July 16, 2021 - Day three was freaking amazing! We didn't spend much time with the whale sharks. In fact, we only saw about three or four of them, but it did not matter because there were manta rays everywhere.

It was a slow start, and once we got out to the area, the radio chatter was that there were not many whale sharks. When we got to the area, we saw ten plus boats all taking turns with one shark. I am not a fan of that, and we will go off to try to find another shark when we see that happening.

While we were motoring around looking for sharks, we heard reports of manta rays coming in over the radio. We listened for a while and motored over to an area where our captain's buddy told him to look. Sure enough, the mantas were there; at first, we thought it would be one or two, but NOPE! We hit the jackpot; I am guesstimating at least 100 mantas were in the area because they were everywhere; it was magic.

The excitement on the boat was electric. Everyone hurried their gear on, all of us wanting to be in the water. These are the moments you live for - those wild, unpredictable, memorable moments that nature gifts you with sometimes. They are rare and oh-so-special. We took advantage of all our time in the water, hoping to capture something special in our cameras. With as many mantas that we encountered, I have no doubt our friends all left with something fun and unique.

We swam with them all morning, none of us even thinking about trying to find whale sharks. The water was murky and thick with food, and the mantas were feeding up a storm. It was so good. After about two hours of swimming with the mantas, we look over and saw one whale shark swimming towards… of course; behind that shark were at least 12 boats, filled with tourists, all hoping for a chance to swim with it.

That blows my mind. I know that whale sharks are unique, and swimming with them is amazing, but in the water, less than 50 yards away were 20 plus manta rays, and none of the boats were trying to put their guests in with them. I guess I do get it; after all, it is a shark, and sharks are special. But damn, mantas are genuinely magical beings, and it seems a shame that they were not willing to show them what else is unique about the waters surrounding Isla Mujeres. Instead, they all just crowded this poor shark.

We watched the shark passed our boat. After it swam by, I asked our captain to move us, to get us away from all the boats following it. We took off to find quieter waters with more mantas to swim with, which was not hard because they were everywhere. I guess it is good that the other boats did not want to swim with them; it meant more mantas for my buddies and me. HELL YEAH! Tomorrow is our final day in the water, but the forecast shows a lot of rain. We will make the most of it; we are planning to get wet anyway.

Thank you for reading.