We booked the tour through the RV park and it was $650 pesos per person (about $45 USD) for the 4 hour tour. We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to go – all three of their 8am boats were full, as well as their two 11 am boats. They opened a third boat and Tobey and I, along with an interesting young couple from Germany who are bicycling from Anchorage, Alaska all the way to Argentina, were the only people on the third boat! You have to get lucky once in a while!!
The drive to the docks went through town and our guide gave us some history of the area. Guerrero Negro is largely supported by the salt-producing industry. It was interesting to see the evaporation ponds which are supposed to be the largest in the world, along with the docks where they ship the commercial grade salt to the US , Japan, and Argentina.
After arriving at the dock and getting settled into our panga, we zipped about 15 minutes out into Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Eye of the Jack Rabbit), which is one of the major breeding grounds for the California gray whale. The lagoon is more commonly called Scammon’s Lagoon, named after the American whaling captain who found the entrance to this lagoon in 1857. The California gray whale population was exploited and down to about 2000 whales at the turn of the century, but with international treaties and efforts from the Mexican government, the population is now estimated to be over 20,000 whales. The warm, calm waters are an excellent breeding ground for these whales who migrate from the frigid Alaskan waters in the fall.
Researchers count the whales by a scientific method developed from the University of Oregon (we think). Anyway, the estimate is there are currently 650 adults and 400 babies in the lagoon. We certainly saw our share!
Gray whales can get to be 45 feet long and weigh 35 TONS! The females are usually larger than the males. The baby above was watching us. The mama below is covered with barnacles. Most of the babies are only 3-4 weeks old right now.
We were really lucky to only have four of us and the captain in our panga – same size as the one pictured below. We were able to move around, always had a “window” seat! The whales came right up to the boats and swam under them, popping back up on the other side!!
It was really an incredible experience – definitely the best whale watching experience we have ever had! We were allowed to touch the sides of the whales as they swam along next to the boat.
Unfortunately, the tour had to come to an end and as we said goodbye to the whales, they waved goodbye to us!
Whale watching at Guerrero Negro
We arrived back at the RV about 3:15 and wanted to get a fish taco at the “El Muelle” truck, but they had already sold out and were closed up. We tried another stand, but the tacos were not very good. Oh well, the road going north in a couple months is the same one, so we will have to plan our time better! GPS: 27.64633N, 113.38528W
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