Baja California Sur: Loreto, Grey Whales, La Paz and Todos Santos

Arrive in Loreto

Loreto International Airport to your hotel in Loreto

• Welcome dinner in Loreto
• Nuit : Loreto

Après-midi

Settle in and walk the malecon, the seafront promenade, in the afternoon.

Soir

Before dinner your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the historic centre for a short walk and a briefing on the week. We start at the Mission of Our Lady of Loreto, founded in 1697 by the Jesuit Juan Maria de Salvatierra as the first permanent mission in the Californias; Loreto was the capital of the Californias until 1777. The mission museum next door tells that story if you arrive early. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of local seafood. Plan to land by mid-afternoon; we confirm the latest arrival time with your final itinerary.

Compris

• Pick-up at Loreto International Airport (LTO)
• Evening walk to the Mission of Our Lady of Loreto with your guide
• Welcome briefing and welcome dinner

Activités en option

• Museo de las Misiones next to the mission, if you arrive early

Isla Coronado and the San Javier mission

Loreto by boat to Isla Coronado and back, then up into the Sierra de la Giganta to San Javier

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Loreto
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Après-midi

On the island you can snorkel from the beach, paddle a kayak or sit in the shade, and lunch is served on the sand. We are back in Loreto by early afternoon for a rest. At about 3:30 pm we drive 45 minutes to an hour up a paved road into the mountains to San Javier, where the stone church of the San Francisco Javier mission, finished in 1758, glows in the late sun.

Soir

Walk to the old mission orchard and its olive tree before driving back down at dusk. Dinner tonight is your choice in Loreto.

Compris

• Morning panga to Isla Coronado in Loreto Bay National Park, park fee included
• Snorkel gear and wetsuits
• Lunch on the beach on Isla Coronado
• The San Francisco Javier mission at San Javier in the late afternoon

The grey whales of Magdalena Bay

Loreto over the Sierra de la Giganta to Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, then south to La Paz

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : La Paz
• Environ 6 h de route

Matin

We leave Loreto at 8 am and cross the Sierra de la Giganta by Ciudad Insurgentes to Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos on Magdalena Bay, about 160 km and 2 h 20 min; the whale boats run through the middle of the day, so no dawn start is needed. From about January to March grey whales come into the bay to give birth and nurse their calves, and permitted local pangas take us out among them for about two and a half hours. Some come close, some keep their distance; nothing is promised.

Après-midi

Lunch is fresh fish in Lopez Mateos. Then about 270 km and 3 h 45 min south through Ciudad Constitucion to La Paz, with a coffee stop, reaching the malecon by about 6:30 pm. That is about 6 hours of driving, well over our 4-hour cap: Loreto to La Paz has to be driven once, and the whales add only about 75 km and under 2 hours to it. From October to December and in April and May we drive straight to La Paz, about 360 km and a little over 4 hours, with lunch on the way.

Compris

• Grey whale watching by panga at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Magdalena Bay (about mid-January to March)
• Seafood lunch in Lopez Mateos
• Drive to La Paz with your guide

Espiritu Santo by boat

La Paz by boat to Isla Espiritu Santo, Isla Partida and Los Islotes, and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : La Paz
• En bateau

Après-midi

Lunch is on a white beach in one of the island's bays, usually Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida, with time to swim, walk or kayak. On the way back we look into the coves on the island's west side, where the red rock meets turquoise water.

Soir

We are back in La Paz by late afternoon, and the evening is free for the malecon at sunset and dinner where you like.

Compris

• Full-day boat trip to Isla Espiritu Santo, Isla Partida and Los Islotes
• Espiritu Santo national park bracelet
• Snorkelling near the Los Islotes sea lion colony, gear and wetsuit included
• Lunch on the beach

Balandra early, La Paz at your pace

La Paz to Balandra Beach and back

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : La Paz
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

We are back in La Paz before lunch and the rest of the day is yours. Walk the malecon and its sculptures, visit the cathedral and the regional anthropology museum, or simply sit in a cafe. In season, a licensed boat takes small groups to swim with whale sharks in the bay; we book it for you if you want it. This day is also our spare day: if wind stopped the Espiritu Santo boat yesterday, we go today instead.

Compris

• Balandra Beach soon after opening, with your guide
• Short walk to the Balandra viewpoint

Activités en option

• Swim with whale sharks in the Bay of La Paz with a licensed operator, in season when it is open (price shown at booking)

Todos Santos and the Pacific

La Paz across the peninsula to Todos Santos

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Todos Santos
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

We leave after breakfast and cross the peninsula on Highway 19, about an hour and a quarter, from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific. Todos Santos is a small farming and fishing town turned artists' town, with adobe and brick houses, palm groves and galleries, and it is one of Mexico's Pueblos Magicos. Your guide walks you through the historic centre: the mission church of Nuestra Senora del Pilar, on the site of a mission founded in the 1730s, the old Teatro Cine and the galleries and workshops around the plaza.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in town.

Soir

In the late afternoon we walk out to Punta Lobos, the beach where the fishermen bring their pangas in through the surf, and then to the dunes for sunset over the Pacific. The Pacific beaches here have strong currents, so we look rather than swim. The evening is free to eat in town.

Compris

• Drive from La Paz to Todos Santos
• Walk of the historic centre with your guide: the mission church, the Teatro Cine, the galleries
• Sit-down lunch in Todos Santos
• Punta Lobos fishermen's beach and sunset on the dunes

Activités en option

• A sea turtle hatchling release with a local conservation group, when one is running (in winter; never promised)

The Arch at Land's End, and home

Todos Santos to Cabo San Lucas, by boat to the Arch, then Los Cabos International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

A slow breakfast, then about an hour south along the Pacific coast to Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the peninsula. From the marina a small boat takes us out to Land's End for about 45 minutes: El Arco, the rock arch where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific, Lover's Beach beside it and the sea lions that often lie on the rocks nearby. It is the classic Cabo view, and from the water it takes an hour rather than a day.

Après-midi

Lunch is your choice at the marina, then we drive about 45 minutes along the coast road to Los Cabos International Airport (SJD), arriving mid-afternoon. Your guide sees you to the terminal and checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm; for an earlier flight we skip the boat and drive straight to the airport.

Compris

• Boat from the Cabo San Lucas marina to El Arco and Land's End
• Drop-off at Los Cabos International Airport (SJD)