Recently visited Cabo on a cruise, decided to get away from the overcrowded and overpriced shore excursions offered on the ship. Had a great time on-board the Yael Chica for the Eco Whale Watching cruise. Had a truly great and memorable upscale experience for the same price as any of the shore excursions offered by the cruise ship. Definitely would recommend Cabo Sailing; easy to find, great value, memorable experience. (source: tripadvisor.com)
What a lovely sunset cruise!!! Spectacular sunset, beautiful post card photo landscape…sailing with dolphins, whales and tuna. Pelicans pirating overhead and
lazing seals. Tasty margaritas and snacks…the crew expert and knowledgeable and the ship with comfortable mattresses at front and back of boat. A highlight of our trip to Cabos. I shall never forget our romantic sunset cruise.
This review was directed from tripadvisor.com
Winter in Cabo San Lucas brings with it the migrating Humpback and Gray whales seeking for warmer and protected water to bread and nurse their young. All over Los Cabos you can see big signs offering an ECO WHALE WATCHING. What is this “Eco” and where is the difference between a normal tour to an Eco one?
Tourism as we know it is less the 100 years old. Health, education, media and most important affordable, fast and safe transportation options opened traveling opportunities to a vast majority of modern population.
Traveling around the world had purposes of trading or conquering other lands and nations. Following came the explorers. When Magellan left Spain in 1519 he was not on a touristic mission. When Captain Joshua Slocum left Massachusetts in 1895 he was on a “voyage” rather then traveling of circumnavigating the world.
Tourism as we know it today is more about ‘visiting a place’. In the 50′s you would have get to a resort and stay there for your vacation. In the 70′s you would have take a ‘bus-tour’ to see main attractions and sightseeing. During the 80′s the crowd has changed and more people started exploring the planet. It was either the type of audience or the locals effort to attract potential travelers that created a more invasive tourism. Not a closed but ride anymore but getting in touch with nature. Safari tours, scuba diving and snorkeling, hiking, off road, camping, kayaking, whale watching and much more, where all done before but received new meaning with the increase in the demand. This personal touch with nature IS eco tourism as we know it today.
As everything else, this way of experiencing nature as good and bad points to it, at this point I would mention only one good and one bad aspect referring to Eco whale watching that can apply to any other field I guess.
By going out to sea in order to observe these beautiful giant animals, we are, with no doubt interfering with their natural routine and sure we cause a deviation. Especially when an uneducated guides (whom where never been qualified by anyone) are acting in a way that will harm or disturb the whales. The good aspect in having a close encounter with whales is achieved by the strong, life-long bond with nature that is formed once you see nature in it’s best. For many, that did not care about sea pollution, whale hunting (well, just google it), this once-in -a-life-time experience brings up awareness better then any television show or email petition.
It seams the world was already discovers inside and out, and not many of us are lucky enough to go on a voyage, so what left for most of us is to be a sensitive tourist. Go on as many Eco tours and learn as much as you can about earth and nature, only with this knowledge given to as many people possible, achieved in a right and not invasive way we’ll be able to save what is left from nature.
happy traveling and fair winds.
The Whales are here!!
A lot was said about Cabo San Lucas as a vacation destination. When winter approaches, so does the Humpback and Gary whales. These very welcome visitors migrate every year from their feeding territories at the north, just off Canada costs along US west cost towards Baja California’s warm and safe water.
In Cabo San Lucas, we start observing the first whales in early November, for the next few months more and more whales are coming to mate and give birth. We usually observe whales in small pods of no more then 5 at a time, 2 or 3 individuals together are common site. The official “whale watching season” in Los Cabos starts in December.
From late January, we start seeing calves as well. The graceful way a mother whale is nursing her new born is a life time memory to watch.
Although blue whales, fin and Orca (killer whale) has been spotted in Los Cabos waters, the most common whales here are Gray Whales and the acrobatic Humpback whales.
Humpback whale, may be the most known whales dew to is “surface activity” of Breaching (up to whole body out of the water), flapping with it’s long side-fins or strong hits with it’s tail. This giants can reach over 40 feet long and weight over 20 tons. No imagine it breaching out about 100 feet from you….
The gray whales are more “shy” ones, with no distinctive surface behavior, we can see their warm breath reaching out of the water and their distinctive tail once they are ready to dive again.
Whale watching in Cabo San Lucas is a growing business. In the past, you could just take a boat and go whale watching. This year, after a joint effort from local tour operators and SEMARNAT (the Mexican officials related to these issues) a serious of courses where given free of charge in order to increase awareness among tourists, boat captains and tour operators in Los Cabos. A special permit regulates the amount of boats that can participate in the activity. As future whale watcher, help us maintain a safe environment to the whales by choosing ONLY companies that got their permits (easily seen for a special flag thy fly high).
Be sure to plan your next vacation to Cabo during winter time, not to miss the opportunity to see nature at it’s best!!
