DIVING TRIP WITH WHALE SHARKS AND GREAT WHITE SHARKS TO MEXICO

by Anders Salesjö

Shark diving trip to Mexico

At the end of July, we were eleven expectant divers who left a rainy Swedish summer to go on a diving trip with sharks to Mexico. Sun and warmth were waiting, but now it wasn't sun and warmth per se that we were looking for. The idea was more to realize a dream that we all carried; We all wanted to dive with adults hajar. The idea of the trip was to experience both a whale shark and a great white shark on one and the same trip.

Mexican east coast

We liveandathey soon on Cancun airport in Mexico here we started our adventure at the Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean side and the east coast of Mexico. Hundreds gather there every year whale sharks. They seek this place to feast on fish eggs floating on the surface of the water. After a long and somewhat murky boat trip, we finally sighted the first whale sharks. Once in the water we could all tell that they were there in large numbers. You saw them just about everywhere; above, below, in front and behind you, everywhere there was a whale shark. When it was at its peak, we had four to five in the field of vision in front of the mask. If you then looked out over the water from above from the boat, you could easily see about twenty at the same time.

This continued on the second, third and fourth day as well. Although by then there had also been a large amount of recently passed manta rays that brightened life for us. On the way back from the fourth day there were rumors of an approaching hurricane and it started to blow quite strongly. The wind meant that the fifth day with whale sharks had to be cancelled. Despite this, we were all very happy and satisfied. We had already seen lots of both whale sharks and manta rays, so our expectations were well met.

Luxury yacht anchored near rocky island in clear blue ocean, perfect for scuba diving trips.

Luxurious yacht exploring scenic fjords during a scuba travel adventure in remote locations.

Great White Shark swimming underwater, marine life, deep sea predator, ocean adventure, scuba diving with sharks.

Great White Shark swimming underwater in deep blue ocean.

Small group of scuba divers on a boat ready for diving adventure, clear blue ocean background.

Liveaboard in the Pacific Ocean with great white sharks

From Cancun on the east coast of Mexico, we then flew to San Diego, where we spent two nights in a hotel before taking a bus transfer down to Ensenada in Mexico. From there we took the liveaboard boat out onto the Pacific Ocean Nautilus Explorer. The final destination was Guadalupe; the world's best place to dive with great white sharks. We had now reached the highlight of the trip, we would finally get to experience great white sharks under the surface. It turned out that many of us had carried this dream since childhood and now it would come true, once and for all.

After almost a day's murky boat trip, the cages were opened at seven in the morning. For the first few hours nothing happened, but then white sharks were sighted both at the surface-based cages and at the submersible ones. The occasional shark came and went throughout the day, but they kept their distance and there was never much activity. When day two came we all thought that today would probably be better, with more sharks coming closer. Unfortunately, we were completely wrong, not a single great white shark was seen on the whole of day two. A concern now began to spread among the travelers, won't it get better than this, won't there be more sharks? However, it got better.

Already early in the morning on day three, white sharks were sighted, and then there were several white sharks on and off throughout the day. Sometimes they came so close that they plunged straight into the cage. It rattled really hard and made a lot of noise when this happened. When they got so close, there was every opportunity to get really good pictures. All the travelers thought this closing finale was really great.” – Scuba Travel ambassador, Anders Salesjö

Interested in shark diving trips?

If you are interested in diving with sharks, there are several opportunities ahead with Anders Salesjö. He is one of Scuba travel's more active ambassadors and he has several trips with sharks coming up. There is one more trip Galapagos in October 2017 (1 place left) where you have the chance to experience whale sharks, galapagos sharks, silk sharks and hammerhead sharks, among other things. Besides, he has one more trip French Polynesia 2018 where you will see incredible amounts of gray reef sharks under a natural phenomenon called "wall of sharks". Both of these trips are almost fully booked, but there will be more trips with Anders.

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