July 2022
Jeff and I have been looking forward to this trip since Memorial Day 2021 when we were lucky enough to meet Maggie Birdwell at the Edmond’s Arts Festival. She had a display of underwater pictures set up that included whale sharks and manta rays. We struck up a conversation and while she was interested in selling her photography she ended up selling us on a trip instead. Her company, Nautical Encounters, hosts trips each July to Isla de Mujeres (an island off of Cancun Mexico) for the purpose of snorkeling with whale sharks and manta rays.
We have already snorkeled with the gigantic Pacific Manta Rays while in Bora Bora, but oh WOW, the chance to get up close and personal with a whale shark …. COUNT US IN!
It seemed like it took forever from the initial signup for the trip to get here, but we finally made it.
If you want to skip the written details the pics are all at the end of this post.
July 13, 2022
I normally prefer to fly SW Airlines because you get free luggage but to get to Cancun from OKC we would have to fly to Denver, then to Houston, then to Cancun. I finally decided to book Frontier airlines (DON’T DO IT!!) and we would be flying direct from DFW. So we drove down the day before our flight so that I could do a short shopping trip to IKEA to pick up a dresser for the “new” guest room at our home because we are now officially empty nesters. But, as usual, I digress.
After the IKEA trip we had an uneventful dinner at Papasito’s Mexican before retiring to our hotel room. Since it was an “international” flight we needed to be at the airport 3 hours prior and we were using off-site parking (which I highly recommend). Our flight left at 10 so we got up early and had a quick breakfast before going to the offsite parking.
We managed to get to DFW in time but had trouble finding where Frontier’s counter was to check in our one bag (that cost us $40 EACH DIRECTION – what a f*$#ing rip off!). When we finally found the counter and tried to do self checkin, the kiosk told us to see an agent. Turned out they needed to verify our passports, but we checked in our bag at 39.5 pounds (40# limit!).
DFW has security checkpoints about every 100 feet so no TSA Precheck lines here, which meant shoes off, belt off, etc., etc.
AND then, to the gate and hurry up and wait. We were delayed an hour leaving but we had assigned seats once we checked in (but you could pick your seat when you booked …. which I refused to pay for – minimum $35 each person, each direction) but I did bite the bullet and pay for a backpack (another $35 each direction – are you seeing a theme here? Yeah, never doing this airline ever again!).
Uneventful flight to Cancun, I think it took 3-1/2 hours. Of course, once we landed in Cancun we had to go through customs which took another hour. Then on to baggage claim, which apparently our bags were also going through Customs, because while it took us an hour to get through Customs, our luggage was not there …. So we waited another half hour for our bag. Then on our way out of the airport we got stopped so they could check the contents of my backpack.
I had arranged transportation with “Happy Shuttle” to take us to the ferry. We waited about another 15 minutes in a very crowded but covered outside area until our transportation showed up. Then it was about a half hour drive to the ferry terminal. Apparently there was a lot of construction going on and the traffic around the airport terminal was at a near complete standstill. Our driver, who doesn’t make money unless he is moving, choose to take to the shoulder off the road and bypass the majority of the stopped traffic. There were a couple of areas where the shoulder dropped precariously off into a drainage ditch and I thought for sure that was where we were going to end up …. But I guess it was our lucky day.
We made it to the ferry terminal and bought round trip tickets and got to use a little bit of my high school Spanish. Then on to the ferry for about a 20 minute trip across to the island. Once we docked at the island and collected our bag we headed north for a leisurely 5 block walk to our condo …. HA!!
OK, it was a Thursday, so you wouldn’t think it would be busy but the sidewalks were packed … and we were WAY OVERDRESSED! It was HOT and EVERYONE but US was in swimsuits. The signage was non-existent and after 2 wrong turns and some bad directions from a local we made it to the guard shack of the property to be denied entrance because they didn’t have our name down as a reservation. We were directed back up the street to a different location who still didn’t know who we were.
Tired, hot, hungry and nerves wearing thin, I finally sent Maggie a text and told her that they wouldn’t let us on the grounds because they didn’t have our name. Luckily she responded after about 10 minutes and went to the office, where they had our name, and then met us at the guard gate to take us to the “real” office.
