FacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagram

los islotes

Tour #1: Islas San Jose and Los Islotes

Hello whalewatchers,
We enjoyed another beautiful day in sunny Baja. We started our day with a pre-breakfast skiff ride in the mangroves at Isla San Jose. Everyone enjoyed this trip and the bird list was outstanding. We left there and headed for Los Islotes to snorkel with sea lions. We came across a large herd of long-beaked common dolphin and there were at least 100 dolphins.
We arrived at Los Islotes and several people went snorkelling and loved it, along with a skiff ride along the shore.
We headed south with hopes of seeing some toothed whales to round out the species list and surprisingly enough, we found some.
At first it was a group of about 15 pilot whales and just as the sun set, we came across a group of about 30 sperm whales. The lighting wasn’t that great, but we sure had some great looks. What way to end a trip!
We are arriving in Cabo San Lucas in the morning and heading north to San Diego to prepare and pick up our next group of whalewatchers.
More next trip,
Capt Art

2012-02-17T21:26:30-08:00February 17th, 2012|Uncategorized|
Read More

Tour #5 Last day in Baja April 4

Hello whalewatchers,
We enjoyed another beautiful day in the Sea of Cortez, with calm seas and no wind. This is weather we dream about. We made a quick visit to Nopolo for a pre-breakfast walk and the endemic Xantus hummingbird showed well. We headed south towards Los Islotes .
After a skiff ride to look at the sea lions and birds with the highlight being the courting blue-footed boobies, the snorkellers went in. The visibilty was the best we’ve seen in quite some time with clear water and lots of fish.
After leaving there we came across a big group of bottlenose dolphin. This group wanted to perform, with several animals leaping in the wake as  high as 20 feet in the air. It was impressive! We saw one more humpback whale and a great sunset to end a great trip.
See you all next trip,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:22-07:00April 5th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #4 Another whale species and underwater fun March 19

Hello whalewatcher,
Ttoday was another remarkable day with calm seas and wind. We started the day at the south end of Isla San Jose in the mangroves. Everyone enjoyed the skiff ride. We left there and headed south towards Los Islotes for another skiff ride and a snorkel with the sea lions.
Everyone enjoyed the stay at Los Islotes. The water was warm and there was a tremendous amount of life around the islets–lots of bait fish, pelicans diving and lots of sea lions.
We left there and headed south. We travelled for an hour and spotted three dwarf sperm whales on the surface. We were able to get close and I think it was best look we have ever had of these whales. The water was glassy and extremely calm, and we got within 50 feet of these whales. What a treat and a great way to end an incredible trip!

The group was awsome and the naturalists Michael Ellis and Armando Quintero from Footloose Forays were superb.
Looking forward to next trip,
Capt Art

2011-03-20T08:35:41-07:00March 20th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #3 Los Islotes and more blue whales March 4

Dear whalewatchers:

Our final day was pretty busy starting with  a skiff ride into the mangroves at Isla San Jose. The tide was perfect and so the skiffs could stay a little longer and I think everyone enjoyed the trip.

We travelled south towards Los Islotes and we found four more blue whales, bringing the trip total to 18 blue whales up until then. We arrived at Los Islotes and did a skiff ride for everyone. Then all the snorkelers went in and had a great time with the sea lions.
We had some daylight left and for our finale we found a group of eight blue whales in a 2-square mile area! We were able to get some great looks at multiple animals close so it was a great way to end the trip.

We are headed for Cabo with a very happy group,
Capt Art

p.s. The photo is a sunset on another Baja tour, thanks to Charles Howell

2011-03-06T06:32:58-08:00March 6th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Last day has a surprise Feb 17

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a great day with excellent weather again–nice, flat calm seas. Definitely one of the highlights this trip has been the beautiful weather. We started today with a morning walk at Nopolo Village on the peninsula. We were able to see our friends from Nopolo  on this trip and fill up their fresh-water containers and offer them some fresh fruits and veggies. We travelled south towards Islas Los Islotes and we saw a few Risso’s dolphins, a large raft of storm petrels (both least and black), a few bottlenose dolphin and a blue whale in the distance.
Right before we arrived at Los Islotes, we saw a group of large manta rays and we had great looks at them as they were on the surface. At Los Isolotes, the sea lions performed for the snorkellers and after that we headed south again with hopes for one last whale to end the trip. One species missing from our trip list was the highly anticipated (by some passengers) SPERM whale! As if on cue, a large male sperm whale surfaced close to the boat with only about 40 minutes of daylight left. Watching sperm whales can take a lot of patience since they are very long and deep divers, but this one surfaced very near us. Here’s a shot by Val Shore:

Sperm whale blows at sunset

It was a great way to end the trip. There was yet another great sunset and a spectacular moon rise, all within a hour of the close sperm whale.
Looking forward to next trip.
Capt Art

p.s. Just added Hilary Thompson’s photo of the sperm whale here!

2020-07-15T16:35:24-07:00February 18th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Capt. Art's Blog Toolbar

Captain's Blog

Categories

Archives

x
Go to Top