Baja Whale Watching Tips for the Best Experience Ever

Baja Whale Watching ...

... there's nothing quite as spectacular as watching whales frolic and breach in the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. If you're in Cabo San Lucas during the months of January through March, you can actually spot whales from the beach. (While my son and I were traveling to our hotel from the airport in a taxi this past March, we actually spotted two whales spouting off shore!) Of course the best way to spot these giant mammals up close is to go on a whale watching boat. These boats are lighter and have quiet engines that do not disturb the water as much as larger, heavier boats, so it is easier for the captain to get closer to the whales. Whether you get to see them breach (jump out of the water and fall back into it with a splash), frolic or just spot their tails as they dive deep into the ocean, there is nothing quite as incredible (except maybe swimming with the dolphins.)

The best months for whale watching is January through March when gray whales (which are warm-blooded, range from 40-50 feet and can weigh over 70,000 pounds) migrate along a 6000 mile route from their summer habitat in the Chukchi and Bering Seas (which border Alaska and Siberia) and take up residence in the more temperate waters off the Baja California Sur peninsula north of Cabo San Lucas. Here, in the protected pools of San Ignacio, Ojo de Liebre and Magdalena Bay (which is a day trip from Los Cabos) that they give birth to their young and raise and train them for the trip back home. (Newborn calves can be up to 15 feet long and weigh upwards of 1500 pounds. Before they return to their summer homes, they more than double their weight and can grow up to five feet longer.)

If your purpose is see and photograph gray whales, do go on a whale watching excursion because the boat is made for this and the captain and crew are trained to get you as close to the whales as possible without compromising your safety. While attempting to capture that perfect photograph, know that you'll probably first notice whales in the vicinity when they spout air through their blow holes. Since they can dive down and remain underwater for up to three minutes, try to focus your camera on where you anticipate them to surface next. Not knowing where that will be coupled with the rocking of the boat can make for missed or blurry shots, so be sure to have your lens zoomed out and stabilize yourself before taking photographs.

Although you can see other types of whales on your Baja whale watching excursion (humpbacks, blues, sperm, sei and fin), grays are the whales most frequently spotted.

There are a number of professional charters that leave the Cabo San Lucas marina twice daily on Baja whale watching tours. If you have the choice of going on a morning or afternoon trip, choose the afternoon because by that time, most of the noisy fishing charter boats have returned to the marina and aren't there making noise and stirring up the ocean.

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Baja Whale Watching - Cabo Mexico Activities

Cabo San Lucas