Snorkeling with the whale sharks

[DSR-3]

As far as I know, snorking with large mammals is illegal in 43 states and the District of Columbia.

As far as I know, snorking with fish is legal around the world. Still, (tequila?) shots are probably a good idea.

 

[DandyDon]

Hi Ann. Nice to see y'all at the Holbox hotel and on the boat, too. I think we paid $70 US per trip. I envied you two traveling so light by bus, but then y'all had to go back to Coz for your scuba gear you stored at the hotel. All our gear by bus would have been a challenge, and we were flying out of Cancun.

 

[Ms. Ann Thrope]

Hmmm. Maybe we didn't pay $100. We paid pretty much the going rate, whatever that was at the time. I just looked at the hotel site, which says it's currently $85. That's probably about what we paid (although we usually tip well enough to bring the ultimate price close to my original figure!). Thanks for the fact check.

Don, if I remember right, you did your "open jaw" ticket thing, which sounds like it worked out well for you. For us, it wasn't bad going back to Coz for our dive gear, even if the temptation to do one last little dive was almost maddening. It gave us one last night to enjoy San Miguel, and I think it was a Sunday night to boot.

For anyone who is considering the bus: Last year, when I was looking into it, all the web info indicated we'd have to bus to Cancun to catch the bus to Chiquila. It was a happy surprise to show up in Playa to catch the early morning bus to Cancun and find the bus to Chiquila was actually starting from Playa. We were the first aboard.

 

[cavew0man]

A mØØse once snorked my sister.....

 

[daddoos]

Hi-My 50 bday present was diving with the whale sharks. I still dream about them. That was last July. We had Ben from Mayanaqua dive of Cancun set it up for us. We left Cancun on a fast boat and it was a 5hr adventure on water. I love that type of thing.
Some things I will do next time.
-I wont wear my full 3mil dive wetsuit. Can't swim fast enough. I will wear a skin( in case of jelly stings).
-I will get a personal dive vest. They give you the type that you cant get under surface. I will buy the type you have to blow up. You can get sub surface with them to get better view or pics.
These are the only two things I can think of that would have turned my day into the perfect day. This adventure is mind blowing at least it was for my wife and myself. Here is a shot of the story. My wife does not dive, she is a snorkeler extrordinaire. She is tiny. 5ft2. 125lbs. These things are bigger than my suburban. My wife is timid of the deep ocean. I thought I would have to throw her off the boat to chase the whale. When the guide said go- I was still putting my fins on. As I got ready to toss her, I look up and shes in the water just givin er to the whale with the guide yelling at her to go left as she was headed straight for a five foot mouth. I am so proud of her for getting in there. Needless to say I still wake up with her. She didnt pull a Jonah. I know you will love it. I will do it again. kev

Firstdive 2005 - you mentioned that the next time you went you would bring your own personal dive vest. Could you give more information about this? What do they give you to wear? We are planning on going in July and will purchase these if needed. After reading your post we already purchased skins as we had 3 ml!

 

[DandyDon]

Firstdive 2005 - you mentioned that the next time you went you would bring your own personal dive vest. Could you give more information about this? What do they give you to wear? We are planning on going in July and will purchase these if needed. After reading your post we already purchased skins as we had 3 ml!

I'm not FD, but I think he meant an inflatable snorkel vest, which happens to be what we wore with our skins: H2Odyssey Snorkel Vest - SVM Medium - US Dive Mart, Inc. There are other brands, prices, etc.

I'm a dork in a way, that I'll wear these on dives boats too.

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

Hey Chris Hale!,
Its Jorge on behalf on Ben @ Mayanaquadive, we currently offer the Whale Shark snorkeling service and offer our services to you, any doubts or comments, we are here for you.

Thank you and hope to see u soon.

Jorge

 

[daddoos]

Does MayanAquaDive have those vests available? Or do we need to purchase one in advance?

What kinds of vests do they have on the boat?

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

your best bet is to bring neoprene, a 3mm shorty or something similar. it is regulation and rules that you use either neoprene or a lifevest as positive bouyancy and as we all know neoprene is the way to go!

 

[bwerb]

Guys, read the thread title, he wants to snork with the whale sharks, not snorkel. As far as I know, snorking with large mammals is illegal in 43 states and the District of Columbia. Better check with the CDC and see if you need to get shots before you arrive too.

Er...last time I checked the "edumacation" system still classified whale sharks as fish, not mammals in all 50 states (although I'm not so sure about Kentucky ).