Baja’s Grey Whales

On the last weekend of February, we made our way back up to the Bahía Concepción and stayed at Playa El Requeson for the workweek. This beach is unique because it’s a spit with water on two sides. We liked that a lot of locals used this beach, as opposed to Playa Santispac where we stayed on the way down the peninsula.

Next, we moved back to Mario’s RV Park in Guerrero Negro for the weekend so that we could go whale watching in the Laguna Ojo de Liebre, one of 3 lagoons on the Pacific side of Baja where grey whales migrate from Alaska to the warm waters of Mexico to mate and calve each winter. February is the best month to do this.

There is a small area of each lagoon where a very limited number of small boats are allowed to be for 2 hours. Because the whales are not concerned with feeding or migrating while in the lagoons, their behavior is completely different than anywhere else. Some whales, mostly ones that our guide recognizes, are particularly playful and curious and come up to the small boats, making this the most amazing experience.

We didn’t have the calmest weather on the day of our tour. When the water is choppy the whales don’t come to the boats as often. We still saw 30+ up close, 5 mom and baby pairs, and another 5 whales that interacted with us. They nudged the boat with their noses, came up to be touched, and one even took our boat for a ride on its back.

I know that it seems completely crazy that people can touch these whales, but the lagoons are huge and the whales have a nearly infinite amount of space where they could be anywhere else rather than right up against the boats. It was clear that they were seeking and enjoying the attention. There are many Mexican laws to protect these whales, but it is not illegal to touch them if they come up to you in the boat.

On Sunday, we drove back up to San Felipe to spend the workweek before our border crossing. We stayed at Pete’s Camp about 10 miles north of town on a gorgeous beach.

San Felipe has huge tides, the two photos below were taken just 3 hours apart.

I had a lot of anxiety about bringing our trailer through Baja, mostly due to our size. Baja is better suited for vans, the transpeninsular highway is often narrow with no shoulders. And while I didn’t feel comfortable driving, Michael thought it was fine. We had 7 amazing weeks without any problems and we never felt unsafe. We will be back!