Baja Journey through the Sea of Cortez

PLEASE NOTE: Your flights will need to be multi-city, Home/SJD, LTO/Home. You will need to arrive in Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD) by 1:30PM today. After clearing Mexican customs you will be met by a crewmember and escorted approximately 2.5 hour drive to La Paz, where you will be welcomed aboard your yacht for the cruise. Overnight Westward at sea or at La Paz dock (D)

Spend your first two days in the area of Islas Espiritu Santo and Partida. Explore the islands with kayaks, and on foot, walking the trails in the mornings or evenings when the light is low on the horizon. As you head north visit the tiny Los Islotes, where you may have an opportunity to snorkel with sea lions. After crossing to the southern end of Isla San Jose you will visit the tiny fishing village of El Pardito, kayak or skiff into a mangrove lagoon, and spend the night at anchor in a collapsed volcanic caldera. Moving on you will visit one or two shallow coves along the peninsula shoreline. There will be daily opportunities to kayak, snorkel, hike and generally explore the region. Your captain is used to working with photographers, and the staff will do their best to position you for the best light and to be in places we know to be good sunset or sunrise locations. This area is scattered with islands, some large, some tiny, all of which are Mexican national parks. Paddling kayaks in quiet coves or walking the ridgelines and arroyos of isolated islands we will have the opportunity to absorb their subtle beauty. Spending hours aboard the drifting Westward in what is referred to as the “Blue Triangle” we hope to see blue and sperm whales, both of which congregate here to feed on the plankton and squid that thrive in the area’s nutrient rich upwelling waters. Overnights Westward (B, L, D all days)

Arrive Puerto Escondido mid-morning. Our van will pick up the guests at the harbor, and transport them to Bahia Magdalena where they will check into a small, lagoon front hotel. (B, L, D)

The next day the group will make two separate visits into the whale viewing area aboard small, open boats. Following the afternoon session you will rejoin the van and return to Loreto, where you will check in to a small, boutique hotel very near the historic town square. It is recommended to shoot video, or short lens today, as the whales typically come to you. It is an extraordinary experience to make eye contact with a 30-ton animal that has seemingly approached your panga solely for the purpose of exchanging winks! Overnight Loreto Hotel (B, L, D)

After breakfast in the square, and some time to wander through the shops in the area, meet the van for transport to the airport (LOR), arriving by 11:00AM, for 1PM flights or after (B).