Swimming with Whale Sharks in La Paz, Mexico

The night before I jumped into the Sea of Cortez to swim with a shark the size of a bus, I lay in bed wide awake, suddenly questioning every decision that had led me to that exact moment.

Earlier this month, Mr. Whaldo and I went on a Mexico cruise with three ports we had never visited before. La Paz and Loreto in the Sea of Cortez, and Manzanilla along the southern Pacific coast.

Our first stop was Cabo San Lucas, a place we’ve been to before. We spent the morning whale watching, surrounded by humpback whales and Mobula stingrays launching themselves out of the water in every direction. It was one of those mornings that feels almost unreal, the kind you know you’ll remember.

But if I’m being honest, my mind was already on the next port. La Paz.

Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone for a Whale Shark Adventure  

I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone more times than I can count. I’ve walked the cliffside Caminito del Rey in Spain, ziplined through jungles in Costa Rica, jumped off cliffs into the ocean, all while managing an intense, sometimes panic-inducing fear of heights. I’ve kayaked through crocodile-filled mangroves and swam with stingrays, all with a healthy fear of wild animals that could easily hurt me. Those moments all came with a little hesitation, but nothing that lingered.

This one did.

When we first planned this trip to the Sea of Cortez, I had imagined seeing sperm whales. It wasn’t the right season, and they had already moved on. So when Mr. Whaldo suggested swimming with whale sharks instead, I said yes without hesitation.

Whale Shark Season in La Paz Mexico and What to Expect 

Whale Shark season from La Paz, Mexico, is October/November through April, with peak times December through March.  This is a highly protected area, so only a certain number of boats are allowed to go out each day.  The government does not allow any harassment, safeguards these beautiful creatures, and limits the number of boats each day based on the number of sharks in the area.  The boats draw for time slots, so even if you make reservations, there is a chance you won’t get to go out.

That was the case for our booked tour.  We were taking this excursion outside of the cruise line, and we had a strict timeline to adhere to for any activity ashore that day.  We didn’t know until the day before if and when we would be able to have this adventure the next day.  Luckily, we heard from our guide that it was a go, and the timeslot he had been assigned worked with our cruise ship’s schedule.  We confirmed we were in.

The Night Before Swimming with Whale Sharks 

Mr. Whaldo showed me a brief video of someone swimming with the whale sharks.  It looked incredible. Simple, even.

That confidence lasted right up until I turned off the light the night before.

Lying there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, my mind decided to walk me through every possible worst-case scenario. The idea of swimming alongside “gentle giants” slowly unraveled into something much less calm. I could suddenly picture a massive mouth opening wide, far wider than it needed to be, and me somehow ending up in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time.

In my mind, I was accidentally sucked in, immediately rejected for not being plankton, and then launched back out with enough force to send me flailing through the water like a very confused sardine.

It was not my finest moment.

I tossed and turned, closing my eyes only to open them again just as quickly, trying to shake the image of that enormous, gaping mouth that had suddenly taken on a life of its own.

Sleep didn’t stand a chance.

The next morning came early. I was tired, but determined, and still quietly questioning whether I could actually go over the side of a boat, willingly, into open water and trust myself to stay calm.

Heading Out into the Sea of Cortez 

We met our guide, Hamza from Baja Wild Adventures, at the dock. There were only four of us in the group, which made everything feel more manageable right from the start. Wetsuits went on over our bathing suits, snorkel gear was handed out, and within minutes, we were heading out across the water.

As we passed through the protected area, Hamza explained everything we needed to know. The whale sharks we would encounter were juvenile males, feeding near the surface on plankton. They weren’t interested in us, as long as we respected their space and stayed calm in the water.

No touching. No sudden movements. Just swim alongside them.  Calm energy was the key.

As he talked, I could feel my nerves start to settle. There’s something about clear instructions and quiet confidence that helps your brain stop spinning.

Not long after, the captain pointed at a “small” whale shark swimming right next to the boat.  He slowed the boat way down so we could watch it and get a clear view of what a whale shark looks like underwater.  It didn’t look that small to me, but Hamza explained that it was still too young and too fast for us to keep up with.

 So we moved on.

Within minutes, we found another.

This one was larger, slower, and exactly what we were looking for.

Hamza slipped into the water first to position himself. The other two guests followed, one at a time, easing off the side of the boat (not jumping) and swimming toward him.

The Moment I Jumped In 

Then it was my turn.

I sat on the edge of the boat with my mask on, snorkel in my mouth, fins dangling over the water, heart beating just a little too fast. For a brief moment, I froze. I didn’t even register that it was time to go.

Then I heard Mr. Whaldo beside me, calm but firm.

“Go… go.”

So I did.

I took a breath and let myself fall forward into the water.

The moment I hit, everything shifted. The sound of my breathing through the snorkel became steady and rhythmic. The water wrapped around me, cool but not cold, and the sunlight filtered down from above, cutting through the plankton and giving the water a hazy, glowing green-blue.

I lifted my head, found Hamza, and swam toward him.  Once I was next to him, he simply pointed down into the water.

I put my face in the water and looked around.

And there it was.

The whale shark moved slowly beside me, massive and unhurried, as if time worked differently for it. Up close, the size was hard to process. It wasn’t just big, it was like swimming next to something the length of a bus, but far more graceful.

For a moment, I simply hovered there, trying to take it all in.

Suddenly, this massive fish turned, and its big white face was coming directly at me.  

Its mouth opened wide, and for a split second, every ridiculous thought from the night before came rushing back in full detail.  I felt my eyes get as round as saucers.  

