San José Channel & Isla San Francisco
Our ship got underway at midnight from the festive port town of La Paz. As the sun rose, we were moving slowly along the spectacular mountains of the Baja Peninsula in an area known as Cabeza de Mechudo. Banded layers of volcanic ash caught the rosy light of the morning sun as we headed northward into a body of water known as San José Channel between Isla San José and the mainland of the Baja Peninsula. Our morning was spent cruising and searching for marine mammals. No sooner had we finished our breakfast than a humpback whale was sighted at the northern end of the channel. This was no ordinary whale, but rather, a spectacular acrobat that treated us to a thrilling show of aerial behavior, breaching fully out of the water time and again to our great delight.
We turned back southward toward our afternoon destination, the small and beautiful Isla San Francisco. Before we reached there, we encountered a large group of bottlenose dolphins. Although they were spread out over a large area, many of them quickly came leaping towards the ship to ride on the bow wave. We enjoyed incredible views of these sleek and magnificent creatures all around us.
Soon we arrived at Half Moon Bay on Isla San Francisco. In the early afternoon many people went snorkeling in the nearshore waters, while others took to kayaks to explore the island’s wild shores. As the day cooled, we landed at the long, arcing, white sand beach rimming Half Moon Bay. Many of us wandered inland into the desert, and up onto a scenic ridgeline where cliffs dropped downward to the sea on the east side of the island. As the sun sank below the edge of the sierras to the west, we all headed back to our ship waiting in the bay.
Our ship got underway at midnight from the festive port town of La Paz. As the sun rose, we were moving slowly along the spectacular mountains of the Baja Peninsula in an area known as Cabeza de Mechudo. Banded layers of volcanic ash caught the rosy light of the morning sun as we headed northward into a body of water known as San José Channel between Isla San José and the mainland of the Baja Peninsula. Our morning was spent cruising and searching for marine mammals. No sooner had we finished our breakfast than a humpback whale was sighted at the northern end of the channel. This was no ordinary whale, but rather, a spectacular acrobat that treated us to a thrilling show of aerial behavior, breaching fully out of the water time and again to our great delight.
We turned back southward toward our afternoon destination, the small and beautiful Isla San Francisco. Before we reached there, we encountered a large group of bottlenose dolphins. Although they were spread out over a large area, many of them quickly came leaping towards the ship to ride on the bow wave. We enjoyed incredible views of these sleek and magnificent creatures all around us.
Soon we arrived at Half Moon Bay on Isla San Francisco. In the early afternoon many people went snorkeling in the nearshore waters, while others took to kayaks to explore the island’s wild shores. As the day cooled, we landed at the long, arcing, white sand beach rimming Half Moon Bay. Many of us wandered inland into the desert, and up onto a scenic ridgeline where cliffs dropped downward to the sea on the east side of the island. As the sun sank below the edge of the sierras to the west, we all headed back to our ship waiting in the bay.
