As I found limited information for Holbox I will try to be fairly detailed in providing this report.
We are a family of 5 with the youngest being 11yrs. We heard about Holbox the previous year but could not make arrangements in time. This year we decided to take a side trip to swim with whale sharks. The sharks tours are available from June to Aug.
Used Holbox Tours & Travel for the tour. Their web-site is located at http://holboxwhalesharktours.com and email is info@holboxwhalesharktours.com. We booked the entire boat for the 5 of us. You can book them for $80 per person. They included sandwiches, drinks and fruits. We found Rod (one of the owners) great, he was a great source of information concerning how to get there, where to eat, etc. Would recommend them.
We decided not to rent a car but use a service. We booked through Mayan Quest, web site is at www.mayanquest.com). You can reach Agustin @ 011529988981641. We paid $240 total to have them pick us at the Grand and take us to Chiquila on Tuesday. They picked us up on Wednesday and returned us to the Grand. This was the cheapest service we could find. We were picked up by a slightly worn van with AC that had room for 10 people. The cost for a smaller group would be lower as they would use a car instead of the van. They used the short cut and saved ½ hr each way (it is a private road that trucks & locals use to bypass the Cancun area). They were 1hr late picking us up from the hotel on Tuesday, but they did hunt us down at the lobby by phone to tell us they were going to be late. They were on time for the return trip. I would use them again.
If you drive use Ponchos parking. It is an individual who rents out his back yard. It will cost you $2 per day. We were advised by a number of groups not to leave a car unattended at the Chiquilas pier. Let me know if you need more info as I have I picture of where his place is.
You can take the ferry to Holbox or arrange for a pickup.
To be rested for the swim we came in the night before and rented two palapas for $60 each from Holbox Tours. We ran into a couple that stayed at the Paraiso del Mar Hotel and enjoyed it. The hotel has 30+ split level suites going for approx. $150 per room (we would probably stay there next time). This time we just wanted clean inexpensive accommodations with AC, since we were also staying at the Occidental Grand Xcaret.
Info concerning Holbox.
There are no cars in Holbox (actually I think there are 2-5 small trucks) and you move about on golf carts. Bring good bug spray as they have a ton of mosquitoes. We live in Ontario and go up north in the spring time, you take the black flies, replace them with mosquitoes and you have Holbox. They only saving thing is they are most active at dawn & dusk; did not bother us the rest of the time. There is no nightlife to speak of. Did enjoy our meals there. We ate seafood for dinner at Viva Zapata. You got a two lobster dinner for $20. For lunch we ate pizza at Pizzeria Edelyn Both were great.
We went out at 6:30am to beat the crowd (it turns out the crowded was 4 other boats this day). It is a 1.5-2.5 hr boat ride. They use a GPS to locate the Whale Sharks, (the boats are required to track the location and size when they encounter them).
We had two dolphins give us an escort as we got out there.
The routine we used was:
Two of us would be geared up
The boat would get into position approximately 10 yard in front of the Whale Shark so as to have the shark swim to you
We enter the water when given the green light
The first number of sharks we encountered we would swim hard to keep up, but after seeing approximately 10 we began to encounter ones that were more placid. These ones allowed us the opportunity to get close and keep up without getting exhausted. At this time we began to encounter manta rays and we began to chase them. They required chasing, as it was a task to track them down.
We were surprised at the number of sharks out there. In the end we had the luxury of being able to select 20+ Whale Sharks that were moving at a slow pace.
I have uploaded some of our pictures. I have not had the opportunity to touch anything up and will add additional shots later.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=47147
If you do not have the time to do an overnight stay you can do it in one day. You can arrange to get picked up at 3:00-4:00am and get to Chiquila, take the ferry and board a boat. You may wind up being tired, but you dont get the opportunity to swim with a 30 shark every day (at least we dont).
We had a great trip & will look at going back.
Let me know if you need any info.
Here are the general Whale Shark rules:
No touching Whale Sharks Their skin is like sand paper, I should know I ran into one & got the worst of it (did not realise I was bleeding until I was back on board the boat).
Not allowed to be swimming closer then 6 ft.
Look out for their tail it can do a fair bit of damage if it hits you (I was advised I was lucky to have avoid it it can easily break your leg if it strikes you)
You can not use a flash when taking pictures
2 swimmers in the water at any one time
1 boat per whale shark
Life vests to be used (did not follow this all the time)
Regards,
We are a family of 5 with the youngest being 11yrs. We heard about Holbox the previous year but could not make arrangements in time. This year we decided to take a side trip to swim with whale sharks. The sharks tours are available from June to Aug.
