We spent one last lazy day in Isla Mujeras regaining our strength before finally getting on a boat to see the whale sharks. This was, after all, the whole reason that we came to Isla in the first place. The whale sharks spend this season migrating around the Yucatan area before heading north in the Gulf and finally back over to the Caribbean. In July, the best place to book a tour to see the sharks is from Isla, due to its closer proximity to where the sharks "hang" during those few weeks. Though by August the best place to view the sharks is apparently in Holbox Island which is 3 hours north of Cancun due to the sharks migration.
We planned to meet our tout at the front of our hotel at 8 am the morning of our tour. He put us in a golf cart (we got to ride in one after all!) and took us over to the port where we would be given a breakfast of coffee, juices, fruit and cookies which was included in our tour while we waited for the others in the tour to arrive. At 9 am, all the tourists were separated into two different boats with a maximum of 10 people per boat. We paid 100 USD each for the tour. This included a total of 6 hours- a one hour drive each way, two hours at the spot, 30-45 minutes of snorkeling, and a lunch time somewhere in-between. Snorkel gear was provided, and beer, soda and waters were also included in the price.
It took over an hour to get to our destination, and once we arrived we were surprised at what we found. Hundreds of boats scattered throughout a large area in the middle of the Caribbean with people jumping in and out of the water to see these massive sharks. The tour guide/boatman explained the rules to us: there would be 5 groups of 2 people, and the tour guide would let us know when it was our groups turn to jump in the water to swim after the sharks. Most of the time, two groups (total of four people) would be able to jump in together. There were three workers on the boat total; 1 driver/man in charge, and 2 divers/helpers. While the driver managed the boat, the divers would be in the water guiding each group at a time.
Eric and I were named group 1, and boy am I glad we were. I have never been a strong swimmer, nor a water person at all for that matter. On top of that I had never quite been able to grasp the concept of snorkeling, so I was a bit nervous to jump into the middle of the sea with 4 foot waves and snorkel gear on that I didn't know how to use and then chase after these massive whale sharks that appeared to be quite intimidating. Can you tell this tour was Eric's idea? Fortunately, since we were group number 1, I didn't have time to psych myself out or even think about it too long, as we were rushed to put our gear on and jump in the water as fast as we could. Whale sharks are graceful, gentle, plankton feeding creatures. However, with tails 6 feet in height, they can move pretty quickly and therefore in order to keep up with them, let alone see them, you have to swim as fast as you can to get a good look before they disappear.
Each group was able to jump in 3 times total for maybe 10 minutes at a time. On the first jump I had no time to think and was forced to jump in the water as soon as possible. The tour diver noticed my hesitation right away, and immediately decided he would be helping me along the rest of the trip. As soon as Eric saw his assistance, he started booking it towards the sharks in order to get a good look. That man has no fear! In addition, we had rented a GoPro for 40 USD so we could take good underwater photos and he didn't want to miss a good opportunity. Hyperventilating my way through the swim I was able to get just close enough to the whale shark to realize I didn't want to get any closer. Those things really are massive! The shadow of the shark alone was good enough for me. The tour guide kept yelling at me "come on, get closer!" but I decided where I was was close enough. Along with that I couldn't catch my breath from using the snorkel equipment. After a few minutes Eric joined me and we were called back in to the boat. 10 minutes sure does go by quickly.
By the second and third time I had placed by gear on seemingly perfectly and therefore had the courage to swim faster in order to get a better look at the sharks. I did pay for this, after all. The tour guide still helping me along, Eric was able to get a great shot of the sharks and even a video of me swimming up to one. Apparently I wasn't swimming fast enough for the tour guide still, as he kept yelling at me "lady! please! I want you to get a good view!" I thought I was close enough. I didn't want to be too close to one in case it accidentally ate me with its very wide open mouth or decided to speed up the pace and whack me with its huge tail! In the end, three times wasn't enough. I could have jumped in a few more times and by that time hoped that I would have worked up a little more courage to get even closer to them. But, I guess you get what you pay for.
A short video of me swimming with the whale sharks:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/whereruericliu/14740478486/
We stopped for a bit of snorkeling just off the beach and now that I was used to my snorkel gear I thought this was just as much fun as the whale sharking trip. I found a new love/hobby! We had a good time just casually swimming around viewing some colorful coral, hundreds of different types of fish, and even an octopus! Afterwards we pulled closer to the beach where all the other pleasure boats were parked and were served some ceviche and sandwiches for lunch. I also had a few mini coronas (since they were included in our price) but Eric was feeling too sea sick for from the rough ride. One of the passengers was kind enough to hand out Dramamine to everyone earlier that day, but Eric felt bad taking a free hand out. Later that day he was feeling bad from not taking the free hand out; the irony?
