CortezBlue
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Whale Watching
I am a photographer and need to know the best places on the sea of cortez where and when to watch the whales?
I have done some google search and it appears that Cabo is mentioned quite a bit. I want your whaling stories.
Tanks
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Ken Bondy
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The best place to observe whales is in the Pacific lagoons, San Ignacio, Ojo de Liebre, and Magdalena Bay. These are calving and breeding grounds for
the California Gray Whale and they are there from about December through April.
Many types of whales are seen year-round in the Sea of Cortez but your best photography will be in the Pacific calving lagoons in the winter.
[Edited on 9-5-2008 by Ken Bondy]
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thebajarunner
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Whales on the Sea will be random, at best
Do a search on this site for whale stuff,
like the one below that we posted on our trip last year to San Ignacio.
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=23815#pid2171...
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bajagrouper
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Whale watching in Baja
I am describing the main Grey Whale calving and mating lagoons in Baja California, from North to South they are:
Guerrero Negro
1a. Salt loading pier.
This is where you are taken by the different tour companies in town, they have an arrangement with the salt co. to take a short cut and you are bused
to the pier and you panga out about 30 min. towards the mouth of the lagoon, it can be so windy there the boats will not go out.
1b. Ejido Laguna Ojo de Liebre.
You drive 5 miles South of town on the main highway then about 12 miles on a graded road to the Pier and secure parking lot, there is a restaurant,
bathrooms and the parking fee wiil let you camp there for 1 night. ( campsites 13,14 or 15 are my favorites. The boat ride is usually about 45 min. to
the whales and it can also be very windy here…
San Ignacio
It is about 30 miles on a dirt road to the lagoon, there is free camping there as well as tours with their own campgrounds. There are a couple of tour
operators here , there is no pier to enter panga ( read muddy and far at low tide) it can take 45 min. to the whale grounds here also. There are
friendly whales here.
Puerto Lopez Mateos at Magdalena Bay
My favorite, free parking, free camping, 4 or 5 restaurants, clean bathrooms, 3 tour operators, pier to board panga, you are in a long ( 35 mile )
strip of water maybe a mile across, you can see many whales swimming up and down the Bay from the dock. Within 5 min. you are with the whales, very
friendly whales here. lots of dolphins and bird watching. Not as windy because of barrier island.
San Carlos at Magdalena Bay
Another windy part of the pacific, no pier, no restaurants and no bathrooms,45 min. to whale grounds, nuff said
P.S. some times if the sand bar is open ( ask in town )you can drive out to the “old pier” from Guerrero Negro and see mother and calves for free with
bird watching along the way…have a good time
I hear the whales song
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Don Alley
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While whale sightings are more random in the Sea of Cortez, they are more variable than the grey whale sightings in the Pacific side lagoons. In the
Loreto area we see large schools of pilot whales, we see fin whales, humpbacks, sperm whales, blue whales and others. But you can never count on
seeing a whale on any particular trip. It's apples and oranges compared with the guided grey whale trips. It takes a greater investment in time but
the rewards are great.
It's a different experience to see a huge blue whale, or a breaching humpback, out on your own, away from any crowds. And while the odds of a sighting
are not certain, last winter and spring there seemed to be many more whale watching trips out of Loreto, and many people seemed to be seeing whales.
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capt. mike
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www.kuyima.com
www.campocortez.com
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Ken Bondy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Don Alley
While whale sightings are more random in the Sea of Cortez, they are more variable than the grey whale sightings in the Pacific side lagoons. In the
Loreto area we see large schools of pilot whales, we see fin whales, humpbacks, sperm whales, blue whales and others. But you can never count on
seeing a whale on any particular trip. It's apples and oranges compared with the guided grey whale trips. It takes a greater investment in time but
the rewards are great.
It's a different experience to see a huge blue whale, or a breaching humpback, out on your own, away from any crowds. And while the odds of a sighting
are not certain, last winter and spring there seemed to be many more whale watching trips out of Loreto, and many people seemed to be seeing whales.
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Don you are absolutely right. They are two different experiences and I should have elaborated on that in my first post here. The whale
behavior in the lagoons is one of the most amazing things to be witnessed in nature. The relationship between the mothers
and calves is touching, and it really gets the adrenaline flowing when a fifty-ton "friendly" animal tries to climb into your panga.
OTOH the visual experience of seeing blue, sperm and fin whales in the Sea of Cortez is never forgotten. It just depends on
what CortezBlue is looking for.
++Ken++
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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I would like to make a correction to the Ejido benito Juarez whale sanctuary near Guerrero Negro...this is the only place around there where you can
watch whales from shore....the whale watching from the visitor center and restaurant there is superb. The gray whales are very very close to shore
there and you spot whales as you climb aboard the panga...the whales are NOT a 45 minute ride away...in 2 minutes you are with whales...yes sometimes
they go further out so as not to disturb the whales close to shore so the campers can enjoy the spectacle...but the whole trip is only an hour or 1.5
hours and whales are all over the place...we call it "whale soup". This is an amazing park and well worth the drive in just to have lunch! It is $3 to
get into the park and free to camp and they even have first come first serve palapas to camp in. Cool thing there is you can hang around and just jump
on a panga when you feel like it..no reservations....so if it's calm and goregeous and not many people....grab a panga and go....and it's cheaper too
then the town companies....much more fun and flexible and the visitor center is beautiful.
The old pier does not have whales there...used to many years ago but the entrance is too silted up now as they don't dredge that part anymore. Maybe
once in a blue moon at a high tide one might wander in for a bit...but very very very rare there.
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rhintransit
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no guarantees on what or when, but the blues in the area of the islands south of Loreto are spectacular. the director of the small museum here in
town has been recording their sightings,behavior, songs, for over a decade. during the 'season'...sometime in March or April or sometimes May...he
takes a few people out on his research trips for a small charge to defray costs. he has a viewing tower on his panga. seeing the size of those guys
up close is amazing. it's a far different experience to hear his stories and his identification of the individual whales, and what they have been up
to for years back, than the typical whale watch scene on the Pacific side. my mind is blank on the name of the museum right now...can anyone help
with that? a little googling and research could yield a fine experience for photos.
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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Ken Bondy
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I've posted this before but it seems appropriate here. This was taken just south of Loreto off of Puerto Escondido:
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