Puerto Refugio & Bahía Alcatraz
The quiet and protected waters at