In August 2012 we took a vacation with some friends to Cancun, Mexico. As usual I am always looking for a great adventure, something I have never done before. I ran across a tour to go snorkeling with the Whale Sharks. These animals are constantly migrating so you have to be at the right place at the right time.
I called EcoColors to find out if they have been seeing the whale sharks lately. They actually gave us a money back guarantee if we didn't see the whale sharks....DONE!
Now, our friends that went with us were good to go too, but my buddy Mark is in a wheel chair so we had to make sure EcoColors could accommodate us. They were actually great with helping Mark enjoy the trip. I'm not saying that we had no challenges. I mean, we are loading and unloading a good size boat multiple times, but everyone was very helpful and we all had a great experience.
We were picked up at our hotel around 6:30 AM and rode in a van to pick a couple of other people up on the way. We arrived at the marina around 7:15 where they had a continental breakfast and bathrooms. We boarded the boat around 8:00 and headed out!
Normally the Caribbean is very calm, but Hurricane Ernesto was passing by and we were seeing some of the waves where we were. I would say we had about 7 foot seas on a medium size boat. Needless to say there was some back and forth going on! The ride out to the whale sharks took about 2 hours or so and everyone except me, Mark, and the staff were sea sick. The staff did everything they could to help people. They even provided small slices of fresh Ginger. If you hold the ginger to your nose and breathe in, the nausea is almost instantly tolerable. I thought that was really cool.
When we go to the whale sharks there were boats EVERYWHERE! The Captain would locate a spot where we could get close and each guide would take two people in and snorkel with them for about 15 minutes before re-boarding the boat. That doesn't sound like long, but these fish are constantly moving so you have to drive to them again. You simply can't keep up. After everyone rotates through you can go again. On our boat most people only went once, but Mark and I went in several times.
Since Mark does not have the use of his legs he used some gloves that give you webbed fingers to get around. For any of my readers that may be in a chair, he said they really helped him get around. Mark was the one that snagged all the pics for us to share.
Mark and his wife Tina
After swimming with the sharks we went back to a shallow beach at Isla Mujeres and had shrimp ceviche' and sandwiches for lunch. Everyone hung out in the shallows for a while before heading back to Puerto Juarez.
What I Learned:
- Ginger is great for nausea
- Whale Sharks are incredible creatures. One of the Earth's largest animals live solely on some of the Earth's smallest organisms.
Spirit Strike:
Psalm 145:15 KJV "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season."
I find it amazing that these whale sharks are constantly migrating in the open ocean and these large creatures are able to thrive. No matter where they swim to, they are counting on enough food to be in the water to sustain them. I know the whale sharks are not acting on faith, but as humans we could all benefit from trusting God to provide for us.