Spotted dolphins as juveniles don’t have spots right away, they develop them as they get older and grow. So as you can see in the photos we had a pod with babys and their mommas…super cute. What amazed me was how interested they where in us. They were playing in the sand and swimming in circles around us.

I truely enjoyed swimming along these beautiful creatures!

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The next dive trip we went on was the Carribbean Reef Shark dive. This was pretty intense, I have never been that close to sharks feeding before but Matt was there to calm my nerves. Cristina dressed herself up in a chain-metal suit and proceeded to handle the sharks like they were pets…it was crazy. What she does is puts the shark into a trance-like state called tonic immobilty by rubbing the sharks Ampullae of Lorenzini (or what is known as pores on their nose that are connected to a sensory system).  The shark is then able to be held and moved around for all to see. I think by giving these divers an up-close look at a shark without “fear” that it will bite will give divers eaze around sharks on their next dive…also hopefully will bring appreciation to all shark species and they will do their part to help us conserve these beautiful creatures. If you are at all interested in learning more about sharks, my friend Brendal is your girl…she gives a PADI presentation on Shark Awareness. Its an awesome class with great information (contact me and I will get you in contact with Brendal).

The next day Cristina treated us to one of her favorite types of diving…Cave and Cavern diving. We went out to Ben’s Cave located in the Lucayan National Park. Ben’s cave contains stalactites and stalagmites (which only can form in air), and the water consists of a freshwater lens floating on underlying sea water. It was a totally different style of diving for me.

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I enjoyed my 29th Birthday on vacation…and this really was the best bday present EVER!!! If you are a diver you MUST go on this trip!

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As for the diving…we did some exciting dives. We dove all over…some sites we dove were full of beautiful coral, but other sites, because of the bleaching event that occured about 6 yrs ago, were trying to re-build its coral life.I think I saw enough yellow-headed jawfish and Flamingo tongue snails while diving…so if I didn’t get a good photo well I guess I never will of those two creatures!

My most interesting dive on this trip was the wreck of the Rhone. She sunk in 1867 off of Salt Island…what is interesting about Salt Island is generations of this one family lived on Salt Island and were salt collectors…there is a part of the island that pools the ocean water and will dry up collecting the sea salt. The family was able to live on the island as long as they sent a pound of sea salt to the Queen of England each year…sadly the last man to live on the island died in 2004.

Lets get back to this famous wreck…the Rhone is a Royal Mail Ship about 310 ft long. She got caught in a hurricane while she was anchored and broke free to hit the island and break into 2 pieces. The one piece lies in about 90 ft of water and the other is much shallower (40 ft)…so this wreck site is popular because you can get two great wreck dives on it. It is also popular because the Rhone stars in the 1977 movie “The Deep”. So in the movie, the actress Jacqueline Bissett goes diving in a white t-shirt and bikini bottoms only so I decided I should try this too…and re-create the movie…so stay tune for Nikole’s version of “The Deep”.

For more information about the Rhone check out this site http://www.saildivebvi.com/rhone.php

Right now I only have photos of the trip but soon I will create the dive videos…when I find some time!

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To have the ultimate whale shark experience there is only one place in the world that can guarantee and deliver encounters and this amazing place is called Isla de Holbox. Holbox (pronounced “Hole-bosh”) is a sleepy Mexican island about seven miles long and one mile wide located in the Yucatan Peninsula. Holbox offers a laid-back, peaceful vibe with no high-rise hotels and no traffic, plus its allure of white sandy beaches makes it one of the newest tourist attractions in Mexico.

Swimming with the “Dominoes”, the name locals have given the whale sharks, is a fairly new event because the locals just discovered about eight years ago that the Dominoes where in waters off of Holbox. The season to see and swim with the whale sharks starts in mid-May and goes till September. The locals once depended on the income of fishing for seafood market trade but now they have realized that tourism to their island for the Dominoes is turning out to be a blessing. Why? Well whale sharks are a creature that us humans find to be mystical and fascinating, especially if you are a scuba diver. Divers will book trips to far-away lands to hopefully get a chance to see a whale shark in the wild, however more times come up empty handed. But that is not the case in Holbox where whale shark tour operators guarantee whale shark sightings and swimming, plus its 100% safe activity for all.

