A small operator working off the malecón with a cap of ten guests per boat and marine biologists rather than boatmen as guides.
The Bay of La Paz is the reason. Whale sharks feed in the shallow bay between roughly October and April, close enough in that the trip is a short ride. Mobula rays mass in the thousands in spring and sometimes leap clear of the water. Orcas pass through the Cerralvo channel. Sea lions haul out year-round at Los Islotes off Espíritu Santo. None of it needs a certification — it is all snorkelling.
Whale shark trips are permit-controlled in a protected zone: a fixed number of boats, a swim time limit, no touching, no fins near the animal. Operators who go outside the zone to beat the queue are breaking the rules, not finding a secret spot.