bull sharks in playa del carmen, the facts:
- every winter between the end of November and the beginning of March, female pregnant Bull sharks come to the coasts of Playa del Carmen (it is not possible to indicate exact dates for the season, since nature has its own calendar)
- any type of feeding or baiting of freely living animals manipulates the natural behavior of those animals significantly, and sometimes even irreversibly, which is why we do not recommend shark feeding, and we condemn such bad practices; our shark encounters are purely for observation
- we generally encounter between 1 and 15 Bull sharks – but there is obviously no guaranty to see them; but for the last 7 years we spotted Bull sharks on every single Bull shark dive we did, so let’s keep the good run going!
itinerary:
Starting in Cozumel, our meeting point is the ferry terminal of Cozumel where we will cross together to Playa del Carmen. Divers already in Playa del Carmen will be picked up at a central meeting point.
In Playa del Carmen, we start with an extensive briefing explaining the proper procedures, guidelines and safety measures for the Bull shark encounter. The briefing and the dive itself will be realized by a specifically trained guide for shark diving. After a short boat ride we get to our first dive site, the Bull shark point. We will lay down stationary on a vast sandy plateau at a depth of 75ft to 90ft (23m – 27m) to passively observe the pregnant Bull shark ladies passing by. The sharks usually follow a common pattern:
1. Shark approaches divers (up to 3 – 6ft/ 1m – 2m close)
2. Shark circles the divers
3. Shark leaves group of divers
During this dive we will spend most of the time deeper than 65ft (20m). An Advanced Open Water certification is therefore a necessary requirement. We also strongly recommend the use of Enriched Air/ Nitrox for this dive in order to expend your allowed bottom time significantly. The Nitrox Speciality can be obtained with us easily beforehand.
After a surface interval with water and cookies, we will realize a second dive on one of the shallow reefs in front of Playa del Carmen. This dive is usually not deeper than 33ft (10m) and possible dive sites are: Shangri La, Cuevas de Pargo or Jardines.
The price includes: 2 dives, scuba diving gear, tanks, transport, donation to Saving our Sharks NGO, private and specially trained guide, snack and drinking water on boat. Prices:
a) starting in Playa del Carmen: 3.500 MXN
b) starting in Cozumel (including ferry both ways): 4.000 MXN