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Mindful Scuba Diving with Marina

What Do Bull Sharks and Carnaval Have In Common?

Published 5 months ago • 4 min read

Happy March!

Hi, I'm Marina.

I am a dive instructor who specializes in mindful and meditation diving.

This month was busy in Playa del Carmen! We saw so many bull sharks. Carnival turned the city into a week-long party. And many magical moments were shared underwater :)

With all of the craziness in this world, let's come here and escape... to the ocean.

Bull Shark Ethics

This past month, we saw A LOT of bull sharks. As a professional who works on shark feeding dives, I'm often asked about the ethicality of feeding wild animals. Everyone knows the principle "don't feed the wildlife," so why is it acceptable for us to feed the sharks?

The truth is, the bull shark dive in Playa del Carmen is an incredibly unique situation. It is not perfect, nothing is, but it actually does actively benefit the sharks on every shark dive we do. There is so much to say about the nuance of ethical shark feeding; I actually wrote a whole blog post about it. Click the link below to learn all the ins and outs.

Carnival in Playa del Carmen

Cozumel is known for having one of the best Carnival celebrations in Mexico. But Playa's Carnival festivities still offered something for everyone.

On Friday, February 13, Playa shut down Constituyentes Avenue to host a Mardi Gras style parade. Several organizations, including Playa Municipality, Save Our Sharks, and even local schools, got in on the action. All of the floats were ocean-themed, decked out in glitter and lights to simulate the underwater world.

Over the next week, two stages dominated Plaza 28 de Julio. The celebration included music, talent shows, dancing, and the election of the 2026 Carnaval King and Queen in categories such as youth, adult, and LGBTQ+.

Mexicans center every celebration around music, dancing, and food. Tacos, elote, marquesitas, and empanadas - every Mexican treat imaginable was available from street vendors surrounding the venue.

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February's Best Underwater Moment

Sharks and Rays and Turtles, Oh My!

Why do brand-new baby divers always seem to get the best experiences? I believe the Ocean gifts once-in-a-lifetime wildlife encounters to certain new divers, so they stay hooked forever. It's my little semi-delusional way of thinking that the right people will fall in love with the ocean and become dedicated to saving it.

This story starts off with a group of Discover Scuba Diving students (non-certified first timers) and a couple of Open Water students.

We were diving "Jardines", the closest beginner-friendly reef to "Shark Point", the dive site where we do bull shark feeding and observation dives (read the full blog here). There is always a chance to see a shark in the shallows, but it doesn't happen every day - or even every week.

We felt the magic as soon as we descended. The water held the specific type of energy that something magnificent was bound to happen.

Moray eels poked their heads out of every cavern. Comb jellies danced in the sunlight. All of the students were soaking up every minute of the dive. And that's when it happened -

We were diving along the mini wall on the edge of the reef when a large shape emerged from the deep blue.

A large, pregnant bull shark stumbled onto our dive site just long enough for all of our students to see her. She swam into view, begged to be admired, then disappeared back beyond our sight.

The camera footage shows her swimming gracefully along the edge of the reef, then pans over to our group of divers screaming in delight. We squaled and signaled "mind blown" to each other before continuing with our dive.

A few minutes later, we rounded a corner to a gorgeous green sea turtle hanging out on top of the reef. A bit less performative than the bull shark, it wasn't long until we watched his silhouette breathe a full breath of fresh air on the surface, and he was gone from our view.

Forty minutes into the dive, and we are doing our last air checks. Our dive guide calculated we would stay on the reef for the next five minutes before making our safety stop ascent. Since I was turned around to communicate with the guide, I saw another massive shape coming in from behind. I signaled everyone to turn around just as a huge eagle ray swept in right beside us.

With a snout for a nose, a 2-meter wing span, and 4 meters long, we felt dwarfed by this majestic creature. With incredible grace, he glided up and down the reef. He swam below the mini-wall and climbed back up again without disturbing a single polyp. He quickly outswam us up ahead, then circled back to show off his indigo polka-dot pattern in greater detail. I swear I saw him wink as he passed me. He stayed for several minutes checking us out, the disappeared at the exact moment we needed to surface.

It's not often you get one dive with so many close animal encounters. We all climbed onto the boat feeling extremely grateful.

Diving in March in Playa:

  • Dive Conditions
    • Air temps 23-30 deg C
    • Water temps 26-28 deg C
    • Moderate waves
    • Moderate to high current
  • Animals in Season - Bull Sharks & Eagle Rays
    • We are STILL seeing Bull Sharks :) They tend to leave at the end of February, but since they're still here, we are soaking the last bits of the season.
    • Eagle ray season is January-March, typically, so there are still ample opportunities to see these beauties.

Marina's Mindful Moment

Before I close this newsletter, I hope to share a bit of much-needed mindfulness with everyone. This is called the "Daily Color Challenge":

Step 1: Pick a color to notice throughout the day.
Step 2: Every time you notice the color, name the color in your mind.
Step 3: Allow this cue to return you to yourself and the present moment.
Step 4: Thank yourself (or whoever you pray to) for creating space for presence in your day.

If this message resonates, stick around for next month - where I'll share more diving stories, what it's like to live and dive Playa in March, and more.

Think your dive buddy will like this? Send them this link

​https://marinatoone.kit.com/newsletter​

Mindful Scuba Diving with Marina

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