On paper, whale shark season in Bahía de La Paz opened on October 1, 2026. SEMARNAT's notice for the 2026–27 season, dated September 17, gives the season as October 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027. So when does the first tour boat actually leave the Muelle Fiscal with swimmers aboard?
The notice answers that too, and the answer isn't a date. Tours can start once the sharks show up in large enough numbers, and someone has to count them first. For the last three seasons, that count let the first boats out in November. As of early October 2026, we haven't seen any report that the first official count of this season has taken place, so no first trip has been announced.
The Number That Opens the Bay
The rule is short. Tours run in four turns a day and can only begin once at least six whale sharks are present in Zona I, the part of the refuge set aside for viewing and swimming. The figure that counts is the average of the two latest official counts, rounded up, using data from CONANP, Mexico's federal agency for protected natural areas.
The same number also decides how many boats can be on the water once tours begin. Here is the scale from the 2026–27 notice:
| Sharks counted | Boats per turn | Boats per day |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | 24 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 28 |
| 10 | 8 | 32 |
| 12 | 10 | 40 |
| 14 or more | 14 | 56 |
The rest of the refuge has its own rules. Zona II is a conservation area where viewing and swimming are banned. Zona III is for boat traffic only, with a speed limit of seven knots. The refuge was created in 2018 and covers 22,749.08 hectares, from San Juan de la Costa to the mouth of the Ensenada de La Paz.
The count is a field exercise. Tour operators supply the boat, crew and local knowledge. A CONANP representative validates the count, and the survey runs out and back along the same route through Zona I.
Three Seasons, Three November Openings
Local reporting from recent years shows how far the real start can drift from the official one:
- 2023–24. A survey on November 25, 2023 counted eight sharks, enough for tours to start the next day.
- 2024–25. On October 4, 2024, operators told El Sudcaliforniano there still weren't enough sharks in the bay. Surveys on November 10, 11 and 12 recorded nine. CONANP opened the activity on November 13 with six boats allowed per turn.
- 2025–26. Operations ran from November 12, 2025 to April 30, 2026. By November 18, local officials reported 10 sharks inside the authorized area and another 34 nearby.
The 2024 Meganoticias report states the pattern outright. The season "began" in October, but the activity had to wait for at least six sharks in the core zone. Under the new notice, the count that matters is the average of the two latest official surveys. One good morning on the water isn't enough on its own.
The count can also close the bay after it opens. In 2024–25, SEMARNAT and CONANP suspended viewing from January 27, 2025, after monitoring found only 5 to 11 sharks. The suspension had no end date. When ZETA checked on February 11, it was still in place. Operator Leonel Ceseña told the paper that north winds had coincided with a drop from roughly 30 to 40 sharks down to two, and that the tours are an important seasonal income for local families. El Sudcaliforniano later reported that the season ended early because food was scarce and cold water pushed the sharks elsewhere, which cost tour operators and the businesses around them.
The Count Keeps Shaping the Trip After Opening Day
Once tours are running, the same count still sets how crowded the water is and how much each group gets. The 2026–29 management plan allows only one boat with a shark or group of sharks at a time, for no more than 30 minutes. Other boats have to stay at least 50 meters back and look for other sharks. Boats approach from behind, on a diagonal parallel to the animal, at no more than three knots. More sharks means more boats can work the bay without waiting on each other.
Last season's numbers show this. In 2025–26, the committee that oversees the activity identified 56 individual sharks across the season, 20 of them new to the bay, and logged 950 sightings and 45,350 passengers. The 56 is a season total of different animals. It isn't how many sharks were in the bay on any given day, so it can't be compared with the six-shark threshold.
Monthly passenger counts from that season, as reported by Héctor Ulises Aguilar of the Comité Tiburón Ballena en La Paz:
- November 2025: 4,478, the lowest month, while the season was just getting started
- December 2025: 8,418
- January 2026: 8,141
- February 2026: 9,455, the highest
- March 2026: 9,419
- April 2026: 5,439
Aguilar said February and March were also the months with the most sharks in the bay. He described that overlap as good news because it lets the activity flow and gives everyone a satisfying swim. He added that most of the sharks seen in the bay are young males, which matches the bay's history. The management plan cites the idea that the bay works as a secondary nursery for juveniles.
What the 2026–29 Plan Changes
The rules that run this season come from SEMARNAT's new management plan, reported by El Sudcaliforniano on September 24, 2026. Several changes affect who operates and how:
- Three seasons, one plan. The plan covers 2026–27, 2027–28 and 2028–29, but operators still need a new authorization each season.
- Substitute boats. A backup vessel used to have to belong to the same owner. It can now belong to a different person or company, as long as it's registered and meets operating requirements.
- Counting duty. Every authorization holder must take part in at least one monitoring day per season, and CONANP keeps track of who has.
- Counts and logs are separate. The official counts decide the daily boat limit. The trip logs operators fill out record encounters, passengers and incidents.
This season's notice provides for 112 authorizations, each covering one holder, one boat and one flag. Boats can't be longer than 11 meters. For comparison, 62 permit holders had been authorized by mid-November last season. Even so, the daily cap of 56 boats and the no-tours rule at five sharks or fewer were already in the 2025–26 plan. More authorizations don't put more boats on the water than the count allows.
Planning Around the Bay's Schedule
Tours leave from and return to the Muelle Fiscal on the Malecón, or from marinas authorized by the Port Captaincy. In 2025–26, swims took place around El Mogote, about 3 to 5 kilometers offshore. In November 2025, city officials said a single sales point was being built on Andador Ignacio Bañuelos Cabezud, across from the Muelle Fiscal, as the authorized place to book tours that season. We haven't seen an announcement on where tours will be sold this season. Tours cost between 1,300 and 1,800 pesos per person in 2025–26, and El Sudcaliforniano described demand as saturated from opening day.
These are the conduct rules from the management plan:
- No more than five swimmers in the water at a time, with a guide.
- Everyone wears a full-torso life vest or a wetsuit, plus mask, snorkel and fins.
- Stay at least 2 meters from the shark's head and sides and 3 meters from its tail. The group stays together at the surface and doesn't dive under the shark.
- No touching, riding, chasing, feeding or blocking the shark's path. No drones, underwater scooters, selfie sticks or underwater lights.
- The encounter ends if the shark swims evasively, slaps its tail defensively, changes direction suddenly or dives deep for a long time.
October guests can still get time on the water by the Muelle Fiscal while the count catches up. API-BCS began building the inclusive "Todos a Bordo" playground next to the pier, and a June report expected the children's play area to stay closed through November. We haven't seen an update on that timeline since. On the city's October 2 event tracker, Yuridia on October 17 and Alejandro Sanz on October 24 were marked green, meaning they have municipal permits and safety approvals. Several other October and November concerts were still under review.
The date to watch is the day CONANP announces that the average of its two most recent counts, rounded up, has reached six sharks. In the 2024–25 season, CONANP opened the bay on November 13, and the 2025–26 season began operating on November 12.
If you're planning guest visits or your own season on the bay around that announcement, the team at Christie's Real Estate Cabo is happy to help with the timing, from February and March swim windows to arranging a home base near the Malecón. Start Your Cabo Search with us, and let's plan your next stay around La Paz's whale shark season.
