FAQ

Serious Diving is owned and operated by Ramon Guerrero Garcia. We specialize in the Whale Shark tours departing here from Isla Mujeres. Ramon is an avid professional diver, skin diver and spear fishermen. He has spent the last 25+ years researching the Whale Shark phenomenon here on Isla Mujeres and was the main driver in creating the eco-tourism industry around these animals in the area. He has fought had to ensure that any tourism that takes place is sustainable and works to educate people while protecting the Whale Sharks.

Our group tour is $185 USD per person and a private tour is $1,850 USD. The price is all-inclusive — it covers your guide, all snorkel gear and life vests, food and drinks on the boat, and every park, dock, and marine fee. There are no hidden charges at the dock. A 20% deposit reserves your spot (that’s $37 per person on a group tour), and the remaining balance is paid in cash when you check in the evening before your tour.

Guides often offer GoPro-style photos and video of your time in the water. Some do this for tips, others charge a set fee — just ask your guide before you get in so there are no surprises. This is a personal service offered by the guides, not by Isla Whale Sharks.

If you had an amazing experience, please consider tipping your captain and guide. They definitely appreciate it.

Book directly this us by clicking here.

Yes. A private tour is $1,850 USD for your own boat and group (best for 1–6 guests, up to 10 by law). The price is all-inclusive with no hidden fees. To reserve, click here to head to our reservations page and follow the instructions there, or reach out to us directly. 

Guides often offer GoPro-style photos and video of your time in the water. Some do this for tips, others charge a set fee — just ask your guide before you get in so there are no surprises. This is a personal service offered by the guides, not by Isla Whale Sharks.

If you had an amazing experience, please consider tipping your captain and guide. They definitely appreciate it.

Tipping isn’t required — your tour price covers everything. That said, if you had a wonderful day, a tip is always appreciated by the captain and guide, who share it among themselves. They work hard, often starting before dawn, to give you a safe and special experience. Cash is best, and either US dollars or pesos are perfectly fine.

Yes — children ages 5 and up are welcome, as long as they’re comfortable in the water. Everyone wears a life vest the whole time they’re in the water and a guide stays with each pair of swimmers, but the open ocean is deep, moving, and unpredictable — there’s no standing up out there. For younger children especially, a parent should be honest about whether their child is truly comfortable swimming, and a guide or parent will stay close. If you’re not sure your child is ready, reach out and we’ll talk it through honestly.

We’re sorry, but no. For safety reasons, and in line with federal regulations, pregnant women are not permitted on the tour. The ride out to the sharks is long and can be rough, and we won’t put a mother or her baby at risk. If you’ve already booked and discover you’re expecting, our standard 30-day cancellation policy applies — which is one more reason we recommend travel insurance.

You don’t need to be an athlete, but you do need to be comfortable swimming in open water. You’ll wear a life vest the entire time and a guide stays with you, but this is the open ocean — it’s deep, there’s nothing to stand on, and the water moves. If you’re a nervous swimmer, just tell your guide and they’ll keep an extra eye on you. And if you’d rather not get in at all, that’s completely fine — you’re welcome to take in the sharks and the whole experience from the boat.  Guests who stay on the boat must also paid the full fee as it takes up a spot on the boat.

Let’s be honest with you, because most guests aren’t prepared for this part: the whale sharks gather in open water about 1–2 hours out, and the sea can get choppy — sometimes very choppy. It’s the single thing first-timers underestimate most. If you’re at all prone to motion sickness, take medication the both the evening before AND morning of your tour, before you board — once you already feel sick, it’s too late for it to help much. Eat a light breakfast (not nothing, not too heavy), stay hydrated, and keep your eyes on the horizon during the ride. Ginger and acupressure wristbands help some people too. We promise the reward on the other side of that boat ride is more than worth it.  No one wants to be the miserable person wanting the other guests to cut their tour short because they didn’t take the medicine.

The dates we take reservations for the Whale Shark Tour season this year are June 1 to September 15. Other tour operators may accept tours outside these dates, but only take tours inside official tour dates and when we are confident in our ability to provide a memorable tour without distressing the whale sharks (not enough present and too many boats).

The arrival and departure of the Whale Sharks vary by season. The greatest numbers are typically seen in July and August. Ramon recommends the best tours are one week before and one week after the full moon of those months. During July and August, the numbers are generally high enough that anytime is a great time.

Under regulations established by local authorities, snorkelers are NOT permitted to touch the Whale Sharks. These tours are designed as eco-tours and in order to protect the Whale Sharks and the participants, rules specify that snorkelers do not go within 2 meters (6.6 feet) of the Whale Sharks. For full rules of participation click here for our Rules page. 

Beware of anyone who claims they will allow you to violate the rules. The Mexican Army is charged with enforcing rules and can detain non-compliant boats who do not in compliance or violating the rules. No one wants to waste a day of their vacation or hard earned money on a spoiled trip.

Unlike most tours in other parts of the world, the density of Whale Sharks in the area nearly guarantees that you’ll experience an encounter. It is very uncommon that we do not find sharks.  However, whale Sharks are wild animals, and we cannot guarantee sightings. While our success rate is excellent, nature is unpredictable.

Our costs—fuel, captain and guide salaries—remain the same whether sharks are seen or not, so no refunds can be given if no whale sharks are encountered.

We may also cancel tours ourselves if we feel shark numbers are too low for a responsible experience.

On average, the tours last year, encountered between 20 and 50 Whale Sharks during the course of their tours.

