WHALE SHARKS

Your Private Tour offers a wonderful tour for swimming with the whale sharks from May (season usually starts in either May or June) until september every year. This is the season that whale shark tours are permitted and the whale sharks are migrating through the waters of the yucatan peninsula. Snorkeling with these gentle giants is truly a remarkable experience and one that i highly recommend! Our whale shark tour provides transportation that leaves the Playa del Carmen area usually by 6:45 in the morning. Depending on your resort location we will arrange departure time. The drive to the place of departure is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. At the pier you will meet the boat captain and crew. Our tours are normally limited to 10 persons and and usually (but not always) the boat is equipped with a small toilet. Once aboard you head out across the brilliant blue waters for an hour to an hour and a half. While the time flies by, we get acquainted with each other and the crew or sit and stare out over the beautiful sea. There are a number of other boats leaving from the same area usually at the same time and going to the same location, so for me, the companionship of the other boats and people nearby is companionable. Once the captains have located a large group of whale sharks (anywhere from a few to to hundreds of whale sharks) we quickly put on our fins and mask and jump off of the side of the boat into the ocean to begin this amazing experience. Once you have taken a few swim strokes you are eye to eye with these beautiful creatures that are the largest fish in the world. Whale sharks have relatively tiny eyes and HUGE mouths and LONG bodies. They are commonly 10-12 meters long with the occasional

one at 14 or more meters. They just glide by, sometimes seemingly wanting to brush against you for companionship, (something that i particularly enjoy) but adhering to the rules we don't touch them. if one touches me i don't complain!! a very happy moment for me is when one circles around and passes me several times. You might wonder if it is scary or intimidating to get in the water with them but i can tell you that it is not! We are not familiar of a single bad experience of whale shark and human being interaction. They seem to like to interact with us much as the dolphins do. The whale shark tour etiquette is to swim for a while with your companion and the guide and then to climb the ladder back onto the boat while the next couple is jumping in for their turn. While waiting on board it is fun to yell at the ones in the water "behind you!! or to the right, or to the left, which ever the case might be. It is almost as much fun to be on the boat seeing them from above and watching everyone else's experience. You are allowed to swim with them to your hearts content and then depending on the sea and climate the boat heads back to Isla Mujeres where you have a short snorkel on a small live reef and then into the islands shallow crystal clear waters where you can paddle around in waste deep water while the captain prepares a fresh seafood Ceviche for your lunch. After lunch it is only a 10 minute ride across the bay to the port where your chouffer is waiting with transportation to return you back to your resort by 2 or 3 pm if not earlier. The Whale Shark Tour is $230 USD per person for 2 or 3 persons, $200 USD per person for 4 or 6 persons and $190 USD per person for 7 or 9 all inclusive and with transportation from the Playa del Carmen area.