We checked in, our room was directly over the office. We got a one bedroom so didn’t have to share our space with anyone else. Next up was to meet our group in the restaurant at 6 to find out what was going to happen over the next 2 days.
We were starving so we went to the restaurant about ½ hour early to try and grab something to eat … we had not passed anything that looked $ friendly on the way to the condo.
We settled on a couple of drinks, some coconut shrimp and nachos.
We ended up with less than 18 people total, but not everyone had shown up for the meeting. We would meet at 7 in the morning and divide our group between 2 boats.
We were told there was NO touching the animals … DUH! That’s an easy rule to follow but I can see how some people would want to do that. The remainder were wear sunscreen, usually eat lunch on the way back in, snacks and water available … typical rules.
July 14, 2022
There ended up being 8 on our boat with 2 crew and about an equal number on the other boat. We were told that if you wanted sunscreen on, it needed to be applied before we left. If you put it on after we were on site you wouldn’t be allowed into the water.
So, we had Maggie and her husband Adam plus a crew member acting as “guides” on our boat. Then there were 4 other ladies who were sisters and friends from New Jersey. After once or twice in the water, one of the ladies was done – finished – overwhelmed. I don’t think she got back into the water the remainder of the day. I’d venture to guess that she either hadn’t snorkeled before or not in rough water.
We were told that the trip out would probably be an hour. No kidding about an hour boat ride … if not longer. Once we passed along the north side of the island and got out into open water, we discovered that we were dealing with about 8 foot seas. It was rough and although we would eventually end up getting in the water, we got drenched from the boat ride. We were told that we would leave early and beat the crowds out …. HA!! When we finally found the whale sharks it wasn’t because our crew spotted them, it was because there were probably already 15 other boats that beat us!
Once the other boats were spotted we were told to gear up. I didn’t want to be the very first group in, I wanted to watch and see how it was handled. Only 2 people per boat + a guide were allowed in the water at a time. The captain positions his boat in line with a whale shark, with two guests sitting on the side of the boat and the guide entering the water from the back. The captain would say “wait, wait, wait ….. “ followed by “GO, GO, GO!!” And then 3 people from our boat would enter the water.
Now, what is observed FROM the boat is this HUGE shark swimming toward the boat with his mouth OPEN. You can see the dorsal fin and the top of his tail swishing back and forth. Now, remember, we’re in 8ft seas … it’s rough … this is a totally new experience. I mean, we are experienced snorkelers, we have snorkeled in extremely rough water and with sharks before … but never anything of this SIZE. It’s rough, It’s crowded and I’m watching in total awe and can’t wait for our turn … we’re up next!
There are 3 people from our boat in the water following one whale shark, with the captain maneuvering the boat around them and trying to stay out of other boats way AND watch out for the other people and the other whale sharks in the water. It seemed like they just got in the water and now the captain is picking them up. What? 3 minutes in the water? 3 MINUTES!! I came all this way to have only 3 minutes in the water!!
Now it’s our turn. Jeff and I are perched on the side of the boat and Maggie is going in with us. We hear “wait, wait, wait …….” And we’re scanning the water for the nearest whale shark and I spot one heading right for us. I’m holding on to the boat for dear life …. It isn’t easy to keep you fins out of the water, hold on, watch the water and follow directions all at the same time. Then we hear …”GO, GO, GO!!!”
We push off the side of the boat without a second thought. Come up to the surface and when I put my face down in the water to swim ….. IT WAS RIGHT THERE ….. HEADING STRAIGHT FOR ME …. WITH IT’S MOUTH WIDE OPEN …. WITH IT’S TAIL MOVING FROM SIDE TO SIDE …. IT WAS HUGE …. And all I could think was “I need to get out of the way NOW!!”.
Now I knew what the first couple’s 3 minutes in the water was all about.
We went in every 4th rotation. I’d venture to guess the longest we were in the water the first day was 10 minutes. The first 3 or 4 times in the water the captain was putting us in right on top of these big sharks. I’d venture to say that they were 20 to 30 foot long. BUT when you’re staring at the big open mouth headed right for you, it looks like the size of the front end of a Volkswagon beetle. I don’t know that I even got any decent pictures the first day. It seemed like I spent all of my time getting out of the way!
