Every year in November, more than 10 thousand gray whales trade the freezing waters of Alaska’s Bering Sea for the warmth of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. Traveling along the Pacific coastline at top speeds of five mph and with pregnant females in the lead, the whales take about four months to make the 10 thousand miles roundtrip.
Once the whales reach the Mexican coast, they mate, bask in soothing lagoons and give birth, making January through early April the peak time to whale watch. During these months, boat excursions are available all along Baja California, giving tourists the chance to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural environment, see the newborn calves and enjoy the blowhole water shows.
Gray whales are so friendly that on many occasions they swim right up to the boats and even allow human contact. In early spring, the calves and their mothers are the last to head back up north, and without the presence of the males, mothers are less protective, often allowing their young to approach tour boats more freely.
Where to watch
Although a small percentage of whales, particularly those that are not giving birth, make it as far south as Cabo San Lucas and the East Cape on the southern tip of the Baja, most whale-watching takes place in three major lagoons all the coastline of the Baja Peninsula.
Laguna Ojo de Liebre: Also known as Scammon’s Lagoon, this body of water is located half-way down the peninsula on the Pacific side in Guerrero Negro, about 440 miles south of the border. It was the principal hunting lagoon used by commercial whale hunters in the 19th century. Today tourists arrive to the lagoon by car, but a national airport is also available for tourists flying in from other destinations in Mexico.
Laguna San Ignacio: Located 100 miles south of Laguna Ojo de Liebre, access to this site is mostly through charter air service from international airports such as San Diego and Tijuana.
Bahia Magdalena (Magdalena Bay): This bay in becoming increasingly popular for whale-watching due to its proximity to the La Paz and Loreto International airports.
How to get there
Tourists can arrive by charter plane and/or ground to the lagoons. Loreto’s International airport is the closest international airport to the lagoons, with limited service provided by Aeromexico and Aero California. Baja California’s capital, La Paz, is located approximately halfway between Loreto and Cabo and its larger airport offers more flight options.
Whale-watching options
Gray whale excursions comprise half-day or day trips, packages based out of whale-watching camps, and cruise programs that allow tourists to sleep onboard ships. There are various tour operators that specialize in whale-watching, including some major ones below.
Baja Expeditions: Based in La Paz and one of the oldest and largest whale-watching outfitters, Baja Expeditions service both the Magdalena Bay and San Ignacio lagoons. It offers charter flights directly from San Diego to San Ignacio and five-day, all-inclusive packages, including accommodations at the camps. It also offers seven-day combined kayaking and whale-watching programs to Magdalena Bay, meeting at the La Paz International Airport. Programs run from February to end of March.
Baja Discovery Tours: Boasting more than 20 years experience, Baja Discovery Tours it offers all-inclusive service from the San Diego International airport, including ground service to Tijuana, charter service to San Ignacio and accommodations at the San Ignacio camp. Five-day programs run from February to end of March.
Lindblad’s Special Expeditions: This provider offers nine-day cruises featuring whale-watching at Magdalena Bay along with other destinations and activities. Groups meet in Los Cabos.
Miramar Adventures: Offers three-day excursions to the Ojo de Liebre lagoon. Tourists arrive by car.
For those not interested in signing up for a whale-watching package, Puerto Lopez Mateos or Puerto San Carlos at Magdalena Bay are quaint sleepy villages where boats can be rented for US$50 a day, skipper included, and are located two hours by car from the Loreto International Airport.
Gray whales aren’t the only species to see while in Baja. Sea Kayak Adventures: also offers kayaking/camping adventures out of Loreto on the Sea of Cortez, located on the eastern side of the Baja Peninsula. Tourists can watch finback and blue whales, along with dolphins, sea lions and exotic fish. Apart from paddling among islands, additional activities include snorkeling and hiking up scenic canyons offering breathtaking panoramas.
More on gray whales
Hunted for their oils, blubber and other valuable products, gray whales were once victims of massive slaughters in the 1800s and early 20th century. The hunting continued until the numbers were reduced to only a few hundred, and the whales were subsequently placed on the endangered species list.
Thanks to an international protection agreement made among several countries in the 1940s, the whales’ numbers have grown at an incredible rate. Today, more than 20,000 gray whales exist and although still protected, they were removed from the endangered species list in 1975. Gray whales are among the oldest species of mammals, inhabiting the Earth for about 30 million years.
About the Mexico Tourism Board
The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) brings together the resources of federal and state governments, municipalities and private companies to promote Mexico's tourism attractions and destinations internationally. Created in 1999, the MTB is Mexico’s tourism promotion agency, and its participants include members of both the private and public sectors. The MTB has offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
FOR PRESS ONLY: For additional ideas, help with a story or general travel and tourism information about Mexico, please contact the MTB’s North American Press Room directly at 1-800-929-4555, by e-mail at northamericanpress@visitmexico.com, or visit our press Web site at www.visitmexicopress.com. To access an online warehouse of free, downloadable b-roll, visit www.thenewsmarket.com/visitmexicopress.
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Erick Laseca
Mexico Tourism Board
312-228-0517
erick.laseca@bm.com
Get Ready To Roll
There is a new type of flirting in town, and a new glossary to go along with it. Are you ready to start having text? It may sound like a slightly scary question, or perhaps something you might ask a brochure designer or printer. But what the question really refers to is the practice of meeting people with local text dating.
Imagine that it is early evening on a Friday night. You have just gotten off work, grabbed a bite to eat, and you are ready to hit the town. But your normal posse is out of town, or working late, or out on dates of their own. So what do you do? You pick up your trusted cell phone or PDA and head out the door with the entire contents of your local text dating service profile database in your pocket.
As you walk down the street to your favorite coffee shop or pub, you review the profiles of the local text dating service and pick a likely candidate or two. You order yourself a drink, find a private table, and send a few cute and witty texts. Immediately, you get a response. He or she is equally witty, and so you commence having text.
What R U doing tonight?
Not much, U
No 1 around. Bored. Might catch a game of billiards.
I luv billiards. Where R U?
Mikes Bar on 8th.
I know Mikes. B there in 15.
K. C U!
And with very little time, you have moved from having text to a face to face meeting with local text dating!
Of course, it does not always work out exactly like this, and sometimes it can take several weeks of texting before you are both comfortable meeting in a public place. But local text dating is no different from any other type of dating in this regard. Take, for instance, the standard pick up in a bar scenario. Sometimes it works, a lot more times it does not.
As with any other form of dating, when you are using local text dating, you should always follow some very basic rules of safety. In the example above, for example, the two people are meeting for the first time in a public place. Until you are comfortable and have developed some level of trust with a person, you should never allow them to pick you up at your home or allow them to come home with you.
You should also never use a local text dating service in complete secrecy. Someone you know and trust should be aware of your activities. A family member or close friend should know you are using this service, and should also know when you are going to meet up with new people. This way, if you ever find yourself in trouble, someone knows where you went and what you were doing.
If you follow a few basic safety rules, local text dating can be a fun and exciting way to meet people. Even if you are normally shy, communicating through text messages tends to liberate us and remove some of our fears. So, get out there and start having text!
Both Erick Laseca & Peter Finch are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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