Between November to March you can have the unique opportunity to dive with Bull Sharks. At this time of year these incredible creatures come to their breeding ground in shallower waters off the coast of Playa Del Carmen.
The Bull Shark is one of the most dangerous sharks in the world. They are enormous, growing to 7 – 11.5 feet, and weighing 200-500 pounds. Bull Sharks are carnivorous, their diet consists of mostly fish, but also dolphins, sea turtles and other sharks. They hunt during the day and night. They will swim into shallow water and unlike other types of sharks they can even tolerate freshwater rivers. Bull sharks have more testosterone than any other animal.
Bull Sharks do not eat humans as part of their diet, and normally will not attack human, but a human can get attacked inadvertently or if the Bull Shark is bored, so your risk of being bitten is not zero. According to the international shark attack file there have been 92 non-fatal unprovoked attacks by Bull Sharks on humans reported worldwide, and 25 fatal unprovoked attacks, for a total of 117 incidents. The only sharks with higher attack incidents are the Great White and Tiger Shark. Although the thought of being bitten is scary, and Bull Sharks are more vicious than other sharks, note that the case numbers are extremely low.
There are two types of dives you can do to see the Bull Sharks. You can go on a feeding style dive where the sharks are lured by meat, or you can just dive where the sharks generally hang out and see them naturally swimming around.
If you do the feeding dive your guide will wear protective chain mail and lure the sharks to him with meat on a stick. You will be instructed to stay still and calm and still next to a line, close enough you will see the sharks up close and personal as they swarm around the guide for the food. You will not be allowed to just swim around with the sharks during a feeding.
Some people feel supporting Bull Shark feeding is unethical. One belief is feeding the sharks is associating humans with food and increasing the likelyhood of shark attacks. If you want to see the Bullsharks but do not like the feeding part consider a tour to Bull Shark Point that does not include a feeding but where you will likely get to see the sharks swimming around naturally without having to lure them over with food.
Many people describe seeing a beautiful Bull Shark in the wild as a top experience.