Whale Sharks in La Paz: Season + How to Swim with Them

Every winter, young whale sharks gather in the shallow, plankton-rich water of the Bay of La Paz, just a short boat ride from the Malecón. It's one of the most reliable places in the world to swim with the biggest fish in the sea, and one of the most carefully managed.

Why whale sharks come to La Paz

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are filter feeders: they cruise slowly with their mouths open, straining tiny plankton and fish eggs from the water. The bay's southern end, around the El Mogote sandbar across from town, concentrates that food, and the sharks come to eat. The Bay of La Paz is recognized as an important feeding area for the species, with annual aggregations around El Mogote's coastal waters.

The sharks you'll meet here are juveniles. A photo-identification study of 251 whale sharks along the Gulf of California found only juveniles, mostly small ones, in the Bay of La Paz and Bahía de los Ángeles, and recorded 26 of them moving between the two bays, roughly 700 km apart.

When is whale shark season?

• Official season: Mexico's protected-areas commission (CONANP) sets the swimming season each year. Recent seasons have run roughly October through April, opening once enough sharks are present in the protected zone.
• Best months: research on the bay found the highest numbers between November and January, though sharks are often seen well into spring.
• Every year is different: water temperature and plankton shift the timing, so check current dates with operators before you plan around them.

Colibri Guest House opens in February 2027, right in the middle of the season.

How the swim works

Trips leave from the Malecón or the marinas and head across the bay toward El Mogote, usually a short ride. Only certified operators can take swimmers into the protected area, and they bring small groups into the water a few at a time with a guide. You snorkel at the surface while the shark feeds; it's calm, shallow water, and you don't need to be a diver.

Swim with them responsibly

The rules exist because the same young sharks return to this bay year after year.

• Book a certified operator. Swimming in the whale shark zone is only allowed with operators certified by CONANP and SEMARNAT.
• Never touch or chase a shark. Keep your distance, let it pass and stay out of its path.
• Leave the sunscreen off. Wear a rash guard or wetsuit instead.
• Follow your guide's briefing. Group sizes, distances and time in the water are set by the current rules, which can change from season to season.

Whale sharks are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, upgraded from Vulnerable in 2016. Careful tourism in places like La Paz helps show that a living shark is worth more than a caught one.

Book a whale shark swim

Search Book with Buddy for whale shark swims and snorkel trips in La Paz from local, certified operators. Staying with us? Ask us when you book your room and we'll help you pick a day.

Sources

• Ramírez-Macías, Vázquez-Haikin & Vázquez-Juárez (2012), Whale shark Rhincodon typus populations along the west coast of the Gulf of California and implications for management, Endangered Species Research 18:115–128.
• Atmospheric and oceanographic impacts on whale shark seasonality in the Bay of La Paz, 4th International Whale Shark Conference (2016).
• Important Shark and Ray Areas: Bahía de La Paz factsheet.
• ¿Quieres nadar con un tiburón ballena? Este es el mejor mes para hacerlo en La Paz, Posta BCS.
• Whale Sharks Slide toward Extinction, Shark Research Institute, on the IUCN Endangered listing.
• Whale shark (Rhincodon typus), Convention on Migratory Species.