Cancun Whale Shark Encounter from Cancun
Description
Come join us in this once in a lifetime experience and live the most incredible adventure swimming beside this ocean’s gentle giants, your encounter will be supervised by our very experienced guides not to mention you’ll be wearing our snorkeling gear certified by National Geographic Snorkeler. We start the adventure picking you up from any hotel in Cancun, Riviera Maya or Playa del Carmen to take you to our new private marina in Punta Sam in Cancun. After a light breakfast we board and head to the Whale Shark protected area where, after finding them, we will start the dives, 2 to 3 per person, always in couples and with our certified guide. After the dives it is not over, before we head back to our marina we will visit beautiful Playa Norte beach in Isla Mujeres where you will have an hour to relax and enjoy the best ceviche prepared by our crew! Then we go back to our marina in Cancun where our a/c vans will take you back to your hotel or condo.
Tour Options
Itinerary
After the dives, we will head to this beautiful beach in Isla Mujeres where you can do some more snorkeling, and taste the famous Captain Ceviche!
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We will confirm the exact pickup time and location on the day before the activity.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Dress code casual, don't forget your swimsuit!
- Operated by a bilingual guide
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Pregnant women are not allowed for safety reasons and as per federal regulations.
- Even though the probability of seeing whale sharks is very high, we cannot guarantee sightings.
Reviews(178)
The experience was fantastic, the guide Marcelino always attentive and careful, the Captain also quite accurate in his conduct
Issac and Cindy were fantastic! I’d been wanting to do this for 10 years and it did not disappoint.
The overall experience was positive. Luigi and Pedro were amazing. The amount of time in the water was minimal but the sharks were amazing. Beware of rougher water as the boat ride is long and can make you seasick.
Incredible experience, I recommend to everyone, thank you guide Luigi and his captain attention! Wonderful tour, the day was amazing, and the food served as was divine!
Super exciting and fun! Seeing the whale sharks was really cool
Amazing experience if you like snorkeling and whale sharks
Contoy adventures was absolutely amazing. We did the Whale Shark tour and upgraded to a private boat to get more time with the sharks. It was well worth it! Our captain Isaac and guide Cyndi were the best! They had a lot of knowledge about the sharks and were very protective of them and their environment. Isaac was constantly watching from the boat and giving an above sea view for the best spot to swim to intercept the sharks. Cyndi held my wife’s hand until she felt comfortable and snapped some amazing photos. Booking with Contoy was smooth and easy. If we come back again, we will definitely be using them.
Thanks to Sindy and Isaac, the best guides. A lot of patience with children and adults who don't know very well. They made us feel safe at all times. Without a doubt, one of the best experiences I've ever had. Much success, see you soon
Swimming with whale sharks is was a beautiful experience with Isaac and Sindy. They were so kind and helpful and made some of the BEST ceviche I’ve ever had. Isaac is knowledgeable about the region, the habits of the whales, and overall safety. Sindy is very supportive in the water. She makes sure nothing gets in the way of you getting your pics! 10/10 would reocmmend
I do not usually leave reviews, but I booked this whale shark tour with Contoy Adventures, choosing one of the slightly higher-priced options because they advertised a small breakfast, ceviche, and snacks. Unfortunately, no breakfast was provided — we only received sandwiches and ceviche at the very end during a beach stop, which was honestly quite unpleasant due to a strong sewage-like smell in the area. I had brought my drone hoping to capture some nice shots, and noticed there was a beach within walking distance. Interestingly, two ladies from our group were allowed to walk over to that beach to use the bathroom, but I was told I couldn't go there to fly my drone. The tour itself feltvery rushed. You get maybe 30–40 seconds in the water next to the whale shark, and even though they strongly recommend renting a wetsuit for $15 (since either a wetsuit or life vest is mandatory), the encounter is so quick and chaotic that it really doesn’t make a difference. The peaceful images they use for marketing — where a person is gracefully swimming alongside the whale shark — are quite misleading, especially with the number of boats and people in the water. Several people on our boat (3 out of 10) got very seasick and chose not to go in for their second swim, yet no one else was allowed to take their place, which seemed unfair considering how limited and short the experience is. The crew was professional but not particularly warm or engaging — they didn’t create an inviting atmosphere for questions or conversation. Also, if you want photos or videos of your encounter, be prepared to pay nearly half the cost of the tour again. In summary: while seeing a whale shark is truly a once-in-a-lifetime moment, the overall organization, value, and attitude on this tour didn’t live up to what was promised — especially for the price.
Dear Visitor, Thank you for taking the time to write your review, we are sad to hear that the experience did not met your expectations, as it does for over 98% of our visitors, perhaps the nature of the tour is something that was not explained to you correctly but this is a search and find excursion, we go meet the whale sharks in open ocean making it a trip not for everybody. You mentioned breakfast. Every day, we offer a light breakfast at our Marina before you board the speedboats. This includes coffee, bread, and fruit, exactly as advertised. About the drone, sir, this kind of equipment is not allowed in lots of areas. People often ask if they can use a drone in nature-protected regions, such as the ones we visit. However, drones are not allowed. We have been doing the whale shark activity for over 20 years in Cancun, taking over 10 thousand people each year to swim with these magnificent creatures and we take comments like yours very serious, thank you again for taking the time to comment.
