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Whale Shark Season 2022

A breath taking experience!

Season 2022

We really understand your need to get your toes out and into the warm Caribbean up here with us.
So if you’re looking for the best Whale Shark tour, Eco Colors is your place. Our passionate team is ready to delight, educate, entertain and keep each and every one of our guests safe and wanting to come back for more. We invite you to join us for an adventure of a lifetime!

In this incredible experience you will swim beside these gentle giants and explore like never before the underwater world of the largest fish in our planet, the Caribbean region is home to several breath taking natural wonders and genuinely astounding tropical wildlife, but believe, few are more spectacular than this one.

Here at Eco colors with our expert team, from the 24th of May to mid-September, you get the chance to snorkel with these marine giants like never before, swim alongside whale sharks with the safety of our trained expert snorkeling guides. Journey with us away from your resort and out into the warm, crystal waters of the Caribbean to the largest whale shark gathering in the world. Experience the adrenaline as whale sharks swim right beside you!

 

Size and description

Whale sharks are gentle swimming companions; the name “whale shark” (Rhincodon typus) comes from the fact that this shark can grow to be as large as some whales, the largest known extant fish, the largest confirmed individual had a length of 18.8 m (61.6 ft). That’s about the size of a school bus. Incredible!

Distribution

They can be found in temperate and tropical oceans around the world, except the Mediterranean Sea, and migrate thousands of miles to different feeding grounds, in Mexico they have been observed in Holbox, Contoy, Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Sian Ka-an, Chinchorro, here in the peninsula of Yucatan Mexico we can find the largest aggregation of whale sharks in the world every year from mid-May to mid-September.

Habits and diet

Whale sharks are filter feeders and can neither bite nor chew. They can process more than 6000 liters of water an hour through their gills. Although its mouth can stretch to four feet wide, a whale shark’s teeth are so tiny that they can only eat small shrimp, fish and plankton by using their gill rakers as a suction filter.

Every summer nutrient rich water from the Caribbean Sea flows south across the shallow continental shelf, the currents fuel a massive plankton bloom like coral spawning events. This feast of zooplankton and fish eggs is a magnet for the whale sharks, this giants of the ocean as filter feeders they travel large distances to find enough food to sustain their huge size, and to reproduce.

Offspring

Whale shark females produce eggs, but the young hatch inside of the mother instead of in the water like most fish. Then, the female gives birth to about 300 live young. Many never make it to maturity, though.
Whale sharks have a long childhood. At the age of 25, the offspring are ready to have their own young. They may live 100 to 150 years.

Along with other sharks, they’re under threat

Many sharks are accidentally caught in fishing gear, as well as caught deliberately for their fins, which are a delicacy in Asia.

Their ocean home is also in danger. From climate change warming the water – affecting both habitats, prey and shark population shifts – to plastic pollution, which could cause entanglement or be ingested, especially by filter feeders.

Book it today and don’t miss this unique experience for a life time!!!

You cannot miss this unique trip during your vacations, after so amazing experience swimming with the whale sharks, we will take you to a shallow area to have lunch and swim in the crystal waters of Isla Mujeres.

Come join us for what we aim to make one of the best tours you have ever been on!

 

What’s included in this tour

  • Comfortable transportation
  • Professional guides
  • Snorkel equipment: fins, mask, breathing tube and life jacket (may bring your own)
  • Snacks
  • Lunch (*if you are vegetarian or allergic to something please let us know when making your reservation)
  • Beverages

 

What’s not included in this tour

  • Swimsuit
  • Towel
  • Change of clothes
  • Sandals
  • Hat
  • Sunglasses
  • Extra money

 

Ages: Ages 5+
Duration: 7-12 hours (Depending on your place of departure)
Note: Up to 10 guests
Recommended Pickup Time: As you go in a private tour you may choose your own time but we recommend from 05:00 am in Tulum to 07:00 am depending on the other places of departure, exact time will be confirmed the evening before the tour

What to bring: Hat, sunglasses, long sleeve t-shirt, beach clothes, some cash for souvenirs if needed.

 

Itinerary 

07:00 AM
Pick up at your hotel en Cancún (06:00 am Playa del Carmen, 05:00 am Tulúm).

07:30 AM
Informative briefing about the Whale Sharks at Marina Hacienda del Mar in Puerto Juarez.

*See the location of Marina Hacienda del Mar on Google Maps.

08:00 AM
Depart from the Marina in search for the whale shark reserve in the Caribbean sea. Once we found them, you will have the unique opportunity to snorkel with the biggest fish in the world.

12:30 PM
Lunch time on the boat just off the coast of Isla Mujeres.

01:30 PM
Back to the marina, to go back at your hotel.

02:00 PM
Arrival at your hotel in Cancún (03:00 pm Playa del Carmen, 04:00 pm Tulúm).

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