I haven't done both, but I did isla mujeres a few weeks ago. The whale sharks themselves were great, they were everywhere! They were huge and RIGHT THERE! It is something I'll never forget, that's for sure.
One big downside to isla mujeres is that (at least the day I went) there was about an hour boat ride out. We were going 40kmh (25mph) in 4-6 foot seas. It was a bit frightening, and induced seasickness even in a guy on our boat who was wearing a scopalomine patch. It was indeed a "gong show with dozens of boats" but that didn't really bother me. It was kind of like a floatilla out in the middle of the ocean. All the captains worked to stay clear of each other as needed. Another downside is that the whale sharks are wild animals and as such are not guaranteed to be around. In 2015 when I went to Mexico in part to see the whale sharks, the creatures did not show.
So... isla mujeres can be a bit of a gamble both in terms of seas and the creatures themselves. I think the payoff of seeing a ton of whale sharks in the wild was probably worth it. However, the whale shark in Georgia is going to be there for sure and last time I checked there was no hour long boat ride in rough seas to get to it (although I-285 can be interesting
).
Isla Mujeres also has a great shallow sandy area where many boats drop anchor for lunch. That was also a very nice time, and was included in the cost ($175) for the whale shark boat ride. My understanding is that many of the operators provide lunch at this area and include it in your trip cost. They offered us an opportunity to snorkel somewhere instead of anchoring in the sand but after the waves we all wanted to chill out a bit.
We were staying on Cozumel so in addition to the $175 we had to pay for the ferry ride. I think it was $19 each way. There was a shuttle van that drove us from the ferry terminal to isla mujeres but that was included in the $175. We tipped the boat people and the van people as well. If you're staying on the mainland you can skip the ferry obviously.
One big downside to isla mujeres is that (at least the day I went) there was about an hour boat ride out. We were going 40kmh (25mph) in 4-6 foot seas. It was a bit frightening, and induced seasickness even in a guy on our boat who was wearing a scopalomine patch. It was indeed a "gong show with dozens of boats" but that didn't really bother me. It was kind of like a floatilla out in the middle of the ocean. All the captains worked to stay clear of each other as needed. Another downside is that the whale sharks are wild animals and as such are not guaranteed to be around. In 2015 when I went to Mexico in part to see the whale sharks, the creatures did not show.
So... isla mujeres can be a bit of a gamble both in terms of seas and the creatures themselves. I think the payoff of seeing a ton of whale sharks in the wild was probably worth it. However, the whale shark in Georgia is going to be there for sure and last time I checked there was no hour long boat ride in rough seas to get to it (although I-285 can be interesting
).Isla Mujeres also has a great shallow sandy area where many boats drop anchor for lunch. That was also a very nice time, and was included in the cost ($175) for the whale shark boat ride. My understanding is that many of the operators provide lunch at this area and include it in your trip cost. They offered us an opportunity to snorkel somewhere instead of anchoring in the sand but after the waves we all wanted to chill out a bit.
We were staying on Cozumel so in addition to the $175 we had to pay for the ferry ride. I think it was $19 each way. There was a shuttle van that drove us from the ferry terminal to isla mujeres but that was included in the $175. We tipped the boat people and the van people as well. If you're staying on the mainland you can skip the ferry obviously.
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