swimming with whales? info?

[elvo73]

Going to be there next month and I was wondering if there is a company who is doing that tour closer to Playa. Some friends have done it but out of Holbox. Any info on that?
Thanks!!

[wolfpf]

Check out this thread Whale shark season

[Peach]

You will love the Whale Shark tour! One of the most amazing experiences I ever had!

Send SnappySammy a PM......he highly recommended a local business in Playa.

[beam-eye]

But will they nibble your feet?

[Peach]

Originally Posted by beam-eye

But will they nibble your feet?

[mstevens]

Originally Posted by elvo73

Going to be there next month and I was wondering if there is a company who is doing that tour closer to Playa. Some friends have done it but out of Holbox. Any info on that?

It's whale sharks that people go snorkeling with, not whales. Big fish vs. big marine mammals.

The sharks are where they are, so you have to go there irrespective of where you start. Isla Holbox is in a good location for that.

You can easily get a tour that starts in Cancun, but it'll end up going to the same area that you'd reach if you started elsewhere. It would be a very long boat ride from Playa del Carmen, but I'm absolutely positive there are local operators who will arrange a tour for you. It will almost certainly involve a van or bus ride north.

We went with a company in Cancun called Solo Buceo a few years ago that used a cigarette boat to get to the whale shark area fairly quickly (a few hours) from Cancun. This was arranged by a dive operator in Cozumel, so it involved the ferry and a van to get from the island to Playa del Carmen to Cancun before we even hit the water.

[ReefHound]

No that is not true. Holbox is one location where they congregate but there are others. There are tours out of Cancun (EcoColors) that do not go to Holbox but to Isla Contoy.

Plenty of ops in PDC offer this tour. They shuttle you to Cancun in a van then take the boat.

[Rissask]

This is getting to be a bit too popular perhaps.....at least when crap like this starts happening:


Harassment of whale sharks - read this - Isla Mujeres Forum - TripAdvisor

[mstevens]

Originally Posted by ReefHound

No that is not true. Holbox is one location where they congregate but there are others. There are tours out of Cancun (EcoColors) that do not go to Holbox.

What's not true? That the whale sharks end up wherever they are and that you have to go to them? That Isla Holbox is in a good location for whale sharks?

Did you actually even read my post? I said nothing about going to Holbox. I merely referred to the fact that it's a good location for whale sharks. I didn't even say that's where I went to swim with whale sharks because it's not.

[elvo73]

Thanks for the information

[ReefHound]

Originally Posted by mstevens

What's not true? That the whale sharks end up wherever they are and that you have to go to them? That Isla Holbox is in a good location for whale sharks?

Did you actually even read my post? I said nothing about going to Holbox. I merely referred to the fact that it's a good location for whale sharks. I didn't even say that's where I went to swim with whale sharks because it's not.

I took your statement that "You can easily get a tour that starts in Cancun, but it'll end up going to the same area that you'd reach if you started elsewhere." to mean that the whale sharks were in only one place and no matter where start you end up in that place. And that is not true. How did you mean it?

And maybe it takes a few hours to get to Isla Holbox from Cancun but you can get to Isla Contoy in an hour in a panga.

[mstevens]

Originally Posted by ReefHound

I took your statement that "You can easily get a tour that starts in Cancun, but it'll end up going to the same area that you'd reach if you started elsewhere." to mean that the whale sharks were in only one place and no matter where start you end up in that place. And that is not true. How did you mean it?

I meant that going to a specific location in order to swim with whale sharks does no good if there are no whale sharks there.

At some times they're all over the place and there is a range of choices in where one goes. At other times there are only a few sharks and only in one or two locations. One the day we went, for example, spotter planes only located 6 and we went to the nearest two. Operators in Holbox were heading south to get to that area.

I can't figure out what you're disagreeing with here.

[ReefHound]

I told you how I interpreted your statement, that the whale sharks were in only one place and no matter where you start you end up in that place. Given further clarification, we are in agreement.