In Holbox the government has made it illegal to scuba dive with the whale sharks so this is a snorkel activity. The government also regulates the number of people swimming with a whale shark at a time so that the animal does not feel threaten or stress-out. And every lancha (boat) must have a trained guide, this guides actually takes a course on whale shark behavior and safety while swimming with these giants. The guides are trained to sex the whale sharks for research and record sightings of tagged sharks. Recordings go to www.whaleshark.org where scientist can track the migration of the sharks. Little is known about whale shark biology and scientist hope that the Dominoes continue to migrate to Holbox each year for scientific observation.

When you book a day with the whale sharks you start with a coffee reception where they show you an educational video made by local scientist. They off to the whale shark pier were you board your lancha for the day. It takes about one hour to get to the areas where the sharks are and along the way the guides usually find pods of dolphins. Once in the whale shark hot-spots one might see huge manta rays, golden rays, even turtles. They all feed on the plankton blooms that the whale shark is attracted too. To spot a whale shark you must look for two things either a huge dorsal fin that looks like its sailing on the water or a big mouth open taking in seawater. The sharks tend to stay on the surface to feed and only dive down if the plankton in the water is deeper or if it feels threatened. When the captain finds the shark he will position the boat to exit the divers towards the shark. Two swimmers and the guide get in at one time, and once your in you better be ready to kick. The whale sharks look slow from the surface, but once in the water these animals can move. Each group that goes in for a swim will swim next to the shark for about ten minutes then the boat will pick you up so that the next group has an opportunity. The boat requires anyone who gets in the water to wear a life-vest however if you bring a wetsuit you can go in with out it. Lots of swimmers want to bring their cameras in too but the best way to take your experience home with you is to book the local whale shark videographer. It was much easier to swim along with the whale shark without a camera and you get the fully experience without the distraction a camera can have. It truly is an amazing experience when you swim next to these giants.

If you would like more information about Isla de Holbox and the whale shark tour operators please visit www.holboxwhalesharktours.com. Please don’t be fooled by the operators out of Cancun, Holbox is the only way to go to get guaranteed sightings and the boat ride out is only one hour from Holbox unlike Cancun’s long boat rides.

What an amazing adventure…my cousin Lauren and I went to Isla de Holbox in Mexico to go swim with whale sharks. Here are some of our photos.

We were introduced to Flor de Maria who is a local biologist studying whale shark behavior and conservation. She was able to inform us about this tourist attraction and why it is important to the community of Holbox. Also we got two opportunities to get out on the water to meet these creatures the locals call “Dominoes”. The first day we saw both whale sharks and manta rays, however the water visibility was only 5 feet due to the algae bloom (similar to the red algae blooms you see in California waters). It was very hard to get photos and video that day so we were bummed about that…but we got a second chance…our second day out on the water we found dolphins and whale sharks in clear water. We swam with one particular shark all day, it was a female about 6 meters long and she was tagged #620. It was truly amazing…and I felt so blessed to have a creature of that size allow me to swim with it.

Lauren and I also had a chance to visit Isla de Morena (Bird Island) and we saw wild flamingos!!! I’ve only seen them in parks so this was a real treat. Also on this tour we went to Yaluhau which is a natural freshwater spring. It was beautiful and so clear until we jumped in for a swim.

Lauren is an amazing photographer and she got some great shots of the town, the people of the town, and the beautiful sunsets.

If you want to know more about swimming with the whale sharks read my article called “Holbox Whale Shark Encounters”

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This is definitely something everyone should check out while in Florida.

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So when we pulled into Florida we had sunny beautiful weather and I took my mom over to meet and check out my new job. We ate lunch on the beach in table swings and we got the keys to my new place that I will be staying in.

I am truely blessed and excited for my life to start…so stay tune for Nikole’s next adventures!!!!

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