Chances to see a whale shark between 08/12-08/30

[oceanrealm]

Hello everybody.
Great and useful posts here, on Mexico and Cozumel forums!!! Thanks a lot!
I am planning a dive vacation the main goal of which is to see and snorkel with whale sharks, if I am lucky.
So far I have La Paz and Holbox in mind and I think will decide between the two. I wouldn't like to expand my choices.
Now the question - Can anybody give me any idea on where I'd have the best chances to see Domino? I can go anytime between August 12 - August 30.

I appreciate your suggestions.

 

[AboutUtila]

I am planning a dive vacation the main goal of which is to see and snorkel with whale sharks, if I am lucky. .

While I recognise you are narrowing in on the La Paz and Holbox Mexico options, if are serious about Whale Sharks you should also consider going a little further south, down to the Tropical Island of Utila off the north eastern coast of Honduras. It's an inexpensive scuba diving destination and you are almost guaranteed to see a Whale Shark.

While Whale Sharks are regularly sighted close to the shores of Utila, these sightings are more frequent in the months March-April and August-September. There are no "special" or expensive whale shark tours operated in Utila since whale sharks are often sighted passing by the dive sites. If you are here for a week or more, there is every chance you will encounter a whale shark "by accident".

To improve your chances of encountering a whale shark, almost all the Dive Shops have a weekly "Whale Shark Day", when the priority is to look for Whale Sharks rather than get to (or return from) the dive sites on schedule. It also is possible to hire a local fisherman to take you out in his boat, specifically for the purpose of snorkelling with whale sharks. The local fisherman often fish "the boil" around the whale shark for bonito and other bait fish.

There are, not one, but 2 whale shark research centres based here in Utila, who offer opportunties for certified and experienced scuba divers to participate in their research efforts.

There is superb and inexpensive scuba diving in Utila, part of the Bay Islands group, Honduras. Getting to Utila is easy from Houston TX International Airport - flying non-stop either to San Pedro Sula or Roatan Honduras and then catching a connecting flight (from San Pedro Sula) or a ferry (from Roatan). Utila is way too small to have it's own international airport.

However, if you are looking for National or International Hotel or Restaurant chains, Utila is not the place for you since most accommodations and eateries are definitely at the budget end of the market, all owned and operated by local people. But then Utila is more of an authentic Caribbean island rather than a heavily built-out tourist destination.

For more information, check out;
Utila's Whale Shark pages
Utila's Scuba Diving Prices
Hotels and Places to Stay in Utila
Utila Dive Shops
Reviews from other visitors to Utila
or just follow the links from the AboutUtila.com homepage.

I hope this helps, or at least gives you something to think about for your next scuba diving vacation.

Regards - Mark

 

[Cudabait]

Oceanrealm,

Sounds like your mind's made up......however, if you truly would like to maximize your chances and the probability of swimming with and seeing whale sharks and more, then Mark is pretty close. Utila is absolutely the place in this hemisphere. Now, the BEST time to do this is from the first of February thru the end of March. February is the best.

My wife and I dive in Utila frequently.

Regards,

 

[diver567]

Utila is absolutely the place in this hemisphere. Now, the BEST time to do this is from the first of February thru the end of March. February is the best.

Cudabait is right to say that Utila is the best place to see these wonderful creatures but February is not the best month. In the last 3 years most sightings have been from March and April and often into early May. This year April was an amazing month for sightings. If you are going to swim/snorkel with whalesharks anywhere in the world please go with a reputable operator....and DON"T TOUCH!!!!

 

[Cudabait]

Cudabait is right to say that Utila is the best place to see these wonderful creatures but February is not the best month. In the last 3 years most sightings have been from March and April and often into early May. This year April was an amazing month for sightings. If you are going to swim/snorkel with whalesharks anywhere in the world please go with a reputable operator....and DON"T TOUCH!!!!

That's why the whale shark researchers go in February and March.....so they can wait around until they show up in April & May.

Regards,

 

[AboutUtila]

Since there are no "official figures" recorded for the number and date of all whale shark sightings in Utila, all evidence is currently anecdotal.

Deep Blue Resort in Utila hosts one of the two whale shark research programmes in Utila. Their whale shark identification method employs a technique of photographing whale sharks around the gill area. See Utila Whale Shark Research for more information about this method. They began entering data into the ECOCEAN whale shark photographic database www.shepherdproject.org/participate/deepblue/allEncounters.jsp in late February 2005. This year to date they have logged over 67 whale shark photographs, which shows their frequency of whale shark photographic encounters as; Feb 2005=4, Mar 2005=4, Apr 2005=34, May 2005=5, Jun 2005=1.

