In the Company of the Sizzling Sailfish
Isla Mujeres, Mexico

TRIP ITINERARY & INFORMATION

Trips in 2009:
Date: January 11 - 19, 2009
Cost: *$7,900
Availability: SOLD OUT, waiting list available

Date: February 01 - 09, 2009
Cost: *$7,900
Availability: 4 spaces

Date: February 08 - 16, 2009
Cost: *$7,900
Availability: 4 spaces

Date: February 15 - 23, 2009
Cost: *$7,900
Availability: 4 spaces

Date: March 01 - 09, 2009
Cost: *$7,900
Availability: 4 spaces reserved by Oceanic Society

First things first, THANK YOU for your interest.  I take only four people on this trip plus myself.

General Itinerary:
Day 1: Depart your home city and arrival to Cancun. Go through Immigration and Customs.

Our driver will wait for you outside to transfer you to the Ferry marina.

Hire yourself a person to help you with your gear to the ferry.  Buy your ticket here to Isla Mujeres.

Arrive Isle in 15 or 20 minutes ride.  Get your items and bring them up front to the jetty where you can hire a taxi to the Hotel Playa la Media Luna.

Overnight meeting, catching up story and set the mode for the adventure.

Day 2 - 8:  As long as weather permits, we leave every morning before dawn and before anyone else at dark and go to sea to be the first under the frigate bird and among the Sailfish.

We return to shore by the afternoon around 4pm.

Day 9:  Settle your hotel account and arrange for your transfer to the ferry on Isla Mujeres and return to Cancun.

Our driver will wait for you in Cancun to take you to the airport for your flight to your next destination.

Cost Details:

With your deposit, we will send you a comprehensive and detailed Trip Preparation Bulletin about the experience and the destination. All flights and trip costs are subject to change without prior notice until confirmed reservation.

Tour price includes:

• All transfers from Cancun and back
• Seven Days Charter
• Eight nights at the hotel - double occupancy
• Breakfast and Lunch Box
• All diving equipment: tanks and weights

Not included in Tour Price:

• International or domestic flights
• Excess baggage charges on flight
• Single occupancy
• Ferry - Cancun Isla Mujeres and return
• Dinners and other meals not specified above
• All items of a personal nature such as laundry, meals ashore, bar, beverage charges and telecommunication charges
• Loss of dive gear and equipment
• Gratuities

Payment Policy & Deposit:
When we receive your deposit, we will send you a comprehensive and detailed Trip Preparation Bulletin about the experience and the destination. All flights and trip costs are subject to change without prior notice until confirmed reservation.

• A non-refundable deposit of $2,600 is required to secure a space on board the Expedition
• Full payment is due no later than 90 days before departure.
• We reserve the right to sell any space that is not paid in full by 60 days before departure.
• Refund is made if replacement was found less unrecoverable costs of sales, administration special promotion.
• Cancellation of 180 days or less before departure - deposit is non-refundable.
• No refund is made for unused part of the itinerary.

Itinerary:
Day 1
We all arrive on January 20 to Cancun and from there I arrange for a transfer according to your flight from the airport to the ferry station about 20 minutes ride.

The ferry is about 15 minutes from Cancun to Isla Mujeres.  Upon arrival, take a taxi and make your way to Hotel Playa la Media Luna, about 5 minutes ride.  Accommodation is based on shared room.  Single occupancy is available for an extra fee.

We meet in late afternoon with the skipper and set up any of the last logistics necessary.

Days 2-8
Every morning. early morning, we depart about 5am to sea.  Upon the sea condition and wind, the skipper decides if we shall pursue or wait until the wind dies down.

Providing weather conditions are safe for our kind of operation - the skipper will race out anywhere between 10 - 30 miles off shore searching for the frigate bird hovering over the water.

At this time, we all get dressed up with scuba tanks on our backs and cameras at hand.  We may stay like that all day long until we decide that it is time to go home by the afternoon, when visibility underwater is going down action is diminishing and not appealing any longer.

The skipper will maneuver the vessel for the best position to put us in the water according to his estimated movement of the bait ball - so we can follow the action and also taking into consideration the sunlight.

With the skipper command that the engine is in neutral, two guests plus myself jump into the water.  As soon as you can get to the water, we have to swim as fast as you can to get close to the action.

The bait ball is running away and the sailfish in numbers are chasing after the sardine.  This is a very dynamic and fast moving encounter.  Sometimes we will be in the water for five minutes and the action may run away too far from us to follow.  Sometimes if we are strong enough and get close to the bait ball - we can stay up with them for 30 minutes and up to an hour.

To refresh your mind with the excitement, go to:
http://web.mac.com/biganimals/iWeb/Site/The%20thrilling%20encounter%20with%20Sailfish%20.html

As usual, later on in the day, about 10 o'clock onward, sport fishing vessels may show up and from that time onward, we will have to share the encounter with them.  Each vessel gets about a 10 -2 0 minute window of opportunity and then the next vessel gets into the picture.  While a sport fishing vessel engages in catch and release, this action does not affect our encounter few minutes later.

When one team returns to the vessel, the second team is ready and waiting for the skipper's next set of instructions.  That is how each day will take place.  We have lunch boxes on board as well as water and soft drinks.

We end the day about 3 or 4pm, as by that time the water visibility becomes more and more murky and is not as clear and blue as in the morning hours until about 1 or 2pm.

Upon returning to shore - we transfer back to our hotel.  With enough time on hand and if you're not too tired, people go to town for shopping and enjoy the Mexican village-like atmosphere.  Some evening we will meet for sunset drinks on the beaches around and for dinner in town.

We repeat this agenda from day 2 - 8.  If wind is too strong to go out safely, we will do one of two things...

1- that day will be at rest and or village strolling.  on other days, if the bait ball did not make it to the surface and we cannot see sailfish on the surface, 

2- or we all learn how to sport fish: catch and release Sailfish.

The skipper will put a teaser in the water to attract a single Sailfish to follow the vessel, when the fish is close , the skipper puts the engine in neutral and commands one of us to jump in and face the sailfish as it hangs around the vessel for a few minutes before it realizes that is was only a teaser.  That which makes enough time for you to video a few minutes of action and sometimes very close passes.

On board the vessel we will have three scuba tanks for each person and a weight belt.  I recommend no BC - all of our dives will be no more than 20 feet and mostly at the ten feet level.  Saying that each diver must be strong enough to be able to stay afloat with camera and weight belt by the end of each encounter until the mother vessel comes around to pick up each one of us.

Some of the encounters can be done on snorkeling only and no scuba gear is required.

Our last day of activity.

Day 9
We prepare to depart from the hotel according to your flight schedule back to the USA, Europe or elsewhere.  I provide the transfer service from the hotel to the ferry and from the ferry to Cancun airport.