Tag Archives: San Ignacio B.C.S. Mexico

The friendly whales of San Ignacio Bay

After we finished eating and saying good-bye to Lynn & Ed in Guerrero Negro we headed on down to San Ignacio. We arrived late at our next campsite, Rice & Beans. While setting up camp, we saw a couple of men come in on their quad runners. They stopped by to take a look at our cool set-up and we chatted with them about their experience in Baja. It was Jimmy’s first trip to Baja but Jon has been coming down this way for years seeing the whales at San Ignacio and riding his quad runner throughout the back country. Given our incredible experience at Guerrero Negro, Darryl and I weren’t 100% sure that we’d go whale watching again. We couldn’t imagine that it could get any better. After talking with John, his enthusiasm convinced us that we should go again the next day in San Ignacio. Probably the best advice that we’ve received this trip…thanks John!!

Our experience at San Ignacio was amazing. We went with Ecoturisma Kuyima. It’s hard to describe how incredible these intelligent and sensitive giants are and what it is like to have them reach out to us. We had four to five mother and calf pairs come to us. At one point, there was a mother with her calf that stayed with us and another boat for almost 15 minutes! They kept swimming back and forth between the two boats, coming up to us so we could pet them, scratch their bodies and kiss them! I couldn’t resist the calf and had to give him a big smooch! They were rolling over on their sides next to the boat so we could get their bellies, under their chins, and then on top of their heads!! Enough chatter here, I’ll just share the photos now since I can’t find the words to adequately describe the experience.

What a beauty!
What a beauty!
Darryl makes a connection.
Darryl makes a connection.
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Smile please!
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Here she comes!
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The whales were right next to us. No need for zoom on these photos!
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Beautiful underwater shot Darryl!
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Cruising on by
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Beautiful profile. Darryl did an amazing job of capturing the whale’s eyes in his photos!
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The baby would swim along the panga for all of us to pet it!
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Happy whale
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Momma getting some loving
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Come to me!!!
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Taking a breath
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Momma giving her baby a lift
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A little fin action here
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The blow hole
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Our whales making the rounds with the neighbor panga
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Looking into the whale’s eye.
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oooohhh….that feels so good!!!