This morning we started our search onboard the Gallant Lady at San Jose Island going north on one side of the channel and south on the other side. We spotted some mobula rays but not a big group. We continued south and near San Juan de la Costa we met our aerial support who pointed us almost immediately to a big pod of bottlenose dolphins and later, some humpback whales!
While we were watching the whales we spotted a rare ocean sunfish. I couldn’t believe it! We used a drone and had a clear view of the fish but he rapidly went deep and vanished. It was amazing! We also spotted some common dolphins and our pilot told us about a whale shark near the coast. We went right away for about six miles on the RHIB. It was a smooth ride and he took us directly to the juvenile whale shark. We had our divers swimming with the whale shark for hours! Later we found an even younger whale shark. For most of our guests this was the smallest whale shark they had ever seen!
We moved east crossing the bay and we found a big school of cownose rays. At the beginning they were shy but later they got used to the divers and we hung out with them for a long time. We continued our way to the other side of the bay near San Rafaelito where we spotted some sea lions on the surface and resting on the rocks.
To finish our excellent day near Tecolote Beach we found a group of mobula rays who were jumping like popcorn and we got all our guests to swim with this group of about 100+ mobula rays!
It was a fantastic day. Everyone was so happy and ready for a warm nice dinner.
- Divemaster Juan onboard the Nautilus Gallant Lady
