Tips for whale sharks?

[divin'dog]

I'm looking to book a trip to Utila and was wondering if there is a better time of the year to see whale sharks there or is it just luck no matter when?

What are your experiences diving with whale sharks in Utila? Any tips?

 

[diversteve]

Spring is best. We dove with Deep Blue Utila this past March and were lucky enough to snorkel with 5 or 6 of them over two different days. Had the weather cooperated, we likely would've seen more. Steve, the owner told us that this past year they've seen at least one every month. He's on SB as DeepBlueDivers and is the best expert I know of. I'm sure he'll post here once he sees this.

There are 4 selected Research Weeks during the Feb-May timeframe. During those weeks experts are brought to the resort for lectures at night and they spend a higher percentage of their time looking for and documenting whalesharks. We were there during one of those weeks, they're priced slightly higher but they put on a spotting boat during those weeks so in addition to your two morning dives, you spend a couple hours daily looking for whale sharks as they're typically in deeper water. Their captain, Swin is legendary for spotting them and seemed to enjoy it every time he found one.

My buddy was able to get a clean shot of one and submitted it to their database, had it been the first spotting he would then have been notified via e-mail for life anytime it was spotted. We also (unsuccesfully) participated in a tissue sampling with a trained researcher, the best part of that was that the shark stayed on the surface for almost a minute while that was going on - as it was a little - well, angry lol...

And we saw another one feeding vertically which I was told is a rare experience. You can't dive with them in Utila and the snorkels are of very short duration, usually once the shark sees anyone it dives deep. I was also fortunate enough once (dumb luck - I was late off the boat) to have one swim right past me, roll over on his side to eye me and then swim off. One kick and I could've touched it. It was about 15-16' long and I'll remember that forever.

I've adopted a whaleshark through the Shark Research Institute and get periodic updates on him. He lives off the coast of Tanzania and his name is Zahir. Links to stuff I've mentioned:

Deep Blue Utila swim with whale sharks at our all inclusive resort. Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras
Utila Whale Shark Research
Shark Research Institute- shark conservation, education, research

 

[divin'dog]

That sounds really cool. Thanks!

Most likely I'll be going around the beginning of Feb so probably much less chance of seeing any. How's the rest of the diving on Utila and is it much different than Roatan?

 

[Doc]

How's the rest of the diving on Utila and is it much different than Roatan?

I'm guessing by that- it means that you have been diving off of Roatan.

Roatan is a startlingly diverse array of underwater terrain, varying from stark, deep and dark... to bright, shallow and florid. Depends on where you are.

So for the best comparison... where have you been on Roatan to compare it to?

Most of the diving I have seen (by comparison, not all that much) on Utila would compare favorably to the areas on Roatan in the area of Old Port Royal.

UTLGirl would have the broadest base of experience in that comparison.

 

[divin'dog]

Great video RoatanMan.

I went to FI twice. So that's my experience with Roatan. I loved the diving, but would like to know what the differences are.

Also, what does anyone know about Utopia Dive Village?

Is early Feb too early for whale sharks?

 

[diversteve]

February is High Season, March and April are Peak Season. So you've probably got a good chance of seeing sharks in Feb.

Diving Utila is similar to Roatan since they're pretty close to each other. We were fortunate enough to have a very small group (4) so were able to do more involved dives.

Epic dives not to be missed are the Pinnacles and Black Hills. Both on different sides of Utila

We did Black Hills twice and each time was different. It's a seamount that rises to about 40' from the surface so you get a lot of big fish. First dive was nothing spectacular just some schools of fish around the coral. But a couple days later I saw a huge school of Barracuda, a couple Turtles, 1/2 dozen huge Oceanic Triggers and 3-4 4 foot+ Grouper - all within about 10mins.

The Pinnacle is as described - a deep pinnacle that rises near the surface. I had a better time diving the top 30' than the bottom 60'. But I missed some big animals that my friends saw, a couple of Eagle Rays buzzed them and something else unusual that I don't recall.

I personally thought that in some areas the coral formations in the shallows rivaled those of Roatan. We mostly dove off the West End with Coconut Tree so that's my basis for comparison.

At a couple of sites off Utila we dropped deeper first to see/find something then coming back up to the mooring would find a profusion of brightly colored corals, fans and fish in 20-30'. A couple times I would've preferred doing the whole dive there.

I looked at Utopia also. But I won (auction) a trip to Deep Blue which is next door to Laguna Beach on a little peninsula on the other side of the lagoon channel. All three are a boat ride from town, from Deep Blue it was about 5-10mins - Utopia is at least twice as far away - we went by it a couple of times going diving out east. I don't know about Utopia, but DB and LB only go to town certain days/nights. Not that there's a lot to do there...lol.

There is a lot of dive boat traffic off Utila but only once at Black Hills did we see other divers underwater. Someone was on the mooring at Pinnacles when we finally got around there - it's on the north side of Utila - so we swam in to it. Not like Roatan where (at least off the West End) you had to watch for boats while surfacing at some sites.

 

[cap10]

Whale Sharks can be sighted off the Nothtern coast of the Mexico's Yucatan in a small village of Holbox in the months of July August and September.

 

[Doc]

I went to FI twice. So that's my experience with Roatan. I loved the diving, but would like to know what the differences are.

When you dove with Fantasy Island, you saw a very specific reef zone that makes Roatan unique in the Caribbean. On the Southern shore, FIBR takes divers to sites within a ten mile shoreline that features vertical walls that begin in 5~20' and drop down to the first sand shelf at 90~110'. The walls there are very florid as they are exposed to intense Sunlight through the entire day.

I have comparatively limited experience diving off of Utila, maybe 30 or 40 dives in total. There may be real exceptions, but the dives I saw were on gently sloping reefs. Different critters for sure! You are more likely to find Nurse Sharks, Sting Rays and other larger bottom dwellers as well as some of the apex predator fish, such as Barracuda and larger fish that don't have such a tough-guy reputation.

Again, in what limited exposure I had in Utila over a half dozen different boat visits, I found the reef structure to be similar to that found just East of the normal range of FIBR's Roatan diving, more on down to Port Royal.

A lot of people go and they all come back smiling, what's the downside to that?

Stick with a good dive op and a good DM. If they're showing you new cool stuff, you'll know you're with the right folks!

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

Exactly as all the advice so far. We often get a lot of whale shark activity around Christmas to New Year. Then a gap until end of February (although can be earlier) when they start appearing again. March and April are typically the best months to be here for whale sharks, however April/May were better this year than March/April combo. April is the closest to being able to guarantee whale shark encounters. And the longer you can stay the better your chances.

To follow up on a couple of other postings...

Black Hills always a great dive
Pinnacles - get your NAUI advanced if you haven't or your PADI Deep Specialty and get taken through the swim through at Pinnacles. This starts at around 19m/63ft and curves into the wall and emerges in an arch at around 37m/120ft with bottom of the arch around 45m/150fy (too deep for most of us). Always exciting - in fact it's not completely closed off swim through so there is enough natural light to see the glassy sweepers and other critters hanging out there. I have often found a turtle sitting on the shelf at the entrance as I prepared to enter!

Utila is on the transition of shallow and deep water habitats - shallow on south side and hugely deep on north side.

Gently sloping reefs are found on the northwest end of Utila around Raggedy Cay to Spotted Bay dive sites - sloping from around 6m/18ft down to 18m/60ft and then dropping down a wall to approx 40m/130ft. All along the south shore you'll find the reef table top between 3m/9ft and 8m/24ft and then a wall dropping to anywhere between 12m/40ft and 40m/130ft. Northside around the Turtle Harbor Marine Reserve you'll find some spectacular drop offs. Water depth is measured in miles/kilometers here. Right on the edge of the Caymans Trench which has the deepest water in the whole of the Caribbean. Cayman Trough - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's basically marks a tectonic boundary and was responsible for the 7.1 earthquake that shook Roatan, Utila, and the mainland recently.

Hope that helps,