Holbox or Isla Mujeres for Whale Sharks?

[DandyDon]

So how long is the boat ride from IM to the whale shark shoal...?

 

[Mike]

It varies, the whale sharks don't stay in one place, they are following their food source. Don't count on a shoal. Most likely open ocean.

Oh yeah, one more thing the IM based tours most likely are going to be giving you a bonus at the end of the tour, before returning you to the Cancun side dock, many include a stop at the North Beach area of Isla Mujeres where they will drop anchor in the shallow water and let you swim/float,wade around in the protected unbelievably beautiful north beach bay and prepare you a snack of ceviche on the boat. I can't guarantee you that every operator is doing this, but many do.

 

[DandyDon]

It varies, the whale sharks don't stay in one place, they are following their food source. Don't count on a shoal. Most likely open ocean.

Shoal is a group of fish not actually schooling.

Your quote said it was a longer ride. My rides from Holbox were 2 or 3 hours.

 

[ccannon707]

Thanks for adding that Mike, I had overlooked mentioning that part of the tour at the end.... The group I went with on Holbox didn't include anything like that.

We got the treat of a dolphin escort back to IM (loved it!). As we all had our snorkel gear we snorkeled at the North Beach end. It was almost relaxing after the full on swimming to keep up with the whale sharks..... yes, you have to swim, fast (!) to keep up with them. Then we returned to the dock for a BBQ fish meal. Different ops do different things...

As far as boat ride time... I can't estimate hours but it was farther to the Whale Sharks in Holbox than IM. I stress that I liked the experience of going to Holbox, but the visibility in IM is superior. Some in our party did get a little wobbly (alcohol? age? Quien Sabe?) and yes, that can mean more turns in the water for those who are feeling fine. I didn't take any seasick meds though. Bring some cash for a tip for your boat capitan and guide - they earn it.

My shortie is 3mm.

It varies, the whale sharks don't stay in one place, they are following their food source. Don't count on a shoal. Most likely open ocean.

Oh yeah, one more thing the IM based tours most likely are going to be giving you a bonus at the end of the tour, before returning you to the Cancun side dock, many include a stop at the North Beach area of Isla Mujeres where they will drop anchor in the shallow water and let you swim/float,wade around in the protected unbelievably beautiful north beach bay and prepare you a snack of ceviche on the boat. I can't guarantee you that every operator is doing this, but many do.

 

[Mike]

Shoal is a group of fish not actually schooling.

Your quote said it was a longer ride. My rides from Holbox were 2 or 3 hours.

My mistake I was confused I thought a shoal was a sand bar.

2-3 hours! Oh my Lord. That's even another reason to do it out of Mujeres. I can't imagine a 2-3 hour boat ride out of Mujeres, unless it was a row boat. I'm wrong then in thinking the trips were longer out of Mujeres, another fib from a tour operator out of Holbox misleading me, I was under the impression they were 15-30 minutes by boat from there. I'd say an hour would be a long trip from Mujeres.

Just so we are on the same page here, you're saying 2-3 hours trip straight out to where the whale sharks were, not 2-3 hours of puttering around in search of them?

---------- Post added January 27th, 2013 at 02:38 PM ----------

Thanks for adding that Mike, I had overlooked mentioning that part of the tour at the end.... The group I went with on Holbox didn't include anything like that.

We got the treat of a dolphin escort back to IM (loved it!). As we all had our snorkel gear we snorkeled at the North Beach end. It was almost relaxing after the full on swimming to keep up with the whale sharks..... yes, you have to swim, fast (!) to keep up with them. Then we returned to the dock for a BBQ fish meal. Different ops do different things...

As far as boat ride time... I can't estimate hours but it was farther to the Whale Sharks in Holbox than IM. I stress that I liked the experience of going to Holbox, but the visibility in IM is superior. Some in our party did get a little wobbly (alcohol? age? Quien Sabe?) and yes, that can mean more turns in the water for those who are feeling fine. I didn't take any seasick meds though. Bring some cash for a tip for your boat capitan and guide - they earn it.

My shortie is 3mm.

Really good info!

I gave up quickly on trying to swim to keep up with them. There were so many that it finally dawned on me to just stay in one place because withing a few seconds when one went by, another was coming to replace it, sometimes we were with 2 or 3 at the same time, one might be on the surface going by you, while another one was doing their 45 degree angle feeding thing under water and another was coming toward you from behind you.

 

[Lorenzoid]

From these replies it sounds like the whale shark business has really picked up. When I was last in Isla Mujeres in 2003 I had to ask around before I found someone who took people out to find whale sharks--there wasn't a lot of information publicized. We only saw a couple, so I asked if there was anywhere better to go see them, and the guy mentioned Isla Holbox. First time I had ever heard of Holbox (and I wasn't sure how it was spelled because it's not pronounced as we would in English). To get to Holbox you had to go back to the mainland and take a bus up the coast. Sounds like times have changed! Well, have fun. Snorkeling with whale sharks is one of the most amazing experiences I've had in the sea.

 

[DandyDon]

My mistake I was confused I thought a shoal was a sand bar.

It is, unless talking about fish.

2-3 hours! Oh my Lord. That's even another reason to do it out of Mujeres. I can't imagine a 2-3 hour boat ride out of Mujeres, unless it was a row boat. I'm wrong then in thinking the trips were longer out of Mujeres, another fib from a tour operator out of Holbox misleading me, I was under the impression they were 15-30 minutes by boat from there. I'd say an hour would be a long trip from Mujeres.

Just so we are on the same page here, you're saying 2-3 hours trip straight out to where the whale sharks were, not 2-3 hours of puttering around in search of them?

I know it was 2 hours out, but then the shoal (herd, flock, group) probably moves with conditions so maybe not always. Christine has done both and says it's shorter from IM.

Really good info!

I gave up quickly on trying to swim to keep up with them. There were so many that it finally dawned on me to just stay in one place because withing a few seconds when one went by, another was coming to replace it, sometimes we were with 2 or 3 at the same time, one might be on the surface going by you, while another one was doing their 45 degree angle feeding thing under water and another was coming toward you from behind you.

Sounds like they were thicker than ours too. We did get all we wanted to chasing the Dominoes as others tired faster swimming in life vests, were sea sick, etc. I think we tipped better than most the first day as we were the only ones who got to swim with a Manta on the second.

After the Dominoes, we went towards shore to snorkel a little reef in clearer water, but I wasn't interested. We also did a tour inside a break in the island that was interesting. It's was only one hour back to town tho, both days - never did figure that one out? Perhaps our trips out did involve some searching...?

 

[Mike]

we were the only ones who got to swim with a Manta on the second.

Cool!

Amazing how relatively close to Cozumel that is but I've never heard of manta sightings in Cozumel.

 

[RDRINK25]

Cool!

Amazing how relatively close to Cozumel that is but I've never heard of manta sightings in Cozumel.

Do whale sharks frequent Coz that time of year? We are planing to be doing 3 days of diving in Coz.

 

[DandyDon]

Do whale sharks frequent Coz that time of year? We are planing to be doing 3 days of diving in Coz.

I heard of one passing by as we were diving a Playa del Carmen reef once; whether true or not? They probably do pass by between feeding areas.

I haven't heard of other sights around Coz altho there may be the rare glimpse. If you want to swim with them, you need to go to IM or Holbox. You could use one of your days on a long day trip to do so, and some Ops do handle those - but I understand it is a very long day: taxi to ferry, ferry to PDC, van to Cancun, ferry to IM, boat out to the Whale Sharks, and the end - retrace.