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

1. Day 1: Arrive in Loreto

   Loreto International Airport to your hotel in Loreto

   • Welcome dinner in Loreto
   • Stay in Loreto
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Loreto International Airport (LTO), a few minutes from town, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall. Loreto is a small, low-rise town on the Sea of Cortez with the Sierra de la Giganta rising straight behind it, and it is quieter than anywhere else on this trip. Settle in and walk the malecon, the seafront promenade, in the afternoon. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Optional experiences

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

   Free time: Free until the evening walk

   

2. Day 2: 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

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Loreto
   Day 2 details

   We are on the water by about 8 am, when the bay is usually at its calmest; in winter the northerly wind tends to rise later in the day. A panga crosses Loreto Bay National Park, protected since 1996 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage site for the islands of the Gulf of California, to Isla Coronado, a volcanic island with a long white beach. On the way we watch for dolphins, sea lions on the rocks, pelicans, frigatebirds and cormorants, though nothing is promised. 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. Walk to the old mission orchard and its olive tree before driving back down at dusk. Dinner tonight is your choice in Loreto.

   Included

   • 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

   Easier option: Stay on the beach at Isla Coronado instead of snorkelling, or skip San Javier and keep the afternoon free in Loreto.

   More active option: Paddle a kayak along the shore of Isla Coronado while the others snorkel.

   Free time: Early afternoon and evening free

   Activity: Getting in and out of the panga from the beach can mean wet feet. The boat ride is about 30 to 40 minutes each way.

   

3. Day 3: The grey whales of Magdalena Bay

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

   • Drive about 6 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in La Paz
   Day 3 details

   The one long road day, worth it for the whales. 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. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Evening free in La Paz

   Activity: Dress in layers with a windproof jacket for the panga; spray is likely. Outside whale season the day is a direct drive of about 360 km and a little over 4 hours.

   

4. Day 4: Espiritu Santo by boat

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

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in La Paz
   Day 4 details

   A full day on the water from about 8 am. The boat runs north from La Paz along the cliffs of Isla Espiritu Santo, an uninhabited desert island and national park that is part of the same UNESCO World Heritage site as Loreto Bay. At its northern tip are Los Islotes, rocks where California sea lions live all year. When the sea allows, we snorkel near the colony with wetsuits on; the young sea lions are often curious, but they choose how close they come. Anyone who prefers can watch from the boat. 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. We are back in La Paz by late afternoon, and the evening is free for the malecon at sunset and dinner where you like.

   Included

   • 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

   Easier option: Stay on the boat at Los Islotes and watch the sea lions from the deck, then rest on the beach at lunch.

   More active option: Take a kayak out from the lunch beach along the island shore.

   Free time: Evening free in La Paz

   Activity: If the wind closes the sea, we swap days 4 and 5. The water is cool in winter, about 20 C; the wetsuits help.

   

5. Day 5: Balandra early, La Paz at your pace

   La Paz to Balandra Beach and back

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in La Paz
   Day 5 details

   We drive about half an hour north to Balandra, a protected bay of shallow turquoise water and pale sand, leaving at 8 am so we arrive soon after it opens, while the beach is still quiet; visitor numbers here are limited, and we confirm the opening hours with your dates. Wade across the lagoon, which is knee deep at low tide, and walk up to the viewpoint over the bay. The balanced rock called El Hongo, the mushroom, stands at the edge of the beach. 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.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Stay at the beach instead of climbing to the viewpoint.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in La Paz

   Activity: Balandra limits visitor numbers and has a weekly closing day, which we confirm when we set your dates; if day 5 falls on it we go to El Tecolote beach next door instead.

   

6. Day 6: Todos Santos and the Pacific

   La Paz across the peninsula to Todos Santos

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Todos Santos
   Day 6 details

   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. Lunch is a sit-down meal in town. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Optional experiences

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

   Free time: Evening free in Todos Santos

   Activity: Swimming is not advised on the Pacific beaches near Todos Santos because of strong currents.

   

7. Day 7: The Arch at Land's End, and home

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

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 7 details

   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. 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.

   Included

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

   Easier option: If your flight leaves before about 4 pm, we drive from Todos Santos straight to the airport.

   Free time: Lunch free at the Cabo San Lucas marina

   Activity: Book a flight leaving Los Cabos after about 4 pm to include the boat to the Arch.

   

Wildlife and weather: Grey whales are in Magdalena Bay from about mid-January to March; in October to December and in April and May day 3 becomes a direct drive. Winter brings cool water and occasional northerly winds that can cancel boats, so day 5 is the backup day. Hurricane risk runs about June to November, highest from August to October.

• Loreto2 nights
• La Paz3 nights
• Todos Santos1 night