Laguna San Ignacio
Waves shape our lives much more than we know it. From the wavelike movement of photons to the sound waves that penetrate our ears, our daily experiences rely on sinuous cycles. When a day is spent in a boat, other waves can be factored into what we see and feel.
As has happened for generations along many of the worlds’ coastlines, today we were drawn to the groomed peaks of the Boca at Laguna San Ignacio. Serving as the mouth of this large lagoon, the Boca’s sandbars dissipate wave energy and create a bight that keeps the wind chop to a minimum. Away from the sandbars and the corresponding breakers were large peaks rolling in with perfectly consistent speed towards the long sandy shore of the Baja Peninsula. Having been created by wind hundreds of miles away and sorting themselves along the way, these waves were very smooth and had a rhythmic pace that any surfer could enjoy.
With our panga gently sliding up and over each oncoming wave, we spotted surfers unlike any seen before. These waveriders wore no wetsuits, had no boards and didn’t have to endure any of Baja’s washboard roads. In virtually every direction were gray whales playing in the surf.
Spyhopping whales, their heads pausing above the surface for seconds at a time, dotted the lineup like fifteen-foot tall tombstones. Blows would spray up on the back end of a wave after the whale was done with its ride. Pectoral flippers flapped in the water as other animals rolled like logs in the oncoming waves. All around us were gray whales, both adult and juvenile, playing in the surf. Being in such small boats allowed us to watch individual whales catch a wave, then pass within inches of our panga as they headed back out to repeat the whole process.
There’s a surfer in all of us. We have different levels of comfort in waves, but we are all drawn to the ocean in some way. Today some of us got to look into the eye of these gentle giants. When you lock on to a whale and it stares right back at you, it’s impossible not to wonder what its thinking. I only hope they were just as stoked to get those waves as we were to watch them.
Waves shape our lives much more than we know it. From the wavelike movement of photons to the sound waves that penetrate our ears, our daily experiences rely on sinuous cycles. When a day is spent in a boat, other waves can be factored into what we see and feel.
As has happened for generations along many of the worlds’ coastlines, today we were drawn to the groomed peaks of the Boca at Laguna San Ignacio. Serving as the mouth of this large lagoon, the Boca’s sandbars dissipate wave energy and create a bight that keeps the wind chop to a minimum. Away from the sandbars and the corresponding breakers were large peaks rolling in with perfectly consistent speed towards the long sandy shore of the Baja Peninsula. Having been created by wind hundreds of miles away and sorting themselves along the way, these waves were very smooth and had a rhythmic pace that any surfer could enjoy.
With our panga gently sliding up and over each oncoming wave, we spotted surfers unlike any seen before. These waveriders wore no wetsuits, had no boards and didn’t have to endure any of Baja’s washboard roads. In virtually every direction were gray whales playing in the surf.
Spyhopping whales, their heads pausing above the surface for seconds at a time, dotted the lineup like fifteen-foot tall tombstones. Blows would spray up on the back end of a wave after the whale was done with its ride. Pectoral flippers flapped in the water as other animals rolled like logs in the oncoming waves. All around us were gray whales, both adult and juvenile, playing in the surf. Being in such small boats allowed us to watch individual whales catch a wave, then pass within inches of our panga as they headed back out to repeat the whole process.
There’s a surfer in all of us. We have different levels of comfort in waves, but we are all drawn to the ocean in some way. Today some of us got to look into the eye of these gentle giants. When you lock on to a whale and it stares right back at you, it’s impossible not to wonder what its thinking. I only hope they were just as stoked to get those waves as we were to watch them.
