Baja California & Sea of Cortez

Baja California has long been described as the ‘Galápagos of Mexico’. From the Pacific-pounded shores of its western coastline round to the sheltered blue waters of the Sea of Cortez, this 1,285-kilometre peninsula, one of the world’s longest, is home to a diversity of wildlife that could easily rival Darwin’s more famous islands over 1,600 kilometres to the south. Flocks of Magnificent Frigatebirds soar ominously overhead, whilst lines of Brown Pelicans and Brant’s Cormorants file over the sea’s surface and hundreds of Sea Lions rest on isolated rocky islands. Inland, Crested Caracaras sit atop the huge Cardon Cacti which cover much of the desert interior and tiny hummingbirds sip nectar from a variety of colourful desert plants.

Baja is, without doubt, a naturalist’s paradise. Yet there is one family of animals above all others in which it excels — the cetaceans. The rich feeding grounds of the Sea of Cortez and the sheltered bays along the Pacific coastline combine to produce one of the best whale-watching experiences anywhere in the world. This exciting holiday will take you down the western coastline of the Baja Peninsula and then round into the deep blue waters of the Sea of Cortez. It will offer such unforgettable experiences as eye-to-eye contact with the Grey Whales of San Ignacio, the chance to be surrounded by thousands of dolphins, and the opportunity to look for the mighty Blue Whale, the largest animal on Earth.

Our tour begins with a flight to San Diego in California. Here we board the MV Searcher, an American registered vessel that accommodates only 25 passengers. We cruise south from San Diego, stopping en route to explore the many seabird colonies and Elephant Seal rookeries, and some of the isolated islands such as Todos Santos and San Benitos. On our third day we will arrive at the world famous San Ignacio Lagoon, home to Baja’s ‘friendly’ Grey Whales.

Every year around 15,000 Pacific Grey Whales make the 8,000- kilometre journey south from the cold, invertebrate-rich waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas to the lagoons and bays along Baja’s Pacific coastline. Here, in the warm sheltered waters, they assemble to mate and give birth. Grey Whales are naturally inquisitive creatures, especially the mothers and small calves, but at San Ignacio they seem to genuinely revel in human contact; there is no need to look for the whales here, they will quickly find you! There can be few more memorable wildlife experiences than being able to look one of these gentle creatures straight in the eye as it raises its head out of the water next to the boat; a truly moving moment in a highlight-packed tour!

Leaving San Ignacio behind, we continue our journey south. Off the coastline of Magdalena Bay we hope to find such cetaceans as Bryde’s, Humpback and Fin Whales, together with huge pods of Common Dolphins. The birdlife is equally diverse, with Brown and Blue-footed Boobies, Black-vented Shearwaters, Royal Terns and Pomarine Skuas feeding over the sea, whilst areas of coastal mangroves hold Reddish Egrets, Tri-coloured Herons, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbills and Long-billed Curlews.

Rounding Baja’s southern cape we enter the deep blue waters of the Sea of Cortez, home to one of the world’s greatest concentrations of cetaceans. Here a maze of submarine canyons and sea mounts deflect nutrient-rich water to the surface to feed blooms of plankton and other sea creatures. It is this rich food supply that attracts the cetaceans and we will spend the remainder of our holiday exploring this narrow sea in search of whales and other marine-life. In particular we will be on the look-out for the huge, 12-metre tall ‘blow’ of water vapour that marks the surfacing of the magnificent Blue Whale, an animal that can grow to over 27 metres (90 feet) in length! A wide variety of other whale species share the Blue Whale’s domain and, during our five days here, we will search for Humpback, Fin, Minke, Sperm and Bryde’s Whales, plus more elusive species such as Orca, Dwarf Sperm Whale and Pygmy Killer Whale. Once again Bottlenose and Common Dolphins abound in these waters, pods of the latter sometimes numbering in the thousands! In addition to the whale-watching, there will be daily excursions onto remote islands and into coastal habitats in search of Guadalupe Fur Seals and birds such as Gila Woodpecker, Black-throated Sparrow, Crested Caracara, the endemic Xantu’s Hummingbird and perhaps even the rare and exquisitely beautiful Red-billed Tropicbird. There will also be plenty of opportunities for snorkelling in search of turtles, rays and some of the other 650 species of fish that inhabit the Sea of Cortez.

At the end of our journey we must sadly disembark at Cabo San Lucas, Baja’s southernmost community and, with memories of whales and other wildlife that will last a lifetime, we begin our journey home.