Keith has been wanting to go swim with the whale sharks since we first visited the Riviera Maya. June – August are the most popular months as they are here feeding. So, yesterday, for his birthday, I wanted to make sure he got exactly what he wanted. (We stopped buying gifts a few years ago and just do experiences.)
On the Monday we met with 12 friends for dinner and drinks at one of our favorite locations, the Jungle Fish Beach Club. We love the guys who run it and were thrilled to be able to support them for Keith’s birthday dinner. As always, they were amazing to us and we had a great meal. Keith was offered the largest lobster I have ever seen. He ate the hell out of that thing!
As for the whale sharks, I was excited to be able to find 6 friends willing to go with us – trust me, when you say “swimming” and “sharks” in the same sentence people tend to back away.
Rob, Kris, Annette, Vince, Chris (it was also his b’day), Jodi, myself and Keith got up super early to grab our 5:20am shuttle to Cancun.
After a quick briefing, some snacks and water we headed out on the boat for about an hour. The area where the whale sharks are feeding was really busy with other boats and people. You are only allowed 2 people per boat at a time but it was still a bit chaotic. The whale sharks are spectacular and very large – they are just eating plankton and minding their own business. You basically jump in, swim around them, don’t touch them or swim under them and then you are back in the boat. Everyone had 2 jumps – I opted for one but Keith did both of his and each time was just in awe of these animals. 
After we were done snorkeling, we headed over to Isla Mujeres for some lunch and swimming.
It’s definitely a birthday he will remember!
Rob put together a video of all of our footage – enjoy!! 🙂