By Pat Ford

Some 20 miles north of the island of Isla Mujeres, just off Cancun, Mexico there is a small section where currents converge and some wonderful things happen.  The currents carry plankton, fish eggs and most everything else that commits its destiny to the sea.  In the winter this nutrient rich environment attracts baitfish which in turn attract hoards of sailfish.  January through March, these waters are the best place in the world to catch Atlantic sailfish.

Fast forwarding to mid June these same waters continue to sweep in amazingly heavy concentrations of microscopic fish eggs and plankton but the sailfish are replaced by hundreds of whale sharks and manta rays.  These enormous critters feed on the plankton and fish eggs by literally swimming around the surface with their toothless mouths wide open.  The fact that whale sharks grow to over 50 feet and mantas have wingspreads over 15 feet pretty much attests to the nutritional value of this stuff, even though we can barely see it.  This whale shark convention has been going on since the beginning of time but over the last several years it has turned into a tourism bonanza for the inhabitants of this tiny island.

I first heard about this whale shark migration from Guy Harvey who was shooting a documentary on this phenomenal event and it wasn’t long before My friend, Hunter Ledbetter, and I  decided to hop down there to see it for ourselves.  My friend and attorney Tony Poot (tonypoot@hotmail.com) set us up with Capt. Abel Avila (ilcato@me.com) and we chartered him for two days of swimming with the whale sharks.  It proved to be the perfect weekend trip.

The flight from Miami to Cancun takes an hour and a half.  After clearing customs, we took a cab to Puerto Juarez to catch the ferry to Isla Mujeres.   Our hotel was clean, well air conditioned and inexpensive.  We met Capt Avila at 7am where he provided a breakfast of fruit pastries and coffee.  The run out to the sharks took about an hour in his 28’ panga.  We got there early but there really is no rush.  You can spot the cluster of boats miles away and the excitement begins to build immediately.  Only outboard powered boats are allowed to provide shark trips and the Government actually issues permits and drew up a set of rules for swimming with these amazing creatures, thereby assuring that it would be perfectly safe, even for young children.

The whale sharks swim literally on the surface so they are easy to spot and you can count on there being hundreds of them.  At one time I counted 85 boats drifting with the feeding sharks and there was plenty of room and fish for everyone.  We were interested in taking photos so we’d hop over the side and wait for the sharks to swim up to us.  Whale sharks don’t move very fast but their feeding speed is about the same as my top speed with flippers and a camera, so once a shark got passed us, it was time to look for another.  Sometimes there were a half dozen sharks in view at one time.  It was awesome.  These critters are so big yet so gentile there never was any danger even though we did get an unintentional swat by a six foot tail every now and then.

The manta rays would show up around 10am and they were fascinating to watch.  They fed the same way as the whale sharks – just swim around with your mouth open – but they actually seemed to play with us from time to time.  Naturally we were always setting up the best photo angle and the rays would help out by doing loops and swimming upside down just under us.  At times they would do a series of loops, each one coming closer to us until they were passing within inches of the camera.  This goes on all day long every day, from mid June to mid September.

Two days is just about perfect for a whale shark excursion and, while there are plenty of boats that provide half day trips for around 1000 pesos per person, we chartered Capt Avila for two days so we could customize our trip.  Capt Avila Provided breakfast, beer and cold drinks, and amazingly good sandwiches for lunch.  At the end of the trip he’d anchor up at the island’s main beach and make up the most delicious shrimp cevici , guacamole dip and home made chips that I’ve ever had.  I’ve done a lot of traveling, diving and fishing and there are a few trips that I can recommend without hesitation….this one is at the top of the list.  Contact Tony Poot via email or facebook and he will set you uo.