Holbox whale sharks

[louisianadiver]

Hey, y'all. I'm just back from the island of Holbox (pronounced HOLE-bosh), which is just north of the Yucatan in the Gulf of Mexico. I've been hearing about the whale shark encounters there in mid-summer, and danged if the reports aren't true! We found them every day for 5 straight days. They're in shallow water, and the viz is not good, but it's an excellent opportunity to get some whale sharks on the cheap. -Clay

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

Clay:

Great shots! I was there last week as well. As you say, the viz isn't very good. You should be congratulated on getting such nice images -- especially in that viz.

Doug

 

[louisianadiver]

Clay:

I was there last week as well.

Doug

Doug: Where were you staying and who were you going out with? We were at the Villa Paraiso del Mar and "dove" (snorkeling is all that is allowed) with Touristica Moguel. I didn't get many pics. If the shark got between me and the sun, I didn't even shoot, and I gave up trying to get broadsides--the viz just wouldn't allow it. The shots I posted were taken with the 10.5 fisheye at near-collision distances. I also cheated a bit on the water by adding +5 to cyan hue and subtracting -5 from cyan saturation. -Clay

P.S.: I misspoke a bit. The posted shots were taken on Monday, July 28, which officially makes them this week. We found that conditions improved every day we were there, which was July 25-29 in the water. Dolly made a mess of things on the early days, and nobody got good images.

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

We were staying in Playa del Carmen for the cave diving in the Cenotes and took a "day trip" to Holbox. We were picked up at our hotel at 3:50am for the three hour ride to the coast and then caught a boat to Holbox. We were there for just one day last Thursday (July 24th). Viz was bad but we still had a great time. Here's the best I could do.

 

[louisianadiver]

Doug: We didn't start diving until Friday, so you finished a day before we started. Sunday and Monday were flat calm with better viz, and that's when all my better shots were taken. The wind came up again on Tuesday, and I got bupkis. I think you did very well for the conditions on last Thursday. -Clay

 

[Bratface]

I was there last week too. We stayed in Puerto Aventuras, about an hour south of Cancun. We drove 3 hours to Holbox then another hour on the boat to get to the whalesharks. They were beautiful. We swam with 3 of them 6 or 7 times. One was enormous and had 4 remoras on it and was tagged. It was so exciting.

We also dove the cenotes near Playa Del Carmen. Excellent! I made my 300th dive in Chac Mool. We also dove Taj Mahal.

 

[Larry C]

Awesome pics Clay. We were fortunate to see one Whale Shark in Utila in June, but our buddies had been to Holbox and said they saw lots, and that they had been "guaranteed" Whale Sharks.

 

[fairybasslet]

Very nice photos. I want to do a Holbox, Cenotes, Coz trip one day.

 

[parabolic]

Fabulous Clay!!! Good to hear from you again, hope you are well.
++Ken++

 

[Travelnsj]

Great pics....I did that trip two years ago had a great time. Did you see Mantas and Dolphins also?