Having sailed south all night long in the open Pacific from Magdalena Bay, we arrived to the southern part of the peninsula of Baja California before sunrise. Our captain’s expert hand maneuvered the National Geographic Sea Bird in front of the iconic granite arch at Land’s End that has become the identifying image of Cabo San Lucas around the world; we admired the beautiful rock formation and watched the numerous seabirds and sea lions, as well as the early morning commute of the local sport fishing fleet. Cabo San Lucas is renowned as favorite place for those who like to pursue big game fish like marlin, tuna, and sailfish. Many other people like Cabo as well, as the two huge cruise ships anchored in the bay and some late spring-breakers showed. But we were interested in other kind of creatures, and right there off the arch we encountered the first humpback whales of the day.
We sailed a few miles to the east and entered the Puerto Los Cabos marina to visit the town of San José del Cabo. San José is a much quieter and real town than its flamboyant neighbor and with a longer and rich history. Founded by Jesuit missionaries in the 1700s, San José del Cabo served as a most important resupplying stop for the Manila galleons on their way back from the Philippines during the 242 years of that commercial trade route. The orchards and gardens planted by the Jesuits and the freshwater from the San José River saved many sailors from scurvy, starvation, and thirst.
After having enjoyed some bird watching on the river and shopping in town, we continued sailing deeper into the Sea of Cortez, to an area known as Gorda Banks, the site of a seamount known for the numerous humpback whales around it. The whole Cape region is a winter breeding and calving area for those humpback whales that spend the summer months feeding off the Aleutian Islands and the coasts of Oregon and Washington. Other marine mammals live in the area as well and we enjoyed the company of several bottlenose dolphins that engaged in bow riding, an activity loved by dolphins everywhere. We also watched several humpback whales throughout the afternoon, but the star of the day was a young humpback calf that delighted us with many pectoral fin slapping and breaches! We followed the young whale with his mother and an escort until late when the sun came down behind the mountains and a beautiful first day in the Sea of Cortez came to an end.