After the tour we washed up, watched the sunset, and went to dinner at the restaurant we planned to go if we ever started feeling better. Guess what? We were finally feeling better!!
We planned to meet our tout at the front of our hotel at 8 am the morning of our tour. He put us in a golf cart (we got to ride in one after all!) and took us over to the port where we would be given a breakfast of coffee, juices, fruit and cookies which was included in our tour while we waited for the others in the tour to arrive. At 9 am, all the tourists were separated into two different boats with a maximum of 10 people per boat. We paid 100 USD each for the tour. This included a total of 6 hours- a one hour drive each way, two hours at the spot, 30-45 minutes of snorkeling, and a lunch time somewhere in-between. Snorkel gear was provided, and beer, soda and waters were also included in the price.
It took over an hour to get to our destination, and once we arrived we were surprised at what we found. Hundreds of boats scattered throughout a large area in the middle of the Caribbean with people jumping in and out of the water to see these massive sharks. The tour guide/boatman explained the rules to us: there would be 5 groups of 2 people, and the tour guide would let us know when it was our groups turn to jump in the water to swim after the sharks. Most of the time, two groups (total of four people) would be able to jump in together. There were three workers on the boat total; 1 driver/man in charge, and 2 divers/helpers. While the driver managed the boat, the divers would be in the water guiding each group at a time.
Eric and I were named group 1, and boy am I glad we were. I have never been a strong swimmer, nor a water person at all for that matter. On top of that I had never quite been able to grasp the concept of snorkeling, so I was a bit nervous to jump into the middle of the sea with 4 foot waves and snorkel gear on that I didn't know how to use and then chase after these massive whale sharks that appeared to be quite intimidating. Can you tell this tour was Eric's idea? Fortunately, since we were group number 1, I didn't have time to psych myself out or even think about it too long, as we were rushed to put our gear on and jump in the water as fast as we could. Whale sharks are graceful, gentle, plankton feeding creatures. However, with tails 6 feet in height, they can move pretty quickly and therefore in order to keep up with them, let alone see them, you have to swim as fast as you can to get a good look before they disappear.
Each group was able to jump in 3 times total for maybe 10 minutes at a time. On the first jump I had no time to think and was forced to jump in the water as soon as possible. The tour diver noticed my hesitation right away, and immediately decided he would be helping me along the rest of the trip. As soon as Eric saw his assistance, he started booking it towards the sharks in order to get a good look. That man has no fear! In addition, we had rented a GoPro for 40 USD so we could take good underwater photos and he didn't want to miss a good opportunity. Hyperventilating my way through the swim I was able to get just close enough to the whale shark to realize I didn't want to get any closer. Those things really are massive! The shadow of the shark alone was good enough for me. The tour guide kept yelling at me "come on, get closer!" but I decided where I was was close enough. Along with that I couldn't catch my breath from using the snorkel equipment. After a few minutes Eric joined me and we were called back in to the boat. 10 minutes sure does go by quickly.
By the second and third time I had placed by gear on seemingly perfectly and therefore had the courage to swim faster in order to get a better look at the sharks. I did pay for this, after all. The tour guide still helping me along, Eric was able to get a great shot of the sharks and even a video of me swimming up to one. Apparently I wasn't swimming fast enough for the tour guide still, as he kept yelling at me "lady! please! I want you to get a good view!" I thought I was close enough. I didn't want to be too close to one in case it accidentally ate me with its very wide open mouth or decided to speed up the pace and whack me with its huge tail! In the end, three times wasn't enough. I could have jumped in a few more times and by that time hoped that I would have worked up a little more courage to get even closer to them. But, I guess you get what you pay for.
A short video of me swimming with the whale sharks:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/whereruericliu/14740478486/
We stopped for a bit of snorkeling just off the beach and now that I was used to my snorkel gear I thought this was just as much fun as the whale sharking trip. I found a new love/hobby! We had a good time just casually swimming around viewing some colorful coral, hundreds of different types of fish, and even an octopus! Afterwards we pulled closer to the beach where all the other pleasure boats were parked and were served some ceviche and sandwiches for lunch. I also had a few mini coronas (since they were included in our price) but Eric was feeling too sea sick for from the rough ride. One of the passengers was kind enough to hand out Dramamine to everyone earlier that day, but Eric felt bad taking a free hand out. Later that day he was feeling bad from not taking the free hand out; the irony?
After the tour we washed up, watched the sunset, and went to dinner at the restaurant we planned to go if we ever started feeling better. Guess what? We were finally feeling better!!
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