WHALE SHARK, MANTA AND CENOTE EXPEDITION
Snorkel with the largest fish on earth: The whale shark. Dive on Cozumel, with manta rays and explore the Cenotes.
Place: Mexico, Yucatan
Dates: June - august (8 days), or other fexible dates (as custom tour or exclusive travel ) possible (feel free to us via email for details).
Price: 899,- EUR (excl. Cozumel), prices can change for custom tours or exclusive travels können die Preise abweichen.
999,- EUR (incl. Cozumel), prices can change for custom tours or exclusive travels können die Preise abweichen.
Minimum participants: 4 guests (for guided tours).
Qualifications: Whale sharks: snorkeling experience, Cenotes: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar with a minimum of 50 dives, Manta rays: Open Water Diver or similar.
Inclusive: diving and snorkeling. Tanks and weights, guided tour to Chichén Itzá, Accomodation: Around Cancun there are a lot of hotels. For € 80 per day per person we offer a great bed and breakfast hotel including all transfers (€ 560 for the whole expedition). If you prefer a all-inclusive hotel, we can arrange that on request. Phography course (6x ca. one hour, not mandatory). This course is just available on group travels.
Exclusive: Flights, lunch, dinner and drinks, accomodation, transfer (just if you prefer an all-inclusive hotel), camera, underwater housing and notebook for the photography course.
Combination possibility: trips to Mayan sites as Tulum and Coba, dives in several cenotes.
Itinarary:
DAY 1: Transfer from the airport Cancun to the hotel.
DAY 2 : At 6:40 a.m. until around 3 p.m. snorkeling trip with the largest fishes on earth: The whale sharks. The late afternoon and evening is on free disposal. For participants the photography course starts in the afternoon with the functionality of cameras and catching light effects as visible in the Cenotes.*
DAY 3 : At 7:00 a.m. transfer to the Cenotes: The first dive will be in Angelita (it becomes called "the nightmare" by the locals). At 30 m depth there is a sulfar dioxide layer, which remembers on the cemetary at night. Below that layer the water is totally dark. The dive appears surreal. The second dive brings you to the Cenote "Le Pit" (it becomes called "the dream" by the locals) with a stunning moving picture. The third dive takes place the one of the most famous Cenotes "Dos Ojios". The evening is on free disposal. For participants the photography course is about manta ray photography.*
DAY 4 : Between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. the boat ride to the Manta-Valley starts. That is a great cleaning station for manta rays. Consequently the chances for a manta encounter are very high. The late afternoon and evening are on free disposal. For participants the photography course is about pictorial design.*
DAY 5 : Excursion to the most famous Mayan site: Chizén-Itzá. Transfers, buffet und native guide are included. The late afternoon and evening is on free disposal. For participants the photography course is about whale shark photography.*
DAY 6 : Same as DAY 2 (whale shark expedition). For participants the photography course is about image processing with Adobe photoshop.*
DAY 7 : On free disposal for all, who don´t want to dive at Cozumel. For those, who participate the Cozumel expedition it there will be a two tank dive including all transfers. For participants the photography course is about publishing the pictures mainly in social networks.*
DAY 8 : Transfer to the airport Cancun and return flights.
Facts and short description of the expedition:
Mexico is a paradies for divers and snorkelers. Our travel time is choosen to be whale shark season. The place where they meet is called "blue area", where already over 400 whale sharks were found at the same time. The sea currents bring plancton and fish eggs to the surface, where the whale sharks are feeding on it.
The Manta valley is one of the best places all over the world to encounter manta rays in the natural environment. It's in fact a reef, which functions as a cleaning station for them. The chances to see manta rays around that area are extremly high.
Beside the vast biodiversity the Yucatan peninsula is well-known for the Cenotes (undergrounded fluted dripstone caves). We choose three of them, which are totally different to show the diversity of those great caves.
The island Cozumel has an incredible biodiversity with eagle rays, a lot of shrimps and more than 26 kinds of corals. Already Jacques Cousteau realized that this is a perfect place to dive.
Hints :
*The photo course as well as the manta valley is just available on group travels.
Whale sharks can be potentially dangerous for humans, which in mainly due to their size. To increas the chance of a nice encounter and safety the number of snorkelers with a whale shark is limited to two with one guide.
As with all interactions with wild animals, we can not garantee an encounter. At all activities inside the water Sea More Expedtions works as a travel agency, not as an operator.
The photo course is not mendatory. For all participants we recommend a laptop with Photoshop, a camera (preferred DSLR, compact is for sure also okay) and an underwater housing for the camera, because otherwise we can just convey theory.
