did not get back to BA until after 8:30PM.

On my trip. You didn't need to keep up with one whale shark because there were many more coming right behind, in front, on the side, every direction! I was picked up at 6AM from my hotel in Playa Del Carmen and was back at Hotel in Playa by 2:45 PM and that included picking up and dropping off other people at 4 different resorts!

 

[alohagal]

Actually, to be perfectly specific...these whale sharks are off of Contoy Island!! Just google it! They only started doing sanctioned trips in this area 3 years ago.

Holbox has been 7 years for sanctioned trips. That is why more people know about Holbox and think they HAVE to go there to see whale sharks.

 

[betsyinczm]

One thing you guys need to remember is that these guys MIGRATE............what Mary saw last week may not be the case next week at all. And if the point is to see them, I don't think the experience is diminished by doing a day trip out of Cancun............I also wouldn't want to double pay for my hotel room as many have mentioned. Holbox is a wonderful place ( I once stayed there for a month).............but it sure is a long trek and personally, I've always thought it crazy to do that in one day.

A few years ago I was in Holbox in early September............we hired a little local fisherman to take us and avoided the organized tours.........WE found them and could see the "tours" in the distance searching close to Contoy..........and there were ZILLIONS..........so many that we couldn't jump off the boat for fear of landing on them........well. hate to admit it but we hung with them until we were tired and THEN radioed the location to the tour boats.......hee. The next day they were GONE!............almost as if they were congregating for their next voyage to who knows where.........everyone in Holbox told us that that was the most ever seen there and they still talk about it.

Betsy

 

[DandyDon]

One thing you guys need to remember is that these guys MIGRATE............what Mary saw last week may not be the case next week at all.

Yep. About what I meant by "The Dominoes go where they want when they want, not always predictable," but yours was better said there.

I also wouldn't want to double pay for my hotel room as many have mentioned.

That would be silly, huh? Some do leave much of their dive gear in storage with a shop or hotel while going to Holbox for a few days, then return. We took all of ours with us so we would only have to back track to Cancun airport at the end of our trip - not all the way to Coz.

Holbox is a wonderful place ( I once stayed there for a month).............but it sure is a long trek and personally, I've always thought it crazy to do that in one day.

Oh gawd no! If one just wants a one day experience, I wouldn't either. No way! We did 3 nights and 2 days Dominioe chasing in Holbox.

 

[alohagal]

I asked the guides on our Eco tour about the whale sharks being that numerous around Contoy. They said in May and June they are lucky to spot one or two. But, July and August it is better.

However, during the briefing in the morning...they warned us it could take up 1 to 3 hours to spot them. So, it is true you take your chances. They all agreed the longer you wait towards July...the odds improve dramatically.

 

[1KWIK_69]

Well how big of a vehicle woul we need? We would have 5 maybe 6 people doing this. What would the cost of that size vehicle be?

I have no idea what the cost would be. I paid $50 last year for a sub compact to drive to Tulum and Coba but I didn't know where else to go in Playa to get a better deal. Papa Hogs emailed me back and said they recently had some divers make their own way to the docks and they only paid $100 each to be taken out. If we could rent a small van or something, I wouldn't mind driving. It would be fun to explore north of Playa this time.

 

[1KWIK_69]

Hey all,

I went with Tank Ha out of Playa Del Carmen last week. They refer it out to Eco Tours. I would go with them! They are awesome. We went out of Cancun from the dock at Puerto Juarez on a speed boat. Took less than an hour to get to over 100 whale sharks infesting the waters.

If you are on Cozumel...do not go to Holbox! It adds 4 hours to your trip and you don't see as many this time of year as you do north of Isla Muejeras. Go with ECOTOURS!

Mary

Do they have a web site? I tried searching on Eco Tours playa and whale sharks and didn't find a site url that sounded like it would be theirs.

 

[DiverG]

Do they have a web site? I tried searching on Eco Tours playa and whale sharks and didn't find a site url that sounded like it would be theirs.

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