However this data is not an accurate representation of the actual number of whale sharks sighted in Utila since;
(a) it only represents the number of whale sharks photographed by one of the 13 Dive Operators in Utila,
(b) it depends upon the number of guests staying at Deep Blue Resort (some times they are not fully occupied),
(c) sometimes the guests are not specifically looking for whale sharks (as they were for example, in April of this year).

I hope this helps.

Mark
WebMaster: www.AboutUtila.com

 

[Cudabait]

Thanks, Mark

You're right!

However this data is not an accurate representation of the actual number of whale sharks sighted in Utila since;
(a) it only represents the number of whale sharks photographed by one of the 13 Dive Operators in Utila,
(b) it depends upon the number of guests staying at Deep Blue Resort (some times they are not fully occupied),
(c) sometimes the guests are not specifically looking for whale sharks (as they were for example, in April of this year).

I have to say that Utila is the best place in this hemisphere to see whale sharks and will generalize further by adding that the period of early spring is the best window of opportunity.

Regards,

 

[Utila Simon]

Nice and accurate post, Mark.
Simon Marsh
www.wsorc.com

While I recognise you are narrowing in on the La Paz and Holbox Mexico options, if are serious about Whale Sharks you should also consider going a little further south, down to the Tropical Island of Utila off the north eastern coast of Honduras. It's an inexpensive scuba diving destination and you are almost guaranteed to see a Whale Shark.

While Whale Sharks are regularly sighted close to the shores of Utila, these sightings are more frequent in the months March-April and August-September. There are no "special" or expensive whale shark tours operated in Utila since whale sharks are often sighted passing by the dive sites. If you are here for a week or more, there is every chance you will encounter a whale shark "by accident".

To improve your chances of encountering a whale shark, almost all the Dive Shops have a weekly "Whale Shark Day", when the priority is to look for Whale Sharks rather than get to (or return from) the dive sites on schedule. It also is possible to hire a local fisherman to take you out in his boat, specifically for the purpose of snorkelling with whale sharks. The local fisherman often fish "the boil" around the whale shark for bonito and other bait fish.

There are, not one, but 2 whale shark research centres based here in Utila, who offer opportunties for certified and experienced scuba divers to participate in their research efforts.

There is superb and inexpensive scuba diving in Utila, part of the Bay Islands group, Honduras. Getting to Utila is easy from Houston TX International Airport - flying non-stop either to San Pedro Sula or Roatan Honduras and then catching a connecting flight (from San Pedro Sula) or a ferry (from Roatan). Utila is way too small to have it's own international airport.

However, if you are looking for National or International Hotel or Restaurant chains, Utila is not the place for you since most accommodations and eateries are definitely at the budget end of the market, all owned and operated by local people. But then Utila is more of an authentic Caribbean island rather than a heavily built-out tourist destination.

For more information, check out;
Utila's Whale Shark pages
Utila's Scuba Diving Prices
Hotels and Places to Stay in Utila
Utila Dive Shops
Reviews from other visitors to Utila
or just follow the links from the AboutUtila.com homepage.

I hope this helps, or at least gives you something to think about for your next scuba diving vacation.

Regards - Mark

 

[geojo01]

Hello everybody.
Great and useful posts here, on Mexico and Cozumel forums!!! Thanks a lot!
I am planning a dive vacation the main goal of which is to see and snorkel with whale sharks, if I am lucky.
So far I have La Paz and Holbox in mind and I think will decide between the two. I wouldn't like to expand my choices.
Now the question - Can anybody give me any idea on where I'd have the best chances to see Domino? I can go anytime between August 12 - August 30.

I appreciate your suggestions.

I suggest you contact Alec at Blue Angel Divers in CZM. They plan and take divers and snorkelers to Holbox for a day Snorkel only with the whale sharks and Manta Rays.
They are good people and good accomodations. Check them out on the internet as well.

 

[docmartin]

i am not sure about the timing regarding holbox but i believe july and august are the right time. apart from that, holbox clearly seems to be THE place for whale sharks. utila may be nice and you may have a good chance to see some whale sharks. the same is true for la paz. however, holbox seems to be in a whole different league. if you do some searching and reading you'll see that people there don't encounter 1 or 2 or 3 whale sharks, they will see dozens. i believe it is in the latest shark diver magazine where they have a poster giving you an idea of the unbelievable number of whale sharks at holbox. it is like a giant whale shark traffic jam. however, apart from snorkeling with the whale sharks there is apparantly nothing else there and getting to holbox from cozumel is a major pain in the rear.