Whale Shark Encounter & Isla Mujeres Beach Visit: An Unforgettable Swimming Adventure
4.8
341 Ratings
Cancún
Swim with whale sharks in the protected area of Cancun, followed by a visit to the stunning Playa Norte beach in Isla Mujeres. An unforgettable adventure awaits!
Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Contoy Adventures - Our Whale Shark Encounter begins early in the morning where, depending on the hotel or condominium you’re staying at, our experienced van drivers will pick you up right at the lobby or entrance to take you to our new marina located in the ferry terminal in Punta Sam in Cancun. All of our vans are comfortable A/C units in perfect conditions and all of our drivers are licensed and certified to operate tourism in the highway. Once you arrive to our marina you will be welcome by our ground staff and, after a quick check in, where you will be assigned to your boat, you will have the chance for a light breakfast before boarding. We leave at 7:50 am and head straight into the whale shark protected area, life vests are mandatory from the minute you board, this always for your safety which is a mayor concern to us. After an hour we arrive and find the whale sharks, our captain will choose one and do the proper manouvers with the boat to start the swims, always in couples and with our certified guide, 2 by 2 you will go in the water to swim beside this beautiful creatures, there are 10 people on each boat, after 2 to 3 dives per person, making sure everybody gets their chance,you will all board and start the return but, before we reach Cancun we have one final stop, Playa Norte beach in Isla Mujeres. Playa Norte is the nicest beach in Isla Mujeres and, it’s considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, here you will have an hour to relax or, if you want, do some more snorkeling. Our captain will prepare his famous ceviche while you enjoy your favorite non alcoholic drink, sandwiches will also be available. Then we head back to our marina in Cancun where our vans will be expecting you ready to go back to your hotels after this wonderful adventure. Pickups in hotels start at 5:30 am depending on the hotel and area you’re staying at and the boats are usually back at our marina between 1:00 and 2:00 pm.
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Professional guide
  • Use of snorkeling equipment
  • Breakfast
  • Tea and coffee
  • Snacks
  • Sodas & bottled water
What's Not Included
  • $20 usd per person dock fee, cash at the check-in
Additional Information

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.

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 in sight by our crew.

