While on holiday in Playacar, Mexico with my family, I went on a little solo day trip with the aim of swimming with the world’s largest fish, the Whale Shark…
It was an early start as I was the first hotel pickup at 5:30am. We then meandered up the coast, stopping at other hotels to collect guests, before heading up to Cancun. I had booked the tour through Get Your Guide and the company the trip was with was called Contoy Adventures. We arrived at Contoy Adventures’ headquarters at around 7:50am where we met our crew and had a breakfast snack.
It was then time for us to jump on board the boat, don our lifejackets and settle in for the 1.5 hour journey to the middle of the Caribbean Sea (roughly 20 miles offshore). It was a small group of 10 guests and 2 crew (our skipper, Carlos, and guide, Habier) and during the journey out to sea, we started off with a briefing from our guide and then settled into the trip by getting to know each other.
Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus) are the largest FISH in our oceans. Adults can reach 9+ metres in length (the largest ever recorded was 18.8m long and found in the Arabian Sea in 2001). Have no fear, these gentle giants eat microscopic plankton and small fish. Their spots are like fingerprints and every individual has a different, identifiable pattern.
We reached the swimming site where the boat slowed and other boats joined us on the search for our first shark. We had been split into pairs by our guide so that we all got a fair and safe chance to swim with the sharks. The first pair were told to get ready at the back of the bottom, putting their mask and fins on before sitting on the edge of the bot, ready to slide into the water at any second. It wasn’t long before we spotted the first fin…
The chaos ensued! Boats upon boats, loads of people jumping in the water – all for a single shark. Our skipper decided this wasn’t the spot for us so once our first pair and guide were back onboard, he drove us to a different spot where (at least to begin with) there were less boats. We found more sharks and the process began again, one pair in the water, one getting ready. Soon it was my turn, the moment I had been waiting for – a real bucket list moment, I was about to swim with a whale shark.
We got the go ahead and slipped as carefully as possible into the water and there it was. Graceful, majestic, enormous – slowly swimming along a short distance ahead of us, minding its own business. The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.
Back on the boat, we were all talking excitedly about the experience as the next pair were swimming. Our skipper would strategically move the boat between pairs to get the best position in front of the shark, usually so it would swim directly at us when the pair jumped in. As I was sat on the side preparing for my second swim, the sharks seemed to disappear for a moment. Then, my fin hit the water and when I looked down, a massive, spotty body was just below me! I so wish I’d had my camera on and ready so I could have got a photo or video of that moment, the excitement on my face must have been telling. The skipper moved the boat into position and gave us the nod, time to get back in the water. This time, the Whale Shark swam directly at us, passing me only a couple of metres away. It was such an adrenaline rush!
Up on the surface, we could see dolphins in the distance. We’d all had a second swim and it was looking likely that it was time for us to leave as there were other boats starting to leave. The skipper then announced his parting gift, one more swim each. He moved the boat around, waiting for the most ideal encounter (and for some of the other boats to leave). We got ready and waited for the skipper’s nod as we sat in our pairs on the side of the boat.
I was in the last group to go in, I was so happy with my last swim – we jumped in and swam with the shark until she disappeared into the deep blue water. An amazing encounter!
Back on board, the adrenaline rush kept us going for the journey back to land but we had a little lunch stop first at Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres. It was a beautiful setting for lunch, apparently on of the most beautiful beaches in Mexico. We had a quick 20 minutes swim/free time while the crew prepared lunch for us all. They had prepared a fish ceviche, or for non-fish eaters like me, ham and cheese sandwiches. We all exchanged photos we’d taken from the day and chatted about the experience while we ate lunch. We then made the short journey back to the mainland and Cancun where we had a little time to buy souvenirs in the shop or go to the toilet before getting back on the transport back to our hotels.
It was a long, hot, tiring day but it was SO incredibly worth it! The day trip cost me £140 – this included transport to and from Contoy Adventures HQ in Cancun (around 1 hour drive direct, 2 hours if you’re the last hotel drop off like me), lunch and the approximately 4 hours out on the boat. There is a US$20 mandatory National Park fee that you need to pay upon arrival at Contoy Adventures HQ. The day had been filled with adrenaline and excitement, and then at the end of it, to be able to say that I’ve swum with the largest fish in the sea is just amazing!
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