At the northernmost tip of the Yucatan peninsula, lies Isla Holbox (Holbox Island). This is an amazing out-of-the-way place where nature lovers can find paradise. This island is in the middle of the Mexican Whale shark migration route.
We hired a company specializing in Whale shark tours. We went on a small boat with 8 passengers and scoured the waters surrounding the island until the crew spotted a very large one. Mexico prohibits scuba diving with Whale sharks, so only snorkeling is allowed, with only two people in the water at a time. The boat pulls way ahead of the shark to lessen distress to the animal and allow the snorkelers to enter the water. It's necessary to start swimming immediately, because this giant fish will close ground very quickly. Even though they appear to move slowly, one flip of their tail will propel them a long distance. We spent a long time snorkeling, each pair taking their turn, returning to the boat, and the next pair entering the water. Each duo was able to snorkel several times before leaving the shark to continue its migration. On the return trip, we spotted a breaching Manta ray and a huge school of Mobula rays.
The next day, we hired a ponga for just 3 of us to do a full day nature tour. We started by going to a shallow bay where we found a flock of hundreds of flamingos. We approached as slowly and quietly as possible and the captain then gunned the engine causing the flamboyance (the name for a flock of flamingos) to take to the air. What a glorious sight!
Next, we headed for Bird Island, a nesting sanctuary for several species of birds, depending on the season. A dock has been built for boats to tie up and observation towers for watching the birds. We observed the ongoing struggle of the birds trying to protect their eggs and chicks from being eaten by the iguanas also living on the island. Be sure to bring binoculars! By this time, it was approaching midday and the temperature was climbing.
We reboarded the boat and headed for another island covered with vegetation and went ashore. After a short walk through the jungle, we came to a spring-fed oasis with a large, fresh water pool. We stayed and swam for over two hours and had lunch.
Our next stop was a deserted sandy island on which we were able to beachcomb and search for interesting shells and other flotsam and jetsam. It was a very special day in a very special place!
We stayed at one of several small boutique hotels on the island which was very lovely and had a lot of personality. There are also several international style restaurants in town. All of our meals were very good. The only transportation on the island is by golf cart or ATV.
Isla Holbox should be visited before this natural treasure dissappears!

When on a trip to Playa del Carmen, I wanted to do some additional cenote diving. I tried Tank-Ha divers in town. I was taken by a cave certified guide on what turned out to be a private tour since I was the only diver scheduled. We dove at The Pit, which is an incredible dive in a vertical pit. We also dove at Temple of Doom. If you have never done any cenote diving, this is something you must do if you are in the Riviera Maya area. Lunch was included and my guide asked if we should stop at the regular lunch spot or his favorite place. I opted for his suggestion, which turned out to be a roadside taco place that had authentic and delicious tacos. After returning to the shop, I learned that Tank-Ha runs a speed boat directly to Cozumel for diving on the reefs there. This saves a great deal of time by not having to take the ferry over and then a taxi to a dive shop. I tried this service the next day and was diving at Cozumel in a short time. We made 2 dives and returned to Playa. I recommend this shop for these reasons.

I've been diving in Cozumel at least a dozen times. The last several times there, I used Aldora Divers. They cater to experienced divers. They use 100cf steel tanks for long bottom times and all dives are computer dives. They visit the best southern sites, such as Maricaibo, Punta Sur, and the famous Devil’s Throat. They also visit the world renowned Palancar Reef dive sites. For advanced divers, they will dive the little-explored east side of the island on pristine reefs. Highly recommended and will use them again.

I did a 15 day trip on the Golden Dolphin lll in Egypt's southern Red Sea. The Itinerary took us to Big Brother, Little Brother, Daedalus, Elphinstone, and farther south to Zabargad, Rocky Island, Fury Shoal, and others. We boarded the boat in Hurghada and ended the trip in Port Ghalib. There are a lot of flights into Hurghada, making it easy to get there. The closest airport to Port Ghalib is Marsa Alam, where there are only a few flights. We booked our return from Marsa Alam, not knowing that the boat provided transportation for the approximately three hour trip back to Hurghada at no additional cost. Be sure to ask if this true for your trip. Connections are much better departing from Hurghada.

The crew on this boat was amazing. Everyone from the captain on down did an incredible job at making our trip wonderful. Mooring the boat in the dark around the dive sites using Zodiacs to haul the lines was a remarkable job. The dive guides were excellent at finding all the interesting stuff as well as guiding us through several caves.

The diving ranges from shallow reefs, to sheer walls to open blue water. At Daedalus, the objective is to find schooling hammerheads. The divers hover around 90 feet or so, while the dive guide goes deeper looking for the sharks. When he spots them, in order to get a better look, we found ourselves near 130 feet. Expect deep dives and strong currents here. We found strong currents at other sites, but most sites are current free. Most divers are able to check many sightings off of their bucket lists, such as, schooling Hammerheads, Mantas, Dolphins, giant Napoleon Wrasse, Oceanic Whitetips (Longimanus), Thresher Sharks, Silky Sharks, schooling Barracuda, Spotted Scorpionfish, Green Turtles, Cuttlefish, Giant Clams, Batfish, Octopuses, Bumphead Parrotfish, Giant Moray Eels, nudibranchs, and much more. Three dives are offered everyday and night dives on days when you’re not in a marine park (not allowed by government regulations).

The food was all served buffet style and consisted of three meals and an afternoon snack. I found the food to be somewhat basic, consisting of meat, fish, and pasta. Everything was good, but I wanted more variety. More Middle Eastern food would have been nice.

I shared a room with my buddy and we found it comfortable with plenty of storage room. Each room has air conditioning, but unfortunately, one of the generators broke down and the other generator was used for providing power to the compressor, kitchen, and other necessary items. The A/C only worked from late in the evening to early in the morning. I also encountered a couple of safety issues on the boat. Some water was spilled in the passageway between the rooms, contacting electrical wires, causing them to arc and be a potential fire hazard. The crew immediately remedied the situation when notified. I also found the emergency exit blocked by trash bags or supplies on several occasions.

About half of the diving is from the main boat and half from Zodiacs. Free nitrox is offered on all dives. The Zodiacs on this boat did not have ladders to reboard after the dive. After removing your gear, you have to haul yourself back into the boat “dolphin style". Many divers were not able to do this and the Zodiac driver had to grab a hand and pull them in (including me due to a bad shoulder). Ladders would have been nice. My buddy and I were two of three Americans on the boat and we have yoke attached regulators. All tanks on the boat have din attachments. They provided yoke adapters for us, but they didn’t seem to be maintained regularly, and we had several issues with leaking at the connection point. The dive guides were always there to change the o-ring or the adapter, but sometimes delayed the dive waiting for the changes. Free nitrox is also offered

Despite the issues mentioned, this was still an epic trip. Diving the Red Sea is something everyone should do at least once. Also, diving in Egypt is very economical. We paid approximately $2200.00 for this 15 day trip. That's about half the price of 7 day trips on many other liveaboards around the world.