I knew I needed to move to the side and get out of its path.

So I moved.

Not gracefully, not calmly, but effectively. I kicked hard to the side, putting distance between myself and that enormous, open mouth. Hamza was right there and reached out and took my hand, steadying me, and we both lifted our heads above the water.   I took a deep breath and spat out my snorkel, tasting the salt water.

He smiled, completely unfazed, and reminded me to stay calm.

“Calm energy”, he repeated kindly.

I took a breath, reset, and tried again.

This time, I slowed everything down. I slipped my face back into the water and watched as the whale shark passed beside me. I gave a couple of gentle kicks to swim alongside him.  Its mouth opened again, drawing in water, and I could see the subtle movement of its gills as it filtered out the plankton.

In that instant, I knew that this was one of the coolest things I had ever seen with my own eyeballs.  It felt like I could reach out and touch him, but distance is deceiving in the water, and I knew that I couldn’t.

I stayed just beside it, giving it space, matching its pace with gentle kicks.

And just like that, the fear began to fade.

In its place was something else entirely.

A quiet kind of awe.

We moved together, slowly gliding with small movements. I listened to the sounds of the water as I swam alongside the gentle beast.

Soon, Hamza directed all of us to get back on the boat.

Swimming with Multiple Whale Sharks 

We climbed back into the boat and moved to another area with fewer people in the water. I hadn’t even noticed how many boats had gathered until we pulled away. 

A few minutes later, we were back in position at a different, quieter location.

Hamza went into the water first.

I didn’t hesitate when it was my turn. I slipped into the water and found my rhythm almost immediately. 

I found Hamza, swam towards him, and he motioned for me to put my head under and go.

This time, just as I put my head in the water, I saw a large whale shark coming at me. As I gave a gentle kick with my fins to move, he moved slightly too, and we met eyes as he slowly turned.  I felt a grin spread from ear to ear, all while clamping down on the snorkel to keep the water out.  

The whale shark moved slowly, but as I let it pass, I realized we weren’t with just one whale shark anymore.

There were several.

They moved in slow, overlapping circles, feeding in a patch of water rich with plankton. There was no urgency in their movement, no reaction to us beyond a quiet awareness that we were there. 

Hamza swam up next to me, and we lifted our heads above water.  He told me we had come across 2-3 whale sharks grazing slowly, so this would be the ideal opportunity for us to be with them in the calm ocean waters.  

Hamza let out a joyful whoop. I smiled immediately, ducking my head back underwater just in time to see another whale shark passing by.  I literally giggled under the water as it passed.

At one point, we simply floated, shoulder to shoulder, watching them pass.

“Behind you,” Hamza called gently.

I turned and saw another whale shark approaching, its mouth open as it moved steadily through the water. I gave a small kick to the side and let it pass, watching the pattern of its body as it moved by.

Then another.

And another.

Hamza explained that we were now being circled by three whale sharks, simply grazing on plankton as they moved through the same feeding pattern.  He advised us to keep watching the sharks; we didn’t have to try to swim with them.  Just move out of the way gently, and he would watch behind us so he could let us know when to move.

The sharks turned suddenly, not swimming in perfect circles, so we had to be ready to move along with them while avoiding one of the other sharks coming along in the other direction.  It was surprisingly easy and completely mesmerizing. 

Hamza approached us once again and let us know that another whale shark had joined the party.  As we bobbed in the water, shoulder to shoulder, we put our faces into the water to look at the newcomer as it swam directly underneath us.

It was close enough that I could feel the movement of the water shift as it went by. For a brief second, everything felt very still, even as something that large moved so effortlessly below us. 

As it passed underneath us, Hamza’s scuba fin accidentally brushed the tip of the shark’s tail fin.

WHOOSH!

The shark gave a violent, fierce shake of his tail fin, which propelled him quickly away and down into the deeper water.  There really was no sound, but it happened so fast that it felt like it should have made a sound; that’s how powerful it was.  We all took our faces out of the water and exclaimed all at the same time how fast he was.

Then just as suddenly as the giant fish had darted away, it made a quick 180 and calmly headed straight for us.  We easily moved out of his way.

Clearly, he wasn’t thrilled by the brush of Hamza’s fin, but it hadn’t been so bothered that it didn’t want to come back and partake in the circling feast of plankton.

We stayed in the water far longer than planned. No one wanted to leave, not even Hamza. It was one of those rare moments where everything lines up just right, and you know it. 

It was a picture-perfect opportunity to swim with these amazing creatures since they were feeding in this “circle” and allowing us to watch.  We didn’t have to swim to keep up with them; we simply had to move around gently to give them their space in the plankton-rich water.

Eventually, we climbed back onto the boat, talking all at once, trying to describe something that didn’t quite fit into words.

As we made our way back toward the dock in La Paz, we spotted more whale sharks in the water.  We didn’t go back into the water. Instead, we sat quietly for a while, letting the experience settle, the sun warm on our shoulders and the water stretching endlessly around us.

What It Felt Like to Swim with Whale Sharks 

Later that evening, Hamza sent us the videos that he had captured on his GoPro during our swim.  It was a part of the service he offered.  

Mr. Whaldo and I watched them immediately.

And then we watched them again.

Because even after being there, even after seeing it with our own eyes, it still didn’t feel entirely real.

Swimming with something that large should have felt intimidating, just as my imagination had told me it would be.

Instead, it felt peaceful.

For just a little while, we were allowed to step into the world of these gentle giants, move carefully through it, and then leave it just as we found it.

And somehow, that stayed with me more than anything else.

- J.S. Whaldo