My wife and I want to see the whales this winter. We will be flying to our place in Cabo then driving back up the Baja. What month is best? What
location is best? we are thing to get a hotel in San Ignacio. What are your thought and suggestions? Thankselgatoloco - 10-22-2013 at 06:21 PM
We have always had a great time in San Ignacio. The last few years we were there in March. We are going again this year and bringing a caravan of
friends and family. We camp our way down and the get a room in town and head out to the lagoon early and spend the day. Its a great little town to
spend a day or two hanging out. We go out with Kuyima and that has worked well for us. There are many options and I would say that the who/when/where
is not as important as the what....getting on the water and up close to whales!shari - 10-22-2013 at 06:28 PM
each lagoon is different and everyone has their favorites. I do trips out of Ojo de Liebre near Guerrero Negro which is the largest calving lagoon in
the world and usually has between 1,500-2,000 whales in it at the peak which is mid February till mid March. It has less people and more whales and no
big companies operating there. It has 3 different viewing areas, the mouth where Malarrimo, Mario's tour and Laguna tours go, the middle lagoon where
the fishing cooperativa operates and the inner lagoon has a beautiful campground, interpretive center and restaurant, palapas and the ejido Benito
Juarez has pangas for whale watching. Whales come into this lagoon first and have their babies in January.
The next lagoon is San Ignacio that is smaller, has around 3-400 whales at the peak in March and has several tour operators in the lagoon and you can
get a tour from town as well.
the most southern lagoon is Magdelena Bay that has 2-300 whales at the peak and also has some tour operations in Lopez Mateos.
the southern lagoons have whales there later than Ojo de Liebre so it depends what month you plan on visiting.DianaT - 10-22-2013 at 09:26 PM
From Cabo, Magdelena Bay is the closest whale lagoon, and it is beautiful. We have not experienced whale watching from San Carlos, but we have gone
out from Lopez Mateos and it was great.
Our favorite by far, and the place to which we return almost every year is San Ignacio. The town is one of our very favorite places in Baja --- it
reminds us of so many towns on the mainland. It is simply a beautiful place to be. The mission and the plaza are such a wonderful place to just be.
I would add some pictures, but they are on the other computer that is in the computer hospital.
We like to drive out to the lagoon on our own because it is to beautiful. Part of the road is paved, but part is not paved. If you don't want to
drive out there, there are vans and tours from town and they are all good. You cannot go wrong.
Our favorite group is Kuyima They are very eco friendly, and there are always young people from the universities on the mainland there for internships and so many
international visitors. It is just a great place to be.
Others have their own favorites at that lagoon and they are all good. They limit the number of boats in the viewing area at all times, so it is good
for everyone.
We used to go to Ojo de LIebre near Guerrero Negro, but after one very bad experience, we have not returned.
[Edited on 10-23-2013 by DianaT]nobaddays - 10-23-2013 at 06:11 AM
I don't want to run in to problems especially traveling with my wife. What problems did you have ?MMc - 10-23-2013 at 07:09 AM
We have done both of the northern bays and love them. We also prefer San Ignacio as a town and a whale spot, mostly because it crowd and less
industrial feeling. GN is growing on us as we get to know it. Shari is starting a whale tour thing and would be a killer guide. She has spent a lot of
time watching whales and I sure has tremendous insight. If we were going to do the whale thing in GN we would use her in a hart beat. Also try to stay
out on the lagoons, the night are great and the boats are less crowed when the day trippers are gone. Why don't you do all three lagoons? It will have
a life long impact.Ateo - 10-23-2013 at 07:15 AM
Here's my trip report to Ojo de Liebre with Shari. She made the trip a little more personable.
The road into San Ignacio can be a little washboard.
Originally posted by nobaddays
I don't want to run in to problems especially traveling with my wife. What problems did you have ?
GN used to be the place we went over and over as it was closer, but we just had the misfortune of having a couple of VERY rude boat operators the
last time who showed zero consideration for their passengers. It could probably happen anywhere, I guess.
