Wow! What a fantastic day this was. A highlight of the trip for sure. We left San Basilio on Dec. 26 and headed to La Paz as we had a whale watching tour scheduled for the 27th. Even better is that we were meeting our friends, the Hauder’s, for the trip. We stayed at the Hyatt in La Paz since we had an early start the next day. That was a treat in and of itself. So, the next morning we met the Hauder’s, our guide Maru, and boat (“Abuela”) captain Roberto at 7:00am on the beach in front of the malecon. After getting situated in the boat we headed out to the whale shark feeding grounds, passing through a checkpoint where the captain had to call in for permission to enter the protected area. We needed to be one of the first boats in if we were going to be able to make it to Espiritu Santo as well.

It was a short boat trip to the area where the juvenile whale sharks feed, which is right in front of La Paz. After just a few minutes of trying to locate them a juvenile that was 25 feet long passed right under us! It was so big and so beautiful! We weren’t quite geared up yet in our wetsuits and snorkel gear so we watched it from the boat while we got ready. Then we started watching for more. There are strict rules as to how many boats and people can be in the area and only one boat with max of five people can be with one whale shark in the water. We weren’t allowed to touch them or swim in front of them and we had to try to be 6 feet away from them. We went out in groups of four and Maru asked us to keep 2 to a side. It was really hard to stay in the right place as the water was a little murky and they are so big and with one stroke of their tail they move so fast. Dave ended up touching one when it appeared right by him when he wasn’t ready for it!

Maggie, Luke, Nate and Miles went first when we spotted one. They stayed out with it for about 10 minutes before it swam away. Dave, Fin, Ollie and I went next when we spotted another one. Holy cow! It was huge even though it was a baby and it was very intimidating swimming near it. We had to swim a ways to keep up with it and Ollie’s snorkel wasn’t working so he was a little frustrated. After a few minutes Fin and Ollie went back to the boat but Dave and I stayed in the water for a while longer. At one point we mixed in with another group which really stressed the guides out and they started yelling to separate and stay with your own shark. It was really confusing! Overall though, swimming with these magnificent creatures was amazing and a great way to start the day!

After everyone had a chance to swim with a whale shark we headed out to the island Espiritu Santo, which is actually an archipelago. On the map it looks so close but it was a long boat ride. We went to the northernmost point of the archipelago called Los Islotes. This little island is a sea lion nursery and a great place to snorkel. We got back in our wetsuits and snorkel gear and at Maru’s direction we jumped in the water. She warned us to stay away from the male sea lions and that the juveniles would be very curious. So we swam over to a cave entrance and started going in the cave. Maru stopped us right at the entrance as a male was coming out. Then, behind him came the most curios little pup ever. It swam in and out of our group, let us all play with him and even chewed gently on our hands and arms. It was so cute! Maru said that didn’t happen very often and we were lucky to meet one so curious. At the same time this was happening we were swimming in a gorgeous school of shiny sardines, thousands of them! It was uncanny how they would all switch directions at the exact same time. It was so beautiful.

After that we snorkeled our way down the reef checking out all the beautiful fish. There were so many different types of fish, starfish and sea urchins. All the while the sea lions were swimming with us. At one point a sea lion popped out of the water and gave Nate a smooch right on the lips. It was pretty funny seeing that happen. Dave got it on video from under the water and it’s hilarious to watch.

I could have stayed there all day but eventually we had to get back in the boat. At that point we made our way down the coastline of Espiritu Santo. There were so many sail boats anchored along the shore. Some of them were huge and I could imagine them sailing around the world. Eventually we found a quite little beach for lunch. Maru and Roberto put out a picnic lunch of ham sandwiches and ceviche tostadas. So yummy! The boys went for a swim in the beautiful water after we ate while the rest of us sat on the beach and chatted.

As we made our way back to La Paz we stopped at a few more points of interest. One was a face in the side of the rock that ancient indigenous people worshiped. Roberto also drove the boat through an arch, which was tricky with the rough water. We stopped at a couple bird spots too. One had blue footed boobies and the other had thousands of frigates. It was so crazy to see them all. They took over a man-made spit that had been built in the 1800’s to farm oysters for pearls. Our last stop was at Playa Balandra. It was cool to see it by boat and was as beautiful as ever. No one wanted to get out and swim being tired from the boat ride and maybe a little cold from he wind. So we continued on to La Paz where we met with Jay from whale sharks diaries who I booked the trip with. We paid up in cash, left a propina with Maru and Roberto, and went to get ice cream on the malecon. What a special day!