Whale Watching & Turtle Research in Baja California

Join Baja Expeditions and RED Sustainable Travel on a unique whale watching and turtle research excursion to Magdalena Bay. You will get up close and personal with gray whales and learn about their annual migration all the way from Alaska. Your group will also have the unique opportunity to participate in hands-on sea turtle research with local conservationists.

Price: $1,795 per person (double occupancy)includes all in-country transportation, most meals, lodging, activities, guides, and a donation to turtle conservation (does not include airfare). Discounts of up to 50% available for children.

Conservation Pricing: $250 to conservation (14%) (including $90 to SEE Turtles) and $460 to local communities (26%).

Dates: Feb 6 - 13 / 20 - 27, 2011

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HIGHLIGHTS

• See gray whales and calves up close on skiffs
• Participate in hands-on green turtle research
• Kayak in the mangroves of Magdalena Bay

FULL ITINERARY

DAY 1 ~ ARRIVE IN LA PAZ

Spend some time exploring the colorful city of La Paz, with its charming boardwalk and many fine restaurants and shops. Dinner is on your own this evening.

DAY 2 ~ LA PAZ TO MAGDALENA BAY

After breakfast, we will board a van for the ride to Magdalena Bay, with lunch en route or at camp. Once we arrive at the Bay, a short boat ride delivers us to our base camp, where you'll have an orientation, assignment of tents and a safety briefing. Tonight you’ll enjoy a beautiful sunset over the Bay while the staff prepares a delicious welcome dinner. There will also be an evening presentation.

DAYS 3 & 4 ~ MAGDALENA BAY

The surreal landscape of the ever changing sand dunes provides a dramatic backdrop for exciting excursions to see the gray whales! There are two excursions each day using motorized skiffs, each lasting up to three hours. Our experienced naturalist guides will point out many behaviors of the whales, including spy hopping, mating, breaching, and nurturing their young.

In between whale watching excursions, you'll have time for walks along the beach or hikes in the dunes. You can also go kayaking on guide-led forays into the mangroves or other permitted paddling areas using our fleet of kayaks. You may opt to go bird watching, or just enjoy some "down time" as you relax with a book from our camp's library.

Happy hour brings an opportunity to compare notes with fellow travelers and you sip both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and sample tantalizing appetizers, while watching the sun disappear beneath the horizon. Dinner is buffet-style, and often includes fresh fish and home-made tortillas. After dinner, one of our experienced guides will present a natural history talk to help you learn more about the Baja Peninsula, its local people and the marine wildlife protected in Magdalena Bay. 

DAYS 5 & 6 ~ TURTLE MONITORING IN MAGDALENA BAY

After breakfast we will take a boat ride to change camp sites. Members of the Cooperativa Eco-Tortugueros -a local conservation group working to protect the turtles in the area- will welcome us in their Turtle Monitoring camp. Turtle watching offers an alternative to fishing or poaching for local residents who want to see a future for turtles and themselves in the region. We will help to put out the nets and monitor turtles in the following 24 hours, where we will check the nets and bring the turtles ashore for study, other activities as bird watching & traditional fishing are also possible. 

DAY 7 ~ TO LA PAZ

Explore the area and perhaps do some bird watching before we check the nets one more time for green turtles. After a final lunch in San Carlos, the group returns to La Paz in the late afternoon for a free afternoon shopping or exploring the town. Dinner is on your own tonight. 

DAY 8 ~ TO HOME 

Depart to your home city with incredible memories, reflecting on your incredible opportunity to work directly with the turtles. 

This is a general itinerary and subject to change. Hotels on nights 1 & 7 are included in the trip fee