Swimming with Whale Sharks in Isla Mujeres
Being a veterinarian, I can never pass up an opportunity to get up close and personal with animals during my travels. Whether it’s feeding street dogs in Peru or chasing wildebeest in Africa, I am game for pretty much anything wildlife related. So when I realized July was peak time for whale sharks in Isla Mujeres, it was only a matter of “how fast can I book this tour?”
The whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean and can reach lengths of 40 feet! Don’t worry though; they are filter feeders, preferring to skim the surface of the water for plankton and krill. They live in most tropical areas, and lucky for me, they congregate in large numbers every year from June to September near Isla Mujeres in Mexico.
Many companies in Isla Mujeres and Cancun offer tours to swim with the whale sharks, but beware, not everyone is equal. There are regulations from the Mexican government in place that should be followed. These rules serve to protect the whales, and any tour company not following them, should be avoided. Rules include: no touching the whales, no diesel engines, 2 people in the water at a time, etc. AKA whale sharks are magnificent creatures, so let’s protect them!
I highly recommend Isla Whale Sharks by Searious Diving. Ramon is an expert in whale sharks and has been apart of eco-friendly tourism for years. He was the best! We met early in the morning and took a small boat about an hour offshore to where there were literally hundreds of whale sharks. It was incredible! The sharks paid us no mind, simply gliding past with their mouths open and ready for plankton.
Our tour group was small, so we had multiple turns in the water. One poor guy in our group got incredibly seasick, so don’t forget your Dramamine! We spent about 2 hours with the sharks, before heading back to a reef to snorkel. This was my first time snorkeling in the open ocean, and the current was so strong! The boat followed us as we drifted, which was good because I would not have been able to swim back!
We ended the tour with fresh ceviche on a sandbar, which was absolute perfection. This was a spectacular once in a lifetime experience, except I’m dreaming of the day I can do it again!
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