Quick Details
Get Up Close and Personal with Local Wildlife
During this 9-day Sea of Cortez expedition you will enjoy warm days and cool nights, kayak quiet coves, walk forest trails and explore crystal clear tide pools. Sailing among the scattered islands along the shore of the Baja peninsula, we will snorkel with young sea lions, walk along desert island ridges and palm-lined arroyos, visit a remote fishing village and kayak into a mangrove lagoon. A favorite highlight is the half-day snorkel with whale sharks.
We ask for a deposit of 20% of the total booking price to reserve your cabin. The balance is due 90 days before the cruise begins; see Terms & Conditions for details. Itineraries are dependent on weather and tides and may change at the captain’s discretion.
Cruises Include:
- Equipment needed for excursions (see Equipment list for what to bring)
- All park and permit fees
- Hotel
- All transfers (see Itinerary)
- Gourmet food cooked fresh from locally sourced ingredients
- Breakfast, Lunch and three-course Dinners with wine pairings
- Boat Drinks, Sodas, Beer, Wine
- Snacks
Cruises do not Include:
- Airfare
- Hotel
- Tips and Gratuities
Itinerary
La Paz to Loreto Day 1
One of our crew will meet you at the door as you exit the customs and immigration check at the Los Cabos Airport. You will be escorted to our van, which will transport you to La Paz. Our van will be leaving the airport at 2:00 PM for the drive to La Paz. Upon your arrival at our boutique hotel in La Paz, you will have time for a stroll along the bay-side Malecon before we gather for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.
Loreto to La Paz Day 1
Plan to arrive in Loreto via the Alaska/Horizon Air flight from LAX. Our crew will meet you as you emerge from Customs and Immigration and escort you to our hotel in Loreto. You will have a couple of hours to explore the many shops and sights, including the first mission church in the Californias, and milepost zero of El Camino Real, which was built to link the missions. We will have a group dinner in a garden restaurant near the old square.
Whale Shark Snorkel (Day 2 La Paz-Loreto/Day 8 Loreto-La Paz Day)
Today is whale shark swim day! Only a few outfitters are granted access to the whale shark swim area, and these operators are specially trained and follow strict regulations. Depending on the weather, we will either meet our outfitter inside the port of La Paz, or outside, closer to the designated whale shark swim area. We will board a small, open fishing boat, called a panga, which will be your transportation into whale shark waters. After your time with the whale sharks you will return to Westward.
All Other Days
We will spend these days cruising through the scattered islands between La Paz and Loreto. Along the way we will kayak along rugged cliffs and into quiet mangrove-lined lagoons, snorkel in impossibly clear water, cataloging myriad fish that seem to fly beneath us, and gather to enjoy truly gourmet meals.
Weather and sea conditions play a huge part in how we select our routes and anchorages, but with thousands of miles of experience in and among these islands, we will show our guests the very best of what is available during our time together. In these waters I have seen blue, humpback, sperm and fin whales, orcas, common and bottle nose dolphins, pilot whales, and acres of leaping manta and mobula rays. We have had striped marlin swim right next to our boat, and taken so many sunrise and sunset pictures that we have struggled to choose our favorites.
La Paz to Loreto Day 9
Raising our anchor after breakfast and perhaps a final kayak paddle, we will make the short transit from our night’s anchorage to Puerto Escondido, about 15 miles south of Loreto. Our van will meet us for the twenty minute drive to Loreto. Depending on Alaska Airlines schedule, you will either go directly to the airport, or have a few hours to explore the historic downtown of old Loreto. Enjoy a meal or margarita in one of the small cafes surrounding the town square, shop for locally produced art, or just sit on a bench along the laurel shaded peace of Mile 0 of El Camino Real until it’s time to meet our van for the short drive to the airport.
Loreto to La Paz Day 9
We will share an early breakfast aboard Westward before we meet our van for transportation to the Los Cabos International Airport. The van will leave the marina at 8:00 am, which will get us to the airport by 11:00 am. Please plan your return flight accordingly.
Optional Add On Package
We offer an optional 4-day/3-night package to explore stunning prehistoric Petroglyphs. There are an unknown number of painted caves in the Sierra Mountains of southern Baja. Some are small, with paintings having been protected for thousands of years by small overhanging rock ledges. Other sites are large caves, with remarkably detailed drawings of people and animals. Experts place the ages of these paintings at between 6,000 and 10,000 years. They rival those in Western Europe for artistry and significance. Please call our office at 360.378.7123 for more information.
Additional Information
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Cabins
All cabins on MV Westward are outfitted with a double bunk (4′ 6″ wide by 6′ 8″ long) and a single bunk (2′ 6″ wide by 6′ 6″ long), a settee, sink, toilet, and a shower. There is ample storage space. Cabins comfortably accommodate two guests and can accommodate up to three, though we do not recommend triple occupancy unless the third guest is a minor.