BGLC Whale Watching Tours:
Read Below for detailed tour information.
See Photo for past tours - Whale Photos
For more info. contact Baja Good Life Club US Toll Free 1-877-LUV-MEX1 (1-877-588-6391), 619-550-2730 US, 686-230-9933 MX cell. You can also email bajagoodlifeclub@gmail.com with Whale Tours in the subject line. The whale watching tours are organized and run by Keith (Baja) Jones Tours.
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BLUE WHALE TOUR
Blue Whales & finback whale trips in the sea of Cortez with encounters guaranteed.
Cost: Non-member rate: $1,795.00 or BGLC rate: $1,616.00 (SAVE 10%)
- Feb. 14–17, 4 day Blue Whales, starts at Loreto, B.C.S. Mexico Airport.
- Feb. 22–25, 4 day Blue Whales, starts at Loreto, B.C.S. Mexico Airport.
- Feb 28 – Mar. 2, 4 day Blue Whales, starts at Loreto, B.C.S. Mexico Airport.
GRAY WHALE TOUR
The friendliest whales in the sea. Join our "Guaranteed to touch a wild whale trip"; this is the premier Baja whale watching tour.
Cost: Non- Member rate: $2,195.00 or BGLC rate: $1,976.00 (SAVE 10%)
- February 10 – 14, 5 day Gray Whales, ride south from San Diego
- February 16 – 20, 5 day Gray Whales, ride south from San Diego, President’s Day
- February 22 - 26, 5 day Gray Whales, ride south from San Diego
- Feb 28 – March 3, 5 day Gray Whales, ride south from San Diego
Read More: Itinerary for 5 day Gray Whale Tour
More info:
Accommodations
Transportation & Start Point
Meals
Whale Watching
Group size:
Experience
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4 & 5 Day Blue Whale Itinerary - Loreto
Day #1: Arrival day. We meet you at the Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico Airport and your adventure begins. Most of our clients fly into Loreto using the Horizon (Alaska) Airlines flight from Los Angeles. Once you’re settled in to the El Dorado Hotel, we have a group orientation meeting and then walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner. (D)
Day #2, 3 & 4: These three days should each be similar, but conditions and wildlife viewed can vary dramatically from day to day. Breakfast is at 7:00 am and we plan to arrive at the dock at 8:00 am. During the day we expect to see whales including Blue whales, Humpback whales, Finback whales, Bryde’s whales and on rare occasions perhaps Orcas, plus hundreds of dolphins, seals and sea lions almost anytime after leaving the dock.
We usually eat a late lunch (1:00 pm) on an offshore island weather permitting, then head slowly back to the dock. Timing is very much dictated by the weather, with afternoon winds frequently (30% of trips) causing us to skip lunch or to return before lunch. By this time, if you look at the trip logs we’ve provided, you will see that we expect to have viewed anywhere from 2 to 5 different whales to as many 10 or 15 different whales for varying lengths of time. (B, L, D)
We return to the dock and the group has some free time each afternoon before we meet for our early 6:00 pm dinner. Baja is a birders paradise with more than 150 species you might expect to see at the time we are there for whale watching. Interesting species that frequently get people excited include the blue footed booby, frigates and lots of majestic pelicans.
Day #5: Departure day. The group shares breakfast as the last group meal. We arrange transport to the airport to meet your flight home.
Weather can be a factor on any wildlife or outdoor trip, but marine trips are particularly vulnerable to bad weather conditions. Having 8 seasons of whale watching out of Loreto and more than 15 seasons of Gray whale watching behind us, we can offer some statistics to give you an idea of what might happen during your trip. Please read our detailed information about weather and how it can affect our whale trips.
*4 day Blue whale trip has two days of whale watching, otherwise all details are as above.*
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5 Day Gray Whale Itinerary - San Diego ( Ensenada Pick up)
Day # 1: Leave from San Diego and cross the border bright and early. Travel to Guerrero Negro, arriving in the late afternoon. We make our lunch stop near the remote village of Catavina. There we will have the opportunity to visit an interesting ancient cave painting site. Then a short three hour drive gets us to our destination. After getting situated in our rooms we meet for an orientation talk by our own Baja Jones or the trip naturalist or guide.
Day #2: Meet for breakfast and then travel to the lagoon where we will spend the day whale watching, lunch will be served at the lagoon by the friendly Baja Jones crew. Then weather permitting a second trip out onto the lagoon will be in order. Tonight we’ll have an in depth discussion about gray whales while enjoying a good authentic Mexican meal.
Day #3: Meet for breakfast. Today we do one whale watching trip, Then those who aren't too tired can take an interesting ride out to El Faro (the lighthouse) for bird watching and general sight seeing. Seafood and casual conversation will end another exciting day of whale watching.
(Please take note that the activities for this day may change slightly. El Faro road and marsh has deteriorated recently and we may change the bird watching and sightseeing activities to the inner bay area. If this change is made, any group members who wanted to could choose to do a second afternoon whale watch. The optional add on price for the additional boat trip would be $50 paid on location.) If we change locations for this sightseeing day, we will have a late afternoon, early evening bar b q dinner at the shore. We did this one time last season as a trial and the group members responded very positively to this afternoon of relaxation, whale watching and bar b q at the beach. Weather permitting of course)
Day #4: We venture out for two more whale watching trips today to the same location as day #2.
Day #5: All good trips eventually end. And so will ours. This is our travel back to the U.S. day. We'll leave early and arrive in the United States mid-afternoon, depending on the border crossing.
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Accommodations:
Motel style, private rooms with hot shower bathrooms & TV in secured courtyard setting.
Transportation & Start Point:
4 & 5 day Gray Whale ride south trips meet at and depart from the Holiday Inn – Bayside in San Diego. The group then rides south in one of our 15 seat vans or a Suburban. The 6 day Gray Whale, 4 & 5 day Blue Whale and 7, 8, 9 & 10 day Combination trips begin when we meet you upon arrival at the Loreto, Baja Sur Airport. Ground transportation is normally done in our 15 seat vans or in the 8 seat Suburban, but conditions may dictate the use of other vehicles including occasional locally procured vehicles.
Meals:
3 meals each day. Some meals in local restaurants, most lunches are served picnic buffet style, breakfast bags include drinks provided on departure morning and eaten as we travel south from San Diego. Lunch for Blue whales is brown bag style lunch with chips & sandwiches. We can and will accommodate ANY special dietary requests it you advise us on your sign up forms.
Whale Watching:
We schedule 5 whale watching boat trips for the 5 day trip and 4 for the 4 day trip. Each of these trips is limited by regulation to approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours. Please read the itineraries to see what whale watching is included on the two very different combination 9 or 11 day Gray and Blue whale trips.
Group size:
Our groups are generally 8 to 12, but on occasion can be 20, but never more than that. We are a small tour group company. The boats for gray whales hold between 10 and 15 clients. The Loreto blue whale boats hold 5 or 6. We generally use one or two boats at Laguna Ojo de Liebre and 1 to 3 boats at Loreto.
Experience:
The Baja Good Life Tour is run by Keith (Baja) Jones. Keith (Baja) Jones has been leading groups for whale watching for more than 15 years. He has written dozens of articles about whales and his writing and photos have appeared in various travel guides such as Lonely Planet and Thomas Guides. Keith has given hundreds of talks and presentations about Baja and about whales. Our guide and driver staff are a combination of nationalities that include Mexican, American, Dutch, Canadian and Chinese each chosen for his or her ability to deal with diverse groups of clients in a friendly and competent, low key manner.