A Whale Extravaganza in Baja California

I wonder why whales evoke such deep emotions in us … Is it because humankind did its very best to wipe them out in the 19th century, or is it because they're just so huge by comparison to us? Or maybe it's because they spend most of their lives invisible to us and are therefore creatures of mystery? I’m not sure of the answer, but what I'm sure about is that whale watching off Mexico’s Baja Peninsula is just about the best whale watching on the planet and that anyone who tells you otherwise probably hasn’t been there.

From the moment we leave the dockside in San Diego to the moment we arrive in Cabo San Lucas over a week later, we'll have a whale fiesta. As we cruise down the Pacific Coast, and even before we reach the sheltered waters of San Ignacio Lagoon, it's highly likely that we'll have seen both humpback and blue whales, and we may well have seen killer whales and others too.

Our Captain aboard MV Searcher, and all the crew, are well versed in finding the whales, and then making sure we get incredible views and have fabulous photographic opportunities once we’ve found them.

The once highly endangered Guadalupe fur seals and northern elephant seals will greet us as we visit San Benitos, and by the time we reach San Ignacio, we'll be ready for a grey whale extravaganza. This is the place they call home when it's time to mate and calve, and where the mothers nurse their young until they're strong enough to swim north to the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic. While they're here though, they're curious and like to play with the boats. They mean us no harm as they come to see us and give us joy beyond measure as they splash around, breach, and spy-hop within touching distance. This is a whale watching experience that you'll want to have again and again after your very first encounter - there's nothing else like it on planet Earth.

Off the shore of Magdalena Bay, the rich sea plays host to blue and fin whales, and the sandy-coloured mountains make for a sumptuous backdrop, but perhaps it's the vast pods of long-beaked common dolphins (sometimes hundreds strong) riding the bow wave of Searcher that steals the show here. Other possibilities as we head south include Risso's and Pacific white-sided dolphin, short-finned pilot, and even false killer whale.

South of Cabo San Lucas, breeding humpback whales seem to spend endless hours breaching and mobula rays jump randomly from the ocean as the sun sets, only to hit the surface of the water with a sound like popping corn.

Into the Sea of Cortez and we have the opportunity to snorkel with playful California sea lions and perhaps bottlenose dolphins. And we haven’t even spoken about the birds of the region - frigatebirds, boobies, pelicans and tropicbirds are just the start.

Is it any wonder that Baja California is right at the top of my list of ‘incredible places’ when anyone asks what my favourites are - and they ask me quite often!

To find out more about our Great Whales of Mexico's Pacific Coast trip, where the highlight is undoubtedly the close-up encounters with grey whales, contact our team today.