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#1
07-24-2007, 11:10 AM
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I'm going to Holbox!
Well, I'm off on a little family vacation getaway to Holbox, Mexico on Thursday. I'm going to investigate these claims of ridiculous numbers of whale sharks and get back to you. We can compare to the Galapagos, Donsol (Philippines), Exmouth (western Australia) and Utila (Honduras)--the other places I have been fortunate to swim with whale sharks.
We're planning on shooting a Jonathan Bird's Blue World episode there, so I'm hoping for lots of shark action and good viz. If my 4 year old daughter is up to it, I may even try throwing her in. She has been taking swim lessons for a year...but not sure she is ready for this or not. Report to come next week! Jonathan 
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#2
07-24-2007, 02:25 PM
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Enjoy your holiday ( whole family ). 4 year old...hmmm...remember that you might get tired in the water...they are not. Just wait to see next episode! Jukka
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#3
08-01-2007, 05:58 PM
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I'm back! All I can say is WOW! I'll post some pics and a trip report once I get through the RAW files. We had probably 20 whale sharks around the boat at several times. Amazing!
Jonathan
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#4
08-02-2007, 01:13 PM
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What?!!??!! I've never heard of that. You were diving in the Gulf of Mexico north of the Yucatan? Details, man, details! What was your travel itinerary, who was the dive operator? I assume that these congregations are seasonal. What are the season limits? I can't believe I've never heard of this! I'm off tomorrow to the Durgon in Bonaire, but, man, I think I should be going to Holbox! -Clay
__________________
Clay Coleman Photography
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#5
08-02-2007, 02:57 PM
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I have to admit that I was also serching by Google destination name Holbox....waiting Jonathan! Jukka
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#6
08-02-2007, 04:58 PM
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OK, I am supposed to be working now, but I'll give you some details, then more later when I have time.
Holbox (pronounced "Holbosh") is a tiny island on the north end of the Yucatan in Mexico. It's basically a small fishing village. They don't have cars on the island...everyone drives gas powered golf carts. It's weird. The people are very nice, I never felt unsafe. There are no panhandlers, yet. The fishermen have known about the seasonal aggregations of whale sharks (they call them "Dominos") for many years, but the word got out a few years ago and now it's becoming pretty much the place to see whale sharks. You fly into Cancun, take a 2.5 hour drive north through the jungle, get on a boat and take a 1/2 hour ride to Holbox. There are several hotels on the island but only two with A/C. Since the season is June-September, you really want an air-conditioned hotel, trust me. The no-see-ums are absolutely brutal at sundown, you need to be inside then. The rest of the time the bugs are not bad at all. There are very few mosquitos in fact. During the day it's just too hot for them anyway. You get up at 6:30 AM and get into these small fishing boats on the beach. You drive out about 1 hour, then you get to the sharks. We had as many as 20 sharks within sight of the boat at a time. I have seen pictures of this in Shark Diver Magazine but I expected those were the "shoulda been here last week" type pictures, a 1 in a million situation. Nope! We had 4 mornings with the sharks, and we had tons of sharks all four mornings. We also had mantas and plenty of dolphins. They say that you can only stay out for the morning because the wind comes up and the sharks stop surface feeding. That was not my experience. In our case, we left because the time was up and it was time to go back. When I go back next year (yes, I'm putting together a trip, and it will be cheap) I will negotiate that we stay out until we are finished, not until the time is up. The viz is 20-30 feet. The water is greenish and full of plankton. That's why the sharks are there. It's a soup of mostly little shrimp and jellies. The sharks are very actively feeding. They are swimming at the surface, mouths wide open, scooping water. Some are vertical in the water gulping at the surface. Nearby, mantas are doing barrel rolls feeding. There are bait balls of sardines here are there, making the water appear to boil. Dolphins are zipping through it. It's friggin' amazing. But the viz is only 20-30 feet, so it's hard to shoot. You need a W-I-D-E lens and get into the action. Better viz than Donsol for sure, but certainly not clear water. They have adopted some very intelligent rules for whale shark interactions, as the WWF got involved early and gave them the same set of rule suggestions that they gave the operators in Donsol Philippines. (No strobes, only 2 people plus a guide in the water at a time, no touching the sharks, no scuba etc.) The rules are fair. They are very strict about not allowing people to touch the sharks, and the result is that the sharks are totally, absolutely unafraid of people. They will swim right up to you while feeding and pay you no attention. It makes pictures easy. We had a couple total newbie photographer friends with us and they all got good shots. The surface photography is almost as impressive as the underwater. We had some people not even get in the water but get amazing topside shots of the mantas and the sharks. My 4 year old swam with the whale sharks. There are so many that you don't need to chase them. Just get in the water and wait. Within a few minutes, one will pass right by you. She had mantas rolling under her feet and whale sharks zipping by left and right. I did this trip with some friends as a "discovery" trip and I learned a LOT about how to run a trip there. I'll run one next year and now I know exactly how to run it right. All I can say is that this place is truly amazing and one of the few places I have been that actually exceeded the expectation I had of it. (Galapagos was another). Unfortunately, there are plans afoot to massively captialize on the sharks. There are tons of hotels being planned and I think in short order it is going to get out of hand there. We'll see. I'll post some pics shortly. Jonathan
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#7
08-02-2007, 04:59 PM
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Clay, yes! Your neck of the woods!
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#8
08-02-2007, 10:37 PM
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OK, here are some pics!
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#9
08-02-2007, 10:38 PM
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More pics....
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#10
08-02-2007, 10:39 PM
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A few more....
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