Baja Expeditions offers only two per year of these double-delight trips that combine nature with culture. The February trip starts in Loreto and goes
north to San Ignacio Lagoon. The March trip goes the other way: fly from San Diego to San Ignacio for the whales, and then explore the missions on the
way down to Loreto.
The highlight of both trips is spending quality time at San Ignacio Lagoon, where you'll observe hundreds of gray whales rolling, breaching, diving,
playing, and caring for their young, during twice-daily skiff rides. Several hundred whales migrate thousands of miles from Arctic feeding grounds to
these salty lagoons, The high saline content of the warm, protected waters makes it easy for newborn whales to float.
After several weeks, the whales’ return trip to the Arctic starts, so you can only see this spectacle in the late winter and early spring. Their round
trip of 10,000 to 14,000 miles, at an average speed of six miles an hour, is believed to be the longest yearly migration of any mammal.
Also migrating to these warm, protected waters for the winter are sea turtles, harbor seals, California sea lions, and northern elephant-seals. And the
bird-watching here is astonishing.
In between whale-watching forays, you’ll have plenty of downtime to relax in our new beachfront Cabañas Camp, where your private cabin – with a big bed
and your own sink with running water – keeps a hardwood floor between you and the sand.
If you’re the energetic type, you can take off on one of our mountain bikes, or venture into the salt flats with a guide who knows the local flora and
fauna like the back of his hand.
On both itineraries, on the way to or from the lagoon, you'll explore historical missions in Loreto and Mulegé from the early 1700s. They were founded
by men who were not just churchmen, but daring explorers, too. One of them, the giant Father Ugarte, proved the Sea of Cortez was a gulf, not a strait.
You’ll take in the port city of Santa Rosalia, visit a bird sanctuary, or a ranch where traditional cheese is made. You'll spend a night in the
picturesque oasis town of San Ignacio, where the Jesuit mission built in 1728 is still in use.
Each day you’ll enjoy fresh and tasty breakfasts and barbecues prepared by our talented local chefs. Each day’s adventures will wind down with a
convivial happy hour as we watch the sun set over the lagoon.