Whale Watching In Cabo San Lucas

Near El Arco, the famous Arch in Cabo San Lucas, our little water taxi drifted slowly past a craggy rock that served as a sunning spot for about a dozen sea lions.

The bright blue sky highlighted by white cirrus clouds provided the perfect backdrop for the yellow sun that warmed the temperature into perfect mid-70s.  As we slowly motored away, I began to wonder if we had been flim-flammed by the guy selling excursions just outside the gated pier.

This little boat looked like it was a glass-bottomed fish-viewer that had long ago passed its best days.

Of course, I knew it wasn't an inflatable Zodiac suitable for a National Geographic expedition as soon as we joined the two ladies already on board, but true to the salesman's word, we headed straight out without filling the other open  space on the benches that lined the sides.  As we puttered past the seal colony, I wondered if this was as good as it would get.

Suddenly, Julie yelled, "Spout!" She pointed in the distance, and the captain quickly confirmed it.

With full throttle and a couple of quick turns, we made a bee-line for the whales.

The little boat bounced across smaller waves, but as the surf got progressively rougher, we almost capsized to the right, so the captain slowed slightly and told Julie to join the other two ladies on the left side of the boat.  I stayed on the starboard side, which was where he stood at the helm, steering.

Back to full speed, we made great time and were soon within photo distance of what turned out to be three whales, but they had dived below the surface by the time we got there.

Our captain positioned the boat where he guessed we'd have a good view, and a few minutes later, the whales surfaced again.  Spouting, tail flopping, waiving with their fins and all the other tricks of the trade for whales were on display to our delight.

Another similar boat was our only competition for the view, and there seemed to be a bit of a territorial fight to establish position, but somehow we either became separated from the whales or we saw a new active group a couple of hundred yards away, and we were off again at breakneck speed, bouncing around.  Julie's hat flew off, and the captain snagged it without losing control of the boat.

I had already bagged my hat by then.  My phone was getting so wet and the ride was so rough that I worried I might break or lose it, so I first tried shooting through a plastic holder (videos were too blurry to keep) and then simply abandoned trying to record the moment in order to stay focused on enjoying the experience.  As such, I salvaged only one video from my phone, but Julie shared two of hers.

The biggest whale surfaced ten yards from our boat, though we have no photographic evidence of that.  At maybe thirty feet long, it seemed like Moby Dick could have easily turned and knocked us over if he wanted, but instead he did all his tricks for us at very close range.

It was an amazing experience!