No. Alcohol is not provided on the boats nor is it allowed. Any guest arriving for the tour under the influence will not be permitted to participate nor given a refund. This includes visibly under the influence, smelling of alcohol or obviously hung over. This is for the good of the client themselves and for the other guests on the tour. I highly recommend not consuming alcohol or drugs on the day before the trip either. Being on the open water can be difficult in normal conditions, the influence of alcohol or drugs greatly increases the risk of having a miserable trip.

Whale Sharks are very docile creatures and pose no real threat to humans. For detailed information on the sharks please check out our shark information page.

From the home page on this site you can enter your tour dates and number of passengers to verify if there is availability for a given day. Once you have found your preferred date you can use this website to book your reservation completely online. There is a $37 USD per person deposit required to hold and confirm a reservation. We use Paypal online services to accept credit cards or other Paypal payments from the website.

From this website you can make reservations up to 3 day prior to the tour. If you would like to make a reservation within 3 days of your desired date, we recommend you pass by Muelle 7 Restaurant between 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM. There you can meet with Ramon or one of the guides and they can inform you if there is availability for the following days.

Tour Check-in & Departure Location:

Muelle 7 on Google Maps

Unless you have made prior arrangements via email before you arrive, the day before your tour, just come in person and bring your remaining balance in cash to Muelle 7 Restaurant between 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM the evening before your tour. You’ll receive your confirmed departure time and final instructions at that time.  Simple!

Tour Check-in & Departure Location:
Muelle 7 on Google Maps

Our tours depart from Isla Mujeres, not Cancun, so we don’t offer mainland hotel pickups. Getting to us is easy and beautiful, though: the ferry leaves from Puerto Juárez (Gran Puerto) in Cancun and reaches Isla Mujeres in about 20 minutes. Because check-in is the evening before and we depart early (7:30 AM), we strongly recommend staying on Isla Mujeres the night before your tour — it makes the whole morning calmer and easier. (We’ve written a blog post on exactly why this matters.)

If you’re staying near the ferry terminal in Cancun, you can check in the night before via WhatsApp. You’ll need to take one of the first ferries from the Ultramar terminal in Puerto Juárez to arrive on time. Important: the Ultramar ferries that depart from the hotel zone do not leave early enough to get you to the island before our boats go out. Refunds are not given for guests who don’t arrive on time, and tours cannot be held for late arrivals (private tours can make accommodations — contact us).

For detailed information on the tours please check out our tour page.

Please bring your own camera or GoPro if you have one — just secure it to you with a wrist strap or float, because you really won’t want to lose it in open water. Many of our guides are also talented at capturing your swims, and they often offer photos and video from the day. One important thing to understand up front: this is a personal arrangement between you and your guide, not a service sold by Isla Whale Sharks. Some guides do it for a tip, others charge a set price — so please agree on the details before you get in the water, so there are no surprises. Payment is in cash. Because it’s arranged directly with your guide, we aren’t able to handle pricing, delivery, or follow-up afterward.

Yes — all of our boats have a bathroom on board.  They are for function more than for comfort. 

If you let Ramon know when you check in the night before he can be sure to prepare sandwiches with Panela cheese, cucumber, tomoato and lettuce as an alternative. Fruit is always readily available. For groups of 4 or more vegetarians, he can prepare guacamole in place of ceviche. All options require advanced notice.

There are other reputable organizations here on Isla Mujeres that provide tours. Come by Muelle 7 Restaurant between 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM and we’ll hook you up with another provider we trust.

Tour Check-in & Departure Location:
Muelle 7 on Google Maps

Isla Mujeres is in the tropics, and weather can change quickly. There are a few reasons a tour may be cancelled:

Weather and sea conditions. The whale sharks feed about 1.5–2 hours out in open ocean, and conditions out there can be very different from what you see on the island. It may look perfectly calm here on Isla Mujeres, but there’s too high a risk of rough seas or bad weather where we’re headed. Ramón and the captains make these calls based on years of experience, and they’re always made with the safety of our guests and the whale sharks in mind. The Port Captain can also close the port to small boats in the case of inclement weather — that decision is outside our control and must be respected.

Whale shark numbers. If there aren’t enough sharks surfacing relative to the number of boats we’ve observed on previous days, Ramón may cancel rather than crowd the animals. We’d rather lose a day than add more boats on top of just a few sharks.

If your tour is cancelled for weather and we’re unable to accommodate you before the end of your trip, we will issue a refund. You must present yourself the morning of the tour to learn whether it has been officially cancelled or not.

Sometimes we’ll cancel a tour for low shark numbers on a day when other boats still head out and come back reporting a fine time. We understand that’s frustrating, and we don’t make the call lightly. But when there are only a few sharks and too many boats, the animals get crowded and chased — and the experience suffers for everyone, the sharks included. We’ve been doing this for 20 years, and we’d rather lose a day’s income than add our boats on top of stressed animals or send you out for a rushed, disappointing swim. It’s the same reason we don’t compete on price: if we cancel, it’s because we don’t believe we can give you the experience you came for, done the right way.

We cannot 100% guarantee that your entire group will be together unless you make prior arrangements with us via email. Boat assignments are done the morning of the tour and depend on the number of tour participants and boats available. If you are in a large group we highly recommend that you either make arrangements ahead of time or arrive early the morning of the trip and advise a guide of the size of your group. This way your guide can factor that into his planning and do his best to accommodate your group.