The truth about these animals is very different from what we are used to in the movies and news.  SHARKS ARE NOT DANGEROUS, the reality is that they are animals that are very shy in front of humans.

Although it is true that there are more than 550 different species of sharks, and perhaps 5 of them can be potentially dangerous to humans under certain circumstances.
Nowadays, shark watching activities are quite widespread all over the world, with interactions with these animals taking place every day in different places, and the few accidents that may occur are anecdotal, the result of chance rather than a shark aiming to attack anyone.

Nevertheless, they are wild animals and must be treated with respect. For MAKO PAKO the highest priority is safety above all else, not only from the sharks towards us, but also from us humans towards the sharks.

That is why there are these rules that must be followed without exception during the activity:

• Once you enter the water, keep your face in the water and breathe through the tube.
• If there are any sharks around, keep eye contact with them at all times.
• Stay on the surface attached to the line for the participants of the activity.
• You must stay in a group on the line following each other.
• You are not allowed to touch the sharks.
• It is not allowed to swim towards them trying to catch them, neither swimming on the surface nor underwater.
• Keep your position in the water, if a shark is heading towards you, he will be the one to change direction.
• Avoid moving around too much in the water, sharks are calm animals and if there is too much commotion they will leave, you are attached to the cape with a wetsuit floating on the surface, just stay relaxed and enjoy the sight of these wonderful animals.
• Ask us any questions at any time and enjoy the experience.

The guides almost always enter the water with cameras or video cameras, but they do not always use them. Their main function and objective is to ensure the safety and smooth running of the activity, to make sure that the participants have no problems and are comfortable in the water.

Keep in mind that this is not a function where things are the same day after day, but quite the opposite, so there is not always an opportunity to take pictures, nor to take pictures of all the participants.

Only when the activity is going as expected and after making sure that people are already enjoying the activity in the water, the guides may decide that it is time to take some pictures. In that case you can request them, and when time is available you will be sent photos of the day you took part in the activity.

If you would like to have a photographer specifically dedicated to taking pictures of you in the water with the sharks, this service is priced separately from the activity, please let us know so we can arrange it.

If you want to give the activity as a gift you can request a GIFT VOUCHER, vouchers cannot be purchased directly through the website, you must contact us by email to request it, make full payment by bank transfer, providing us with your details and those of the person to whom the voucher is addressed, we will prepare it and send it to your email.

Please note that vouchers are NOT REFUNDABLE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, they are VALID FOR 12 MONTHS from the date of purchase, and during this period you can use them at any time during the season, subject to scheduled departures and availability of places.

The voucher by itself DOES NOT INCLUDE the equipment, and if you need it for the activity you have to rent it separately.

MAKO PAKO is not a dive centre, we do not have facilities where we teach diving courses or sell equipment.

We are a tour-operator dedicated exclusively to sharks, so we do not have a physical location where you can find us.

Since our activity takes place at sea, the meeting point is directly in the port of Bermeo where we embark before each departure.

Our recommendation is that you pay attention to the weather forecast for the day of the activity, and depending on the forecast, sunglasses, sun cream, a hat, a sweatshirt or a windbreaker are usually essential.

And always, of course, anti-seasickness tablets to take between 60 and 30 minutes before setting off on the boat.

And if you have forgotten your cap, you can always visit our MakoStore.

For this activity it is necessary to use snorkelling equipment, consisting of mask, snorkel, fins and neoprene.

The wetsuit must cover the entire body and must be dark in colour. Brightly coloured wetsuits or parts of wetsuits with bright colours are not allowed (yellow, white, phosphorescent shades).

The water temperature stays between 20-22º during most of the season, it can be colder at the beginning of the season until mid-July and also from the end of September onwards.

We use 5mm wetsuits throughout the season, and this is our recommendation, but everyone is different and some people prefer to use thicker or thinner wetsuits.

