Our Trip To Cabo – #10 – La Paz

Our second day in la Paz was even more adventurous than our first day.  Our Trip To Cabo #9 – La Paz Once again, we started off early and ventured out to Espiritu Santo or the Holy Spirit Islands. Isla Espriritu Santo is located in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California), about 26 kilometres (16 mi) to its southern tip from the port city of La Paz, Mexico. Together with its sister island Isla Partida, the islands are a rock formation created by a series of violent earthquakes and volcanic activity. As such, volcanic ash and lava make up the majority of their geologic composition.  Espiritu Santo is an uninhabited island off the Baja Coast. Well, it is uninhabited by man (at this current time in history, though about 9,000 years ago, it was inhabited by man), but it is a beautiful wildlife preserve, inhabited by sea birds and marine wildlife. We ventured out to the very tip of the island archipelago to see the the sea lions.

And boy did we ever see the sea lions. Espiritu Santo is home to the largest sea lion colony in the area, where at least 500-600 sea lions reside on a regular basis. This is also their rookery where they give birth to their young. We did see a couple of little tiny babies curled up on their mommas too.

Again, this was a snorkel trip and not a diving trip. We got into the water and the sea lions came right up to us and were swimming and playing right beside us. They are very curious and very playful, especially the juveniles. We were in the water swimming with them for about 45 minutes. They were so much fun. Larry made friends with one special sea lion, or I should say, this sea lion took a special liking to Larry. I was getting a little jealous. :) This one sea lion was tugging at Larry’s fin, and then was curious about the camera and crawled right into Larry’s lap and gave him a big kiss. :)

I think this is more of what I was expecting/hoping for with the whale sharks. I did not expect them to be as friendly or curious as the sea lions, but I expected to just swim with them, even at a distance. We’ve always been taught to let the animals come to you, and not you go to them. If the animals want to touch you, they can, but you cannot touch them. There are a lot of reasons for this, mainly for the safety of both us, but more importantly, for the safety of the animals.

After our fantastic sea lion experience, we went to one of the 6 beaches on Isla Espirtu Santo, for a scrumptious lunch of more ceviche, prepared by our guide Erin. We stayed at the beach for about an hour, then we ventured back to the whale sharks.

We had a 1:00 PM reservation for the whale sharks once again. Larry got in every time, but I again watched from the boat. This experience was a lot more subdued and not as “invasive” to the sharks than our first experience. Our guides were excellent, and it is very evident they love and respect the sharks, as well as the sea lions, and all of nature’s creatures immensely. I have no qualms with them or their company at all. They strictly adhere to the rules and the guidelines set up by the city of La Paz and the nature conservancies there. It is the way the whale shark expeditions are set up through these agencies that I have issue with, definitely not our guides. Our guides were both absolutely fantastic and are very professional, knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and compassionate towards the animals. Their passion for the animals is very evident. We did our La Paz expeditions through Eco Migration, and I would highly recommend them to everyone. 

I forgot to mention that on our first day with the whale sharks, we were escorted back to the harbor by a large pod of about 30 or so bottlenose dolphins. They were all over the place, jumping around in our wake and guiding us safely back to shore. :)

Nature is full of amazing and beautiful things. I am so grateful for all these fantastic experiences and opportunities we have to commune with nature. 

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ’Til next time.

I wish these were my photos, but no they are not. I “borrowed” them all from the stock photos on the internet, taken by professionals.