  • Not recommended for child aged 3 and under.
  • 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.
Location
Contoy Adventures
Our marina is located right next to the Punta Sam Ferry terminal to Isla Mujeres and next to the Villa del Palmar hotel.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(341 Ratings)
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C0mercialsimas0lu_c
Mar 28, 2024
Great - Wonderful, restaurant with several opicoea, sensational service, very good food, tasty, affordable, healthy and very sensational.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Beckiys2024
Feb 9, 2024
Willy Crew - It was an incredible experience, my family and I agreed that the live music was the super special touch that made the difference.
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Lovestotravelgirlie
Sep 20, 2023
Amazing! Do it! - Our crew was fantastic and we saw several whale sharks just 45 minutes off shore. They were knowledgeable and it was an amazing experience. The beach in Isla Mujeres is gorgeous as well. If you are in the area during the season, don’t sleep on this!
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Heatherv596
Sep 17, 2023
Bucket list experience - From start to finish our tour was amazing. Dorian our guide, the captain Jesus, and the crew were so awesome. The captain got us close to the whale sharks unlike other boats around. The crew was great as well. Dorian was a great guide who I would recommend to everyone. She was very personable and you can tell she loves her job. I hope to bring my kids next year and I will definitely be requesting Dorian and crew.
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Jennifer
Sep 17, 2023
Dolphins, sea turtles, whale sharks! 😍😍😍 - The absolute perfect day with the most majestic creatures!!! Brandon guided us on our journey and made it an incredible experience. Transportation from our hotel was effortless and easy. We ended up going out on a beautiful, clear day and we fortunate enough to find a group of about 20 whale sharks. It took us about an hour of sailing to find our spot. Along the way we saw dozens of dolphins and a sea turtle. Each team got to swim twice with the whale sharks. After the swim we sailed to Isla Mujeres while our hosts made us the best ceviche I’ve ever had. Isla Mujeres was breathtaking and magical with is cerulean waters. When we got back Brandon made sure we were able to get the videos of us snorkeling since it can be a bit confusing because everyone looks the same with snorkeling gear. Highly recommend visiting these gorgeous creatures with this amazing team!
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Robert
Sep 15, 2023
AWESOME - This was such a cool experience. The captain and crew were so great to us. Juan was an awesome guide and it was such a great start for our week.
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Ray121283
Sep 13, 2023
Amazing experience - Ki Ki & Carlos! The brilliant duo, gave us a day at sea to remember! We met at the dock early ready to head off and find some whale sharks! Warning, if you get sea sick, brace yourself! The journey was choppy but thankfully I absolutely love that and was in my element! We soon found some Whale Sharks and were taken into the water 2 at a time to have the experience of a lifetime! The whales are majestic and truly incredible in size! Ki ki made sure we were safe at all times and even hopped in the water first to make sure we were going to get a great view before instructing us to hop In too and he took some great videos without us even knowing to make sure we could have those memories whilst being present in the hear and now; in the there and then! After we had 2 opportunities to swim with these magnificent animals, we stopped off for some lunch, swimming and drinks before heading back to where we started. Met some great people on the boat too! Wetsuits can be rented for $15 before you leave and life jackets are provided, along with snorkel gear and flippers. Thanks Ki ki and Carlos! You made a great day Epic!
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628allison
Sep 7, 2023
Must read timeline of a great day! - Boat captain Jesus and guide Dorian found us a whale shark! Meet at the dock, rent a wet suit if you wish ($15) and board your boat. You then speed out to the last known spot of the sharks and start looking. This was the worst part of the trip. It was hot and took over a hour. Once another boat found the sharks, all the boats speed to that location. Two at a time you enter the water and aggressively swim to see and keep up with the whale shark. They are fast and big! There are lots of other boats around yet somehow they all take turns and everyone is able to enter the water safely. This process feels a bit chaotic and rushed but totally worth the experience. This tour is for people who can swim comfortably in the ocean independently with a mask and or snorkel. After being in the water 2 Times to see the massive creatures you head to isla mujeres north beach to chill in the water and then eat lunch. Back to the docks around 3pm. This was a great experience, and would have been better if I would have known the timeline as given above. Dorian was very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions, somehow he was able to take pictures and go pro footage while keeping us safe! Jesus was a great captain and got us in the perfect location to enter the water to see the sharks. Thank you So much for this experience! Make sure you tip your guides and captain! We saw manta rays, flying fish and dolphins as well!!
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K9469qvkimberlyc
Sep 7, 2023
No Whale Sharks for Us! - We went out on Aug. 31 for the whale shark excursion. We were picked up in a comfortable van in a timely manner from our resort. Once at the dock, we were separated into groups and loaded onto boats. The ride out was bumpy, but pleasant as we saw a dolphin pod. That was pretty much where the pleasantness ended. We spend the next 3 hours in a crowded, small boat in rough conditions with no bathroom facilities. Fortunately, I took bonine, but others were not so good. We saw no whale sharks and were not allowed to get out of the boat. Requests to just go back if there were not going to be any whale sharks that day were denied, as the guide said they were required to stay until 11:30. The ride back was horrible, bumpy, and by that time we were all sunburnt and windburnt, even with long sleeves and hats. The stop at Isla Mujeres was not great, as it was crowded with many other anchored boats and the water was very stirred up and not clear. Ham sandwiches and ceviche were okay. Definitely not worth $400 per couple on the off chance we might see some whale sharks. I would believe the videos showing masses of whale sharks are the exception, not the common occurence. If the conditions are not good for the whale sharks (i.e. food source is too deep or moved to another location), then the excursion should just be cancelled or at least a partial refund should be offered.
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Gm
Aug 31, 2023
Expensive and no whale sharks seen - We went during peak whale shark season in August. No whale sharks to be seen, though we did see some dolphins. I’d thought we would at least get to snorkel, but was told no. We were just swimming in clear water around lots of boats docked away from the beach at Playa Norte by Isla Mujeres. On our way back, we did see some pretty fish from the boat near an abandoned ship (so why not dock and let us swim there instead?). In summary, 90% of our time was on the boat cruising out to sea. The rest, we saw some dolphins, a few fish, and an abandoned ship. Expensive and not worth what we saw. Maybe they should list the % of people/month who actually see sharks. We were picked up around 6:30 and got back to our hotel around 2.
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May 2024
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