Used Holbox Tours & Travel for the tour. Their web-site is located at http://holboxwhalesharktours.com and email is info@holboxwhalesharktours.com. We booked the entire boat for the 5 of us. You can book them for $80 per person. They included sandwiches, drinks and fruits. We found Rod (one of the owners) great, he was a great source of information concerning how to get there, where to eat, etc. Would recommend them.
We decided not to rent a car but use a service. We booked through Mayan Quest, web site is at www.mayanquest.com). You can reach Agustin @ 011529988981641. We paid $240 total to have them pick us at the Grand and take us to Chiquila on Tuesday. They picked us up on Wednesday and returned us to the Grand. This was the cheapest service we could find. We were picked up by a slightly worn van with AC that had room for 10 people. The cost for a smaller group would be lower as they would use a car instead of the van. They used the short cut and saved ½ hr each way (it is a private road that trucks & locals use to bypass the Cancun area). They were 1hr late picking us up from the hotel on Tuesday, but they did hunt us down at the lobby by phone to tell us they were going to be late. They were on time for the return trip. I would use them again.
If you drive use Ponchos parking. It is an individual who rents out his back yard. It will cost you $2 per day. We were advised by a number of groups not to leave a car unattended at the Chiquilas pier. Let me know if you need more info as I have I picture of where his place is.
You can take the ferry to Holbox or arrange for a pickup.
To be rested for the swim we came in the night before and rented two palapas for $60 each from Holbox Tours. We ran into a couple that stayed at the Paraiso del Mar Hotel and enjoyed it. The hotel has 30+ split level suites going for approx. $150 per room (we would probably stay there next time). This time we just wanted clean inexpensive accommodations with AC, since we were also staying at the Occidental Grand Xcaret.
Info concerning Holbox.
There are no cars in Holbox (actually I think there are 2-5 small trucks) and you move about on golf carts. Bring good bug spray as they have a ton of mosquitoes. We live in Ontario and go up north in the spring time, you take the black flies, replace them with mosquitoes and you have Holbox. They only saving thing is they are most active at dawn & dusk; did not bother us the rest of the time. There is no nightlife to speak of. Did enjoy our meals there. We ate seafood for dinner at Viva Zapata. You got a two lobster dinner for $20. For lunch we ate pizza at Pizzeria Edelyn Both were great.
We went out at 6:30am to beat the crowd (it turns out the crowded was 4 other boats this day). It is a 1.5-2.5 hr boat ride. They use a GPS to locate the Whale Sharks, (the boats are required to track the location and size when they encounter them).
We had two dolphins give us an escort as we got out there.
The routine we used was:
Two of us would be geared up
The boat would get into position approximately 10 yard in front of the Whale Shark so as to have the shark swim to you
We enter the water when given the green light
The first number of sharks we encountered we would swim hard to keep up, but after seeing approximately 10 we began to encounter ones that were more placid. These ones allowed us the opportunity to get close and keep up without getting exhausted. At this time we began to encounter manta rays and we began to chase them. They required chasing, as it was a task to track them down.
We were surprised at the number of sharks out there. In the end we had the luxury of being able to select 20+ Whale Sharks that were moving at a slow pace.
I have uploaded some of our pictures. I have not had the opportunity to touch anything up and will add additional shots later.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=47147
If you do not have the time to do an overnight stay you can do it in one day. You can arrange to get picked up at 3:00-4:00am and get to Chiquila, take the ferry and board a boat. You may wind up being tired, but you dont get the opportunity to swim with a 30 shark every day (at least we dont).
We had a great trip & will look at going back.
Let me know if you need any info.
Here are the general Whale Shark rules:
No touching Whale Sharks Their skin is like sand paper, I should know I ran into one & got the worst of it (did not realise I was bleeding until I was back on board the boat).
Not allowed to be swimming closer then 6 ft.
Look out for their tail it can do a fair bit of damage if it hits you (I was advised I was lucky to have avoid it it can easily break your leg if it strikes you)
You can not use a flash when taking pictures
2 swimmers in the water at any one time
1 boat per whale shark
Life vests to be used (did not follow this all the time)
Regards,
