Day 03 - Whale Sharks

I was picked up 15 minutes early, good thing I had woke  up 30 minutes early.  At 6:10 and I was the last person of the group to be picked up.  I can't imagine when the others had to get up.  

we all got to the port where Whale Shark Tours is based out of.  I booked my trip online for $175 but I found out later that you can book it through the hostel for $120.  If that wasn't enough I had to rent a wetsuit for $25 and biodegradable sunscreen for another $15.  You aren't allowed to go in the water with the sharks if you have normal sunscreen on, so it's none or biodegradable.  I had already gotten my share of sunburn for the week so I opted to buy the biodegradable sunscreen.  

$215 spent to swim with whale sharks.  Was it worth it?  

Yes.

Not only did I swim with a whale shark but I also swam with a couple manta rays and swam through a reef.  Well worth the money.  Visibility was poor though, about 2-5 meters.  We would jump in, see nothing and then a few seconds later a huge mouth would come at us and we would scramble to get out of the way.

Swimming along with the shark was somewhat surreal.  It was about 10 meters long and 2 meters wide.  Big enough to swallow a human alive!  This giant gentle beast swimming along not minding us at all.  Well...he was probably rather annoyed that humans kept jumping in his way.  There was only one whale shark and all the tour boats would circle to the front and plop human depth charges in its path. 

On the way to the whale shark we saw a couple manta rays that were about 3 meters in diameters, giant!  So we headed to swim with them after the whale shark.  The experience was similar, drop a human depth charge in front and have the human swim along with the manta.  

After that second amazing experience the captain punched it over to the reef where we snorkeled for a good half hour. A man from D.C. Pointed out a bonefish and some giant hermit crabs to me.  He was an outdoorsy guy and had an eye for nature.  I managed to get a cut on the reef right on my forearm.  I thought nothing of it but the man from D.C. said that reefs were rife with bacteria and that cuts often get infected.  

Oh shit!

Not to worry.  The captain came prepared with antiseptic and cleaned me up.

So with a blown mind and bleeding  forearm, the captain and crew served us fresh ceviche, pineapple, and mango.  

No kidding.  This stuff was good.  The best I've had anywhere.  'Twas a great end to the tour.

Back at the hostel I hung out more with the North Carolinians.  Love those two.  Allie, another guy named Carlos from another part of Mexico, and I went out for some ice cream.  The ice cream out here is terrible in comparison to back home.  I'm spoiled.  I know.  Instead I had a chocolate, coconut, frozen banana.

Delicious. 

After ice cream we turned around and got a marquesita.  It's like a crêpe but like a waffle but with cheese.  Pretty delicious.  

The night before, Allie had started to teach me to salsa dance.  Boy is she good.  And boy do I suck.  Nevertheless, I was stoked to be learning.

Tonight we had a send off party for one of the hostel workers.  Most of the hostel went to a local club to help celebrate.  180 pesos (hombres) for cover and open bar.  It was fairly dead when we entered at 11:30.  By midnight some of us from the hostel were dancing.  Another couple began Ochenta(?) dancing.  Only one word can aptly encapsulate their dance.  

Sexy.  Watching the two of them was a treat.  

Once the live band came on the party was started!  The North Carolinians were also fantastic dancers along with the local hostel employees.  About 1:30 the band stopped playing and normal club music came on.  Still fun to dance to.

Holy crap!  1:30?!  I need to be up at 6:30 for Chichen Itza! 

Buenos noches!