Natasha
Contributor
Great color~~great shots. Thanks for sharing.
Pictures from Cozumel August 10-18 2007
- Thread starter rjsimp
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Natasha
Contributor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------ScubaSteve001:
http://www.holboxwhalesharktours.com/
Isla Holbox ( Pronounced "HOLE-BOSH" ) "x" in Mayan is Pronounced "SH".is a small protected island only 7 miles long & 1 mile wide. Home to 1500 beautiful people who are mainly fishermen, Holbox was founded by Pirates who inter-married with the Mayan locals. The descendants of the original 7 families are still here today. A recent story about Holbox in "ISLANDS" Magazine told the story of the relaxed way of life here where some days the biggest decision is "What Fish Is For Supper".
The WHALE SHARKS are harmless & Non Threatening to humans. In Fact, they seem to enjoy their interaction with the curious people to come to swim with them. They Migrate to Holbox Island every June thru September.
Travel to their habitat in the Gulf Of Mexico aboard FIRST CLASS Motor Yachts captained by Licensed Experienced Captains and Trained Guides. Trips begin on Isla Holbox every morning between 7-8am where you'll be greeted by our experienced staff.
Enroute to the WHALE SHARKS you'll be treated to viewing the abundant sea & bird life found at Isla Holbox. On a typical day in these still "UNSPOILED WATERS" you might see a School of Wild Dolphins, Flocks of Flamingos, Stingrays, Ibis, Egrets,Pelicans,The Rare "Chimay Birds" and much much more.
Sounds awesome~~ I want to go!
Very nice.
OP
rjsimp
Contributor
Natasha:
Actually this is the operation we went with in Holbox. We had a private boat and it was a nicely equiped fast boat. The only complaint I had was we had a hard time finding them (spent about 2 hours with no sightings) and then the water visibility (Their web site is misleading with the photos there). I'm not sure about the other places in the world where they can be seen like Australia, but the visibility would have to be better someplace since I have seen some very nice pics of them before.
The visibility was much like a Texas lake on a good day.. about 20' of visibility and the water was murky greenish (kind of hard when watching 40' whale sharks).. I color corrected to put the blue back in and make it look better.. but the raw pictures were just nasty lake water pics.
Besides those two things, it was a GREAT experience. I was swiming so close to them that the rear tail was causing me to move back and forth as it swam like a heave surge. VERY COOL!
bcrab63
Registered
Great pictures!!! Thanks for sharing.
Love the "head-on" whale shark. Thanks for sharing!
Buc Chick
Registered
I heard that they only allow snorkeling in Holbox, and not scuba diving. Is that to protect the whale sharks and/or other underwater creatures in the area?
Great pics, by the way. (Just started underwater photos myself, and I have a looong way to go!)
Great pics, by the way. (Just started underwater photos myself, and I have a looong way to go!)
OP
rjsimp
Contributor
Buc Chick:
Yeap, only snorkling.. Which is fine since the diving wouldn't work too well in the visibility. When they decide to go deep, they disappear pretty fast and you wouldn't be able to follow anyhow.. Also, with all lthe boats going around, you wouldln't want to be under water.
I would have liked; however; to be able to breath through a reg vs a snorkle. With as much as you have to swim when you get tired, you end up breathing CO2 more than fresh air because you get winded. A reg would be easier to exhale and get some fresh air. On my 3rd trip in the water, I was so winded I had to pull my snorkle out at the boat because all of a sudden I couldn't get any fresh air and felt like I was sufficating.. You know how it is.. basically you can't exhale enough to inhale enough fresh air to get through the length of the snorkle..
Tigerman
Contributor
Despite what the website says about the whaleshark seemingly like the intereaction with the snorklers, I actually got quite a different impression when I was there last saturday..
First off it was quite a few boats in the "main area" there and the sharks seemed to be somewhat cornered and as soon as you got close enough to see them in the murky water with like 20' vis (which btw according to our guide was GOOD compared to what it can be there) they started to dive to get away.
As soon as you got a bit outside of where everyone else was however the sharks seemed far more calm and interested in letting people swim with them..
First off it was quite a few boats in the "main area" there and the sharks seemed to be somewhat cornered and as soon as you got close enough to see them in the murky water with like 20' vis (which btw according to our guide was GOOD compared to what it can be there) they started to dive to get away.
As soon as you got a bit outside of where everyone else was however the sharks seemed far more calm and interested in letting people swim with them..
OP
rjsimp
Contributor
Tigerman:
Quite the opposite of our experience.. Even with several snorklers in the water, there was never a problem with being close to the shark.. They are anything but cornered, they can easily dive and get away within seconds.
I was able to swim next to them for as long as I wanted and we're talking close enough that I could have easily touched them. I was next to them within about a foot for most of my pics.. the tail was so close as I said that it moved me back and forth with the surge it created.
Similar threads
