Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico – The Nado Por Las Ballenas (Swim for the Whales) association has officially opened registration for its third annual international team event, inviting participants from all over the world to dive into a week of swimming, adventure, and fundraising. The event, which runs from November 29 to December 7, aims to raise an impressive 1.5 million pesos to support vital conservation efforts for marine and terrestrial life in the Mexican Pacific and the country’s protected natural areas.
This unique, purpose-driven event is a celebration of both sport and sustainable tourism. Participants can register individually or form teams of up to ten people to tackle one or more of the six Sea and Mountain Routes, with distances ranging from 22 to 444 kilometers.
If you are in the Banderas Bay area, your team can choose one or more routes from the 2025 Sea and Mountain Challenge. For more information, please click HERE. Four participants (members of Swim for the Whales and local athletes) will journey through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit, passing through nine protected natural areas and covering the total distance of 444 kilometers.
If you are not in Mexico, you can still participate. The location(s) and physical activities are up to you! You can go the distance in a swimming pool, a river, the sea, a lake, the mountains, the hills, the countryside, the city or anywhere else near you. If possible, complete all or part of your distance in at least one Protected Natural Area (PNA) near you, where you can enjoy their beauty while contributing to Nado Por Las Ballenas’ efforts.
It’s not necessary for everyone to cover the same distance, the goal is to reach the selected target together. Each participant can add kilometers to your team’s total distance on different days, at different times, and through various activities. You can combine these distances, completing the activities in any location you choose.
Registration is now open and will close on September 30. The registration fee is 4,200 pesos per team or individual and includes a commemorative kit. In addition to the satisfaction of supporting a great cause, the top five teams that raise the most funds will also be awarded prizes.
All proceeds from the event will directly fund a range of crucial projects. These include rescuing entangled whales, removing harmful ghost fishing nets, and implementing campaigns to prevent vessel collisions. The funds will also support monitoring whale watching tourism, restoring coral in both the Marietas Islands and Isabel Island National Parks, and conducting environmental education programs. The association also organizes beach and marina cleanups and works to delimit the marine zone of the Isabel Island National Park with buoys.
For those interested in participating, you can find a complete call for entries with all the details, including registration links, information on forming a team, distances, and prizes, on the Nado Por Las Ballenas website.
Nado Por Las Ballenas is a non-profit civil association founded in 2023 with the dream of swimming to raise awareness for humpback whales. Today, it has become a global collective movement that uses sport as a driver of change to comprehensively address the multiple threats affecting whales and marine ecosystems, such as entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, unsustainable tourism, pollution, and climate change. More than 120 organizations and thousands of people around the world have joined, raising funds for conservation projects. Learn more at nadoporlasballenas.org.