Jeff declared this type of snorkeling to be “INTENSE snorkeling” and he got that one right. It got so intense that some of the ladies that were paired up in our boat would pass up a turn. Not us! We can rest later.
Because it was so rough and there were so many boats around us jockeying for the same group of sharks in the water, the captain decided to take us on a ride to try and locate a separate group. After about an hour of seeing nothing but sea, we headed back to the original location. Maggie told us that the other boats tended to head in about 1 pm and when we got back to the original group maybe we’d get some more time with the sharks before they went deep.
I think we did a few more times in the water before we started heading back in. We took the “long” way back and had not seen any manta rays. I think everyone was tired out from the intensity of getting in the water, getting out of the way and then getting back into the boat. It really tired us out having to deal with such rough seas.
I was grateful to have a sandwich and on the trip back it seemed that the seas had calmed down a little bit but the trip back in would have been easier anyway.
We did manage to see two manta rays breech. That is just way too cool and nothing that I would ever expect to get a picture of because it happens so quickly. This is the second time in my life that I have witnessed that and it is incredible.
We were traveling in fairly shallow water and the captain spotted a manta ray. Maggie was eager to get in the water with it and take some pictures. She invited the rest of us to get in but I had a full stomach and had put all my stuff up already so I opted out. Her husband, Adam, eventually joined her in the water and she got some amazing pics with the manta ray. The shallow water really helped. I was impressed with her swimming with one arm, while holding onto her big, heavy underwater camera. They must have spent half an hour in the water with the manta ray.
We returned to the island, calling it a really long day. I think we got back in about 4. We checked with the office about renting a golf cart and found out the difference between renting for half a day and a 24 hour period was about $10, so we rented for the 24 hour period. We scheduled to pick it up at 5 pm so we could use it the next evening for a bit after we got back in from snorkeling.
I wanted to check out the rest of the island. While it is very walkable close to where we were staying, the island was too big to see everything on foot. I think it is not quite 5 miles long.
We didn’t even get off the property when we discovered that the steering wheel was broken so our first stop was the golf cart rental “headquarters” to trade it out. From there we went out exploring. We drove all the way to the southern tip of the island, where there is a lighthouse and great views of Cancun to the West. We saw some beautiful houses and some shacks. We stopped at a little hole in the wall on the side of the road and ordered a pizza. We actually found a 7-11 on the way back and wait for it … found Jeff’s elusive Dr. Pepper. Bought enough to last that evening and the next day.
After our island tour we headed back to the condo to get a good night’s sleep and get ready for day 2 of of 7am departure.
July 15, 2022
One of the ladies in our group hurt her neck the previous day. A combination of the rough seas and the boat. She asked if her group could go on the other boat the second day. I figured that we would end up with all the “older” people on one boat and was surprised when Maggie didn’t move us and instead brought all the younger people to our boat. We ended up with another group of 4 younger ladies, friends from NYC that take girlfriend trips together a couple of times a year and a younger guy that was also a photographer and had a big underwater camera similar to Maggie’s.
Today was a pleasant surprise. It was night and day different from the previous day. Today we had maybe 2 foot seas and didn’t get wet at all going to the location. Of course, the whale sharks move around, but the captain always starts his search from the location the previous day. There didn’t seem to be as many boats today, and they appeared to be spaced further apart.
Not only did today offer whale sharks but there were manta rays in the mix today as well. It was funny, when it was our turn we could pick which we wanted to go in the water with. The manta rays are cool, like ballerina’s of the ocean, but I’ve been in the water with so many of them that I preferred getting in with the whale sharks.
We were still exiting off the side of the boat but the captain was putting us in the water differently today. He would get ahead of the direction the shark was going and then put us in the water so that when we swam out to the shark we would “run into” it instead of being “on top” of it. Like I said, totally different day, much more enjoyable.
At one point, about mid morning, the “policia” on a boat had a conversation with our captain. Apparently they didn’t like Jeff’s and my flotation device. We use a vest that you can blow up, similar to what is on an airplane in case of a water landing. Salt water is naturally buoyant but I choose to put just a puff or two of air in mine – more psychological than anything. The captain had us put on regular life jackets — ugh. Big and bulky, I was not a happy camper. The captain thought that the police would move off but they didn’t. When it came time for our rotation he turned the boat north and we went away from the group. He said he was hunting for manta rays. In the end, we found another group of whale sharks that were swimming with manta rays, we were out of sight of the police so we could put OUR vests back on, and we had the whole group of sharks and rays to ourselves. It was amazing! We got to stay in the water longer and swim from shark to shark. People on the boat were spotting for us and would point us in the right direction.
The other boat from our group eventually joined us. I don’t think we saw the other boat the day before at all. It was like two completely separate excursions. The people on the other boat were ready to call it quits early and we gained one more person, a dive master, from the other boat who joined us for the remainder of the afternoon.
We had a long day with the whale sharks today. I couldn’t even venture to guess how many times we got in the water but at least today I got a couple of good camera shots. They don’t hold a candle to what Maggie was going with her camera, but my camera cost $70 and Maggie’s cost about $9000.
Eventually the sharks quit actively feeding and started doing what is call “bottling”. Their mouths are the only thing showing at the surface and their dorsal fin and tail are underwater. It’s like they are in suspended animation. The water continues to go over their gills and they are still filtering food, but they might actually be napping. I got one really good picture of this.
And just like that … poof! They were gone. We hunted for a while and some of the group got in the water with some manta rays that were still in the area, but then we started back in. Repeat of previous day, with sandwiches and cold water to drink. Most of this young people found a place to stretch out and nap. It was a quiet trip back while we contemplated a great trip.
We managed to get back in time to hop in the golf cart and go back to 7-11 to pick up a couple more Dr. Peppers. Then we parked down the street from the “main drag” and walked by where all the restaurants and tshirt places are located before we had to turn the golf cart back in.
Back at the condo we cleaned up, packed up and called it a successful day.
July 16, 2022
Our “happy shuttle” was scheduled to pick us up from the ferry terminal at 10 to take us back to the airport for a 2 pm flight which would put us at DFW about 5:30 and then home about 9. When we got up in the morning I already had a message from Frontier saying that our flight had been delayed by 2 hours. So, now we don’t be home until 11 pm at the earliest.
We decided to walk to the ferry terminal since it was early morning, still kind of cool, no people out on the streets to speak of yet, and would not hassle with trying to change our shuttle reservation, we would just wait it out at the airport. We made the 8:30 ferry which left us over an hour to sit and wait on our ride but we found a nice table in the shade and when we went to find our driver early, about 9:45, he was waiting for us. We had a nice leisurely drive back to the airport, which was an entirely different experience from when we arrived.
We found this out on a previous trip where we got to the airport early … they will NOT let you check your bags or go through security more than 4 hours prior to your departure. We found a place on the floor, out of the way to sit for a couple of hours. Since our flight was delayed 2 hours, we had a two hour wait before we could check in.
We finally got our bag checked in, passports checked and made it through security and it was lunch time. I was pleasantly surprised at all the eating options available. We ended up getting a good hamburger at Johnny Rockets and fries. Then made our way to the general gate area to wait for a couple of more hours. Had time to check out the shopping and get a couple of things.
The remainder of the trip is kind of a blur. The gate was changed. The plane was even later. Had to wait on the off site parking shuttle … which was packed to the gills (and we were the only ones wearing masks). The car had been sitting in the scorching heat for 4 days with the windows rolled up all the way. The seats were so hot it felt like the seat heater was on! It’s dinner time but we need to start heading north and I need to drive for a while in what is left of the daylight. We get on I-35 and go about 10 miles and come to about 5 miles of stop and go traffic. As soon as we got past that it opened up. We stopped at Gainesville for some gas station food and then Jeff took us the rest of the way home.
Once home, had to play with the boys for a while and then get them settled down so we could ALL go to bed.
This was definitely a fast paced, fun, intense, bucket list weekend. Can’t wait to do it again! Enjoy the pics of whale sharks and manta rays ….
