Some things in Los Cabos you can always count on. There will always be sunshine, beautiful beaches and
great fishing, no matter what time of year you visit. Other notable attractions, however, can only be enjoyed during a specific season. Such is the case with whale watching season, when many of the world’s largest creatures leave their arctic summer feeding grounds to migrate to winter breeding grounds around Baja California Sur.
Whale watching season in Los Cabos officially starts on December 15th and continues for three months until March 15th. That’s a 90-day window for what amounts to a bucket list opportunity: the chance to get up-close with leviathans whose size and power almost defies description.
Everything about whale watching season in Los Cabos is larger than life. Even the migration is magnificent. In fact, the longest migration in recorded history involves a gray whale–dubbed Varvara by scientists –who in 2015 completed a 14,000-mile round-trip journey from Russia to Cabo San Lucas. Not bad for a nine-year-old.
But such long-distance travels are almost commonplace among the 5,000 to 10,000 whales that visit the southern shores of Baja California Sur each winter. Los Cabos itself is rarely the destination, but rather a transit zone. Gray whales favor Ojo de Liebre or Magdalena Bay on the Pacific Coast for their breeding activities, while humpbacks and other species continue on into the Sea of Cortez.
Visitors to Los Cabos during whale watching season often spy these transiting cetaceans from their resorts, sometimes even from local golf courses. But by far the best way to see them, and to get as close as possible, is by embarking on Zodiac boats tours. These high-speed inflatables have enough power to allow their captains to spot whale spume and anticipate where the next breach will occur. Some local adventure companies even offer hydrophones, so that in addition to the sight of these magnificent creatures, guests can also listen to their incredible “songs,” a form of language so complex scientists are still working to achieve an even rudimentary understanding.
No whales breach more spectacularly than humpbacks, and as luck would have it humpbacks are by far the most commonly sighted species in Los Cabos. But they’re not the only species by any means. Orcas are sometimes sighted, as are sperm and even blue whales, the latter being the largest creature ever to existed on Earth.
Those are rare occurrences, however. Humpbacks, on the other hand, are seen daily during whale watching season in Los Cabos, and they rarely fail to put on a show. Breaching is their most breathtaking maneuver–a move some scientists speculate is to rid themselves of barnacles, although honestly they might just be showing off.
Wouldn’t you if you weighed 60,000 pounds, the average weight of an adult humpback?
Some other fun facts about humpbacks: The average life expectancy is 45 to 50 years, and they are enormously intelligent, possessing a “spindle” neuron in their cerebral cortex that exists only in whales, dolphins, humans and great apes. The smartest whales, however, are sperm whales, who have brains five times the size of humans.
Gray whales, the second most commonly sighted whale species in local waters, live an average of 70 years. So if Varvara’s trip from Russia to Cabo San Lucas is her normal migration and she does it every year of her life, she will have traveled approximately 980,000 miles.
Yet more proof of the high intelligence of whales, since no distance is too far to travel if it means you get to spend the winter in Cabo!
For more information about events, activities and villa rentals in Los Cabos, call us TOLL FREE at 1-888-655-4548, visit www.LosCabosVillas.com, or email us at Info@LosCabosVillas.com.
Photo credit: Cabo Adventures
Upcoming Events Calendar
November
Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) – Nov. 1 – 2
Pelagic Rock Star Tuna Tournament – Nov. 1 – 3
Ironman Los Cabos 70.3 Half-Triathlon – Nov. 3
Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally – Nov. 3 – 16
21st WON Tuna Jackpot – Nov. 6 – 9
Luxe Life Los Cabos Jazz Experience – Nov. 7 – 11
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Nov. 7, 14, 21, 28
Los Cabos Film Festival – Nov. 13 – 17
52nd Annual Baja 1000 – Nov. 19 – 24
Sabor a Cabo International Food & Wine Festival – Nov. 30
December
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Dec. 5, 12, 19, 26
Sabor a Cabo Rural Tasting – Dec. 8
Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe – Dec. 12
Official Start of Whale Watching Season – Dec. 15
Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) – Dec. 24
Navidad (Christmas) – Dec. 25
Nochevieja (New Year’s Eve) – Dec. 31
January
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Los Cabos Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Cabo del Sol – Jan. 12 – 16
Tropic of Cancer Concert Series in Todos Santos – Jan. 15 – 19
February
Todos Santos Writers Workshop – Feb. 1 – 8
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27
Todos Santos Artists’ Open Studios Tour – Feb. 7 – 9
San Jose del Cabo Jazz Weekend – Dates Not Yet Announced
Rock Fest in Cabo San Lucas – Feb. 15
20th Annual Baja Hog Rally – Feb. 20 – 24
Carnaval in La Paz – Feb. 20 – 25
March
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Mar. 5, 12, 19, 26
Baja Shakespeare Festival – Mar. 6 – 8, 11 – 14
East Cape Arts Festival – Mar. 15
Todos Santos Film Festival – Dates Not Yet Announced
El Triunfo Arts & Crafts Festival – Dates Not Yet Announced
Sabores de Baja in Miraflores – Dates Not Yet Announced
April
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Apr. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Semana Santa – Apr. 5 – 11
NORRA Mexican 1000 – Apr. 17 – 24
Gala de Danza at Viceroy Los Cabos – Dates Not Yet Announced
Please let me know what you think about this!