Utila Whale Shark Boats ?

[Tjack]

What is the best boat captain for finding Whale sharks out of Utila? I will be in Utila the week of May 10. Which dives shops have big boats and regularly find Whale sharks? What is the probability of seeing them that time of year?

 

[Hawk]

You cannot beat WSORC. They can be contacted through Utila Lodge, or better yet try this Contact Us

That should do if you want to contact them ahead of time. When you are there, just look for them next to the fire station.

Later, Hawk.

 

[tvictory]

We've had good luck with Laguna Beach Resort. Ask for Wagner as your captain. I think March and early April is prime time for whale sharks, but you should have a good chance in May.

At one point I heard that some of the Utila dive operators were collaborating to have a small airplane aloft in the mornings to try to spot whale sharks and then radio the location to the boats. The usual routine, on a 2-tank morning trip, is to do your first dive and then cruise around looking for whale sharks while killing your surface interval before the second dive.

 

[GoProHonduras]

They're all relatively good, as long as you're diving Northside, and their around, you should see one as long as your operators takes the time to look for them. Their guidelines in place so even when one dive boat has an encounter, they have to leave when another boat approaches, and the activity is easy to spot.

Utila Dive Centre/Mango Inn, Deep Blue, Laguna Beach, Lodge, all do daily regular North side trips looking for Whale sharks.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tjack]

Thanks for the info. Does the Utila Lodge require that you stay with them to dive thier boat? This was the case when I was there in the 90s. Is May 10 too late for whale sharks? Thanks again for the info.

 

[UTLgirl]

Yeah, usually Utila Lodge boat is reserved for folks actually staying at the Lodge.

WSORC however, is a seperate company (although a sister company). They do dedicated 4 hour trips specifically looking for Whalesharks, and they are non-specific to any resort, hotel or diveshop. Their goal is sightings, identification & research. Space on the trips is limited, so you do want to sign up a bit ahead. They can be reached at info@wsorc.com, or Rob@wsorc.com.

Hope the info helps.

 

[Dale Forbes]

Hey T.
There are lots of good captains in Utila and they almost all pride themselves on finding whale sharks. Rightly so, they are incredible. After finding the sharks, their main job is to keep the guests and sharks safe, and to not drop the guests too close to the shark (sadly, often deemed unimportant).

So, good captains are aplenty. Not as many good divemasters. Unfortunately, what makes a good scuba divemaster does not always go for a good whale shark snorkelling divemaster. My experience that many either do not know the encounter guidelines, or they ignore them. But this is more an issue of training than anything else. They are not expected to be specialists in understanding animal behaviour and wild animal interactions, but by blindly aiming to just see the shark, they often lose sight of how their jumping/splashing/rapid movements affect the sharks. My research showed a strong correlation between how calm and relaxed the group was (no splashing, motionless/slow moving), and how calm the shark was (not always, but most of the time). By doing this, we often had long, long encounters; with the shark investigating us, and calmly continuing to feed very close to us. We extended our encounter times (i.e. better for the guests and working zoologists) and minimized our impact on the sharks.

So, having said all that, try to ensure that whoever your captain and divemaster are, that they know what they are doing and have the whale sharks' interests at heart.
In addition, you may find my Utila Whale Shark blog interesting:
Fascinated by Whale Sharks (+fish, +corals...)

Kind regards
Dale Forbes