"As you can tell, I had a great time! It's hard
 to believe that just a month ago, I was
 essentially at the ends of the earth.
 Sea kayaking Baja was fantastic!"
Mark Hoffman, Redmond, WA"

Dear Sea Kayaking Adventure Seeker:

Sincerely,

Martine Springer
Expedition Director

P.S.— This year we are offering Baja kayaking trips to two distinctly different areas in Baja California, designed to showcase radically different habitats on opposite coastlines. You can learn more about them in the detailed Baja Sea Kayaking Itineraries Page. Read below for general information that applies to all five kayaking Mexico trips!

Baja Sea Kayaking - Mexico Wilderness Tours

Do I Require Previous Sea Kayaking Experience?: Anyone in average physical condition can go kayaking in Mexico and enjoy our sea kayak Baja tours. No previous experience is necessary! We use extremely stable two-person sea kayaks very unlike tippy whitewater river kayaks. Eskimo rolls are not performed in these state-of-the-art crafts and you will be surprised how easy they are to paddle and maneuver. Before launching, we will teach you the basics of kayaking Baja safety. Our pace is relaxed with two to five hours of travel each day on expeditionary-style trips; kayaking hours are totally optional for base-camp tours. Although our Baja sea kayaking trips are not extremely strenuous, we recommend that participants condition muscle groups of the upper body by doing light exercise (calisthenics, rowing, swimming, etc.) for two full weeks prior to the expedition. The only other preparation is to carefully review the pre-trip information and equipment list. Regardless of your age or skill level, you will find that our Baja sea kayak tour choices offer enough flexibility to make your experience with us safe and rewarding.

Sea Kayaking Baja Adventure Staff: There will always be at least two staff persons present on your Baja sea kayaking trip, including one guide who is a local citizen. If the group approaches its maximum size of twelve participants we normally add an additional assistant. (This is the best staff to guest ratio of any outfitter in Baja California!) Martine Springer, our expeditions director, will personally lead two of the Baja kayak trips in March, 2009. (See the 2009 sea kayak Baja California schedule for the dates she will be guiding.) Martine has been kayaking in Baja for over twenty years and her guiding prowess has been colorfully described by Tim Cahill in the January '93 issue of Outside Magazine and by Bruce Barcott in the August '94 issue of Men's Journal. Adept in the skills needed for kayaking Baja, our entire staff is a group of highly trained naturalists with combined expertise in sea kayaking and expedition leadership. They're also a great bunch of campfire cooks!

Whale Watching Baja California by Sea Kayak

Baja Whale watching: The idea of kayaking in Baja conjures up exciting visions in the minds of adventure travelers. An image shared by many is that of graceful whales cruising through deep blue water. And rightly so, for the waters surrounding Baja California abound with an amazing variety of these giant mammals, making it a premiere location for kayaking with whales. Each species must seek out the perfect set of environmental conditions to survive: the right food, temperature, safe breeding sites, and other important factors are required. Most of the great whales have evolved survival strategies that include long migrations, months of fasting, and voracious feasting in very localized areas. As such, whale activity along the opposing shores of the Baja Peninsula contrasts markedly.

Our two sea kayaking trips that tour the western shore of Baja California are designed to explore the sheltered lagoons along the Pacific Ocean. Mexico's Bahia Magdalena is world-famous for supporting about half of the entire breeding population of gray whales, a species that has twice recovered from the brink of extinction! Making an annual migration of up to 6000 miles, these 50-foot animals take refuge in protected Baja California lagoons from January to mid-March. Winter is their season for birthing, nursing young, and rowdy breeding. Some of these gray whales have become "friendly" and enthusiastically approach vessels to be petted and rubbed by the humans on board. Looking into the eye of a whale and feeling its whole body shiver from the pleasure of your touch is an unparalleled wildlife experience! Sighting gray whales occurs several times each day on these trips.

Our other three Baja kayak tours travel the eastern shore of the peninsula, along the Sea of Cortez. This isolated sea is one of the last sanctuaries for the globally decimated blue and fin whales. Compared with other bodies of water its size, the Sea of Cortez supports the largest and most varied population of whales in the world: humpback, Bryde's, minke, orca, and sperm also live there. Our route is carefully planned to take you to the only known place in the world where blue whales can be regularly encountered by sea kayak. Over the years, Sea Quest trips have had a 95% success rate for sighting large baleen whales in the Sea of Cortez and we expect this to continue into the future. Please keep in mind, that some Sea of Cortez kayak tours see whales on only a single occasion. But more often, we have the fortune of seeing whales nearly every day. These sightings can range from lone individual whales cruising the distant horizon to large pods lunging around and beneath the kayaks! Remember that oceanic conditions are not always consistent, and if the plankton bloom fails, as in 1994, whale sightings may become scarce. In normal years, our schedule coincides with vast blooms of plankton that draw the hungry whales in to gorge, sometimes in great numbers. If you'd like to kayak with whales, your best chances of seeing these awesome mammals on our Baja sea kayaking trips are from February through April, with a slight peak in mid-March. During other months the whales are typically widely scattered or have migrated into the Pacific Ocean.

On both sides of the Baja Peninsula, our sea kayaking vacations are also excellent for observing playful dolphins, sea lions, and an array of wonderful marine birds. Due to the overlap of the temperate and tropical faunal zones, the Sea of Cortez boasts the greatest variety of fishes and marine invertebrates found anywhere along the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.

Click below for detailed descriptions, itineraries, and travel information for
Baja sea kayaking trips, sea kayaking Mexico vacations, and Baja whale watching sea kayak tours.

Sea Kayaking Baja - Kayaking Trips in Mexico

Sea Kayaking Baja Routes: The Sea of Cortez, youngest on the planet's surface, was formed when two crustal plates began separating nearly 25 million years ago. Along the shoreline of the rapidly filling gulf, tremendous mountain ranges and islands were thrown up by movement along the San Andreas Fault and accompanying volcanic activity. Today, the 800 mile-long Baja Peninsula is still moving towards Alaska at the rate of several inches per year! One of the most spectacular sections of the rugged Baja coast lies beneath the towering volcanic escarpments of the Sierra de la Giganta (Range of the Giant). Kayaking in Baja is the perfect way to see these amazing geological features.

Offshore, the azure waters of the Sea of Cortez are pierced by the jagged shapes of Isla Danzante, Carmen, and Monserrate. These three islands form the "Blue Whale Triangle", the area identified by biologists as the most important for blue whales. All three islands are designated both as an International Biosphere Reserve and a Mexico National Park, while remaining uninhabited by humans or livestock. This is our favorite area kayaking the Sea of Cortez and our routes include shorelines rimmed by towering cliffs, deep arroyos, and inviting coves.

Along the west coast of the Baja Peninsula a very different situation exists. Here the land is slowly subsiding into the Pacific Ocean, creating shallow lagoons with gentle shorelines and barrier islands. Endless sandy beaches, shifting dunes, and maze-like forests of mangroves characterize this region, as do the amazing congregations of gray whales.

No matter which side of the peninsula you choose for kayaking Mexico's Baja Peninsula,
be prepared for exciting sea kayaking with whales, great hiking, and superb snorkeling!

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