I was wondering what I might find?

Question

I'm going to Cancun for 5 days. It's my first out of the country vacation but it's also the first time I will be in an area frequented by sharks. Now I have always loved and been fascinated by sharks and have done my research on them. But I was wondering what species I may find in the waters around Cancun. I know that whale sharks frequent the area and I'm sure various reef sharks will be around. I've also heard that tigers can be found in the area. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Well to start... to the person above me you are mistaken, though no one has ever been killed by a nurse shark, they are anything but harmless. Where you might think that is the majority of their attacks have been under provoked conditions. But they do still attack.

As far as what you might see there are a wide selection of sharks that frequent the tropical waters around that area. What will make a difference is exactly where you are, time of year and what depth you are at. For example you will run into different species if you snorkle close to shore vs scuba in more open water. Once you get there you might want to look into local dives, more often than not they will tell what species you will have a chance to run into.

If you want to check out maps of shark locations the ISAF has some great resources. Or if you are looking to plan ahead many of the dive outfits found in Cancun have webpages about what you can see.

Answer 2

There are totally harmless nurse sharks in the reefs off Cancun. If you do scuba diving you might be lucky enough to see one.

Who gave you the idea that the Cancun area is frequented by sharks? They are pretty uncommon and there are so many people and boats they are mostly scared away.