Things You Need to Know Before Swimming With Whale Sharks Tour From Cancun
Before swimming with the whale sharks, here are some things that you need to know about these big, bold, and beautiful gentle giants.
Diving activities and whale sharks tour from Cancun, Riviera Maya and Isla Mujeres have become quite popular due to the recent uprise in tourism.
Best Months To Swim With Whale Sharks
Considering the weather conditions and whale shark watching of the last 5 years this is our forecast for Season 2022.
May 15th to June 5th: Weather conditions acceptable and whale shark watching occasional.
June 5th to June 25th: Weather conditions very good and whale shark watching frequent.
June 25th to August 31st: Weather conditions excellent and whale shark watching very frequent.
September 1st to September 17th: Weather conditions acceptable and whale shark watching frequent.
Amazing Facts About Whale Sharks
Dangerous - There's no record of Whale Sharks or Mantas hurting any human being. Whale sharks are very large and congregate in the waters around Isla Mujeres and Holbox to feed on tiny fish eggs and microscopic organisms. Also whale sharks are not fast swimmers and on average cruise through the water at just 3 mph. They also actively avoid swimming into objects and other creatures.
Contradictory to their big bodies, they have tiny brains and are not very curious about anything which is not food to them. The whale sharks are not intelligent and don’t really understand the human and animal connection.
Endangered - Whale Sharks are considered "vulnerable to extinction" and are in the Red List of Threatened Species.
Their oceanic home is in danger, and they face threats resulting from human activities such as water-warming climate change, the use of non-biodegradable sunscreen, plastic/waste/toxins/oil spills in the ocean.
In addition, many sharks are accidentally caught in fishing gear or intentionally hunted for their fins, considered a delicacy in Asia.
Largest fish – Although the name is confusing, whale sharks are sharks. The “whale” part of the name refers to size and how the animals eat.
Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean and can reach up to 12 meters or perhaps even bigger and weight about 20 tons.
Most importantly, less than 10% of whale sharks that are born are believed to survive to adulthood, but those that do can live up to 150 years.
Filter feeders – The whale sharks are not going to eat you at all. They are one of only three known shark species that filter feed, as baleen whales do, swimming slowly through plankton-rich water, by opening its huge jaws, it absorbs everything that is close to it and later closes them, expels, and filters the water through the gills; everything else that remains inside is ingested. It is capable of processing more than 1,585 gallons (6,000 lt) of water per hour through its gills. Its mouth can be up to four feet (1.2 m) wide, but the whale shark's teeth are so small that they can only process small shrimp, fish, and plankton using their dermal denticles as a suction filter.
Whale sharks do have teeth but they have incredibly tiny teeth evolved to aid in filter feeding, they really are gentle giants. Whale sharks have no need to bite anything, they simply filter-feed which involves a sucking process. So just to be clear whale sharks don’t eat humans, they have never harmed a human directly or indirectly.
Cancun, Isla Mujeres or Holbox - This is a popular question as when you look for "Cancun whale shark tours". We may not actually know where the sharks are exactly. Every year hundreds of whale sharks arrive in the waters of Cancun in fact it’s the largest aggregation of whale sharks in the world. Sometimes we find whale sharks in Isla Mujeres and sometimes we find the whale sharks in Holbox. It all depends on where their preferred food source is drifting on any particular day. The main difference is that the waters around Isla Mujeres are warm, clear, and blue, while the waters around Holbox are green and colder. Either way you will get to swim with 18+ foot whale sharks so wherever they are, we will do our best to find them.
If you’re staying in Isla Mujeres, choose to depart form there and it is often the closest starting location to the whale shark area (about 40 minutes boat ride).
If you’re staying in Cancun and Riviera Maya, choose to leave from Cancun and Riviera Maya and the transportation will drop you off at the dock in Cancun where the boats start their journey (about 50 minutes boat ride).
Feel free to read our blog "Swim With Whale Sharks In Cancun Or Isla Mujeres?".
Once you’ve learned about the whale sharks and their nature, now you’re ready for a whale sharks tour in Cancun, Riviera Maya or Isla Mujeres.
Don't miss this unique opportunity to meet the largest fish in the ocean and immerse yourself in the crystal-clear waters of the Mexican Caribbean!
Let's go SEA THE PLANET!