You are welcome to bring your own wetsuit, as long as it meets the above specifications. If you don’t have your own equipment you can rent it, the price of the complete pack (mask, snorkel, fins and wetsuit is 20€) we will need to know your height and weight to know which wetsuit fits best, the wetsuits we have are standard sizes, so if you are tall or big we may not have the necessary wetsuit.

Our activity is done in snorkelling, swimming on the surface and without the need to dive underwater, so NO QUALIFICATION IS NECESSARY.

Although it is not compulsory, nor strictly necessary, we do recommend that you have snorkelled before, (swimming with mask and snorkel) so that this is not the first time you have had contact with this equipment and you are already familiar with its use when you enter the water.

Once you have made your reservation for the day of your choice and the date is approaching, the activity may be cancelled due to lack of people or because the weather forecast is not the right one.

Lack of people:

We need a minimum of 6 people to be able to carry out the activity.
If the minimum number of people is not reached, we usually see it well in advance, and there is usually room to make changes, although not always.

Weather forecast:

The other reason why the activity may be cancelled is because of the weather forecast.
The Cantabrian Sea is very changeable, usually the forecasts are reliable within 48 hours prior to departure, but not always, sometimes it can change just the day before or with a few hours to go.
We are always monitoring the evolution of the forecasts for several days before the outings take place, but cancellations due to the forecast can be made with only a few hours to go.
Our activity is carried out far from the coast, so the sea forecast for the coast has nothing to do with the offshore forecast, where the most important factor is the wind. The skipper of the boat has the final say in these decisions, and if he/she considers it risky to go out to sea to carry out the activity, he/she will not hesitate to cancel it. Safety is above all else.

In these 2 cases you will have the option to change the date of the booking to another day or request a refund of the deposit.

Carrying out this activity involves the work of several people and a significant logistical infrastructure in terms of costs. Once the activity is carried out and everything is set in motion, the expense is done, so we have to cover everything that this activity involves, that is why we CANNOT OFFER REFUNDS OR DISCOUNTS in case of not seeing sharks.

Mako Pako makes every effort to achieve sightings on all outings, but sharks are wild animals that live in the wild and it is up to them to decide whether or not to go near them.

Luckily we have a high percentage of sightings. For our part we publish the number of sightings almost daily, so that knowing the conditions, you are the one who decides to take that small risk in the possibility that on the day you decide to do the activity they may or may not appear.

It must be taken into account that this is an activity that takes place in the wild with wild animals and therefore, the sighting of sharks and the rest of the fauna that we may observe is NOT GUARANTEED in any of the outings.

The aim of our activity is the sighting of blue sharks, also known as blue sharks (Prionace glauca) in their natural habitat. These sharks are pelagic, which means that they live in open and oceanic waters, swimming long distances and continuously travelling from one place to another in search of food.

This makes the activity different from other shark watching activities that can be done in tropical locations, where the sharks always live on the reef and are easily spotted.

However, we consider ourselves very fortunate, because despite the intrinsic difficulty of the activity to see this particular species of shark, we manage a more than 90% success rate in sightings.

MAKO PAKO is a sentinel observer for the OBSERVADORES DEL MAR platform, and you can be part of it too. We are specifically collaborating with the projects “Sharks and rays”, “Decapod crustaceans” and “Jellyfish alert”.

In all our outings we involve you by collecting data of the sightings we have every day. You can take part by helping us to collect this data, as well as sharing the pictures you take of the different species.

In the case of sharks, it is crucial to get the size and sex of the sharks that visit us every day, as this is the information that will help us estimate what kind of population we have, and this can help scientists to catalogue them and help manage them better in the future in order to conserve them.

The blue sharks we observe do not usually show distinctive features that help to easily differentiate them from the rest, but sometimes there are some that by some characteristic, perhaps a damaged fin or a striking wound scar, can be easily identified from the rest.

We encourage you to create your own profile in OBSERVERS OF THE SEA, and take part in all the projects in which you can and motivate you, all contributions are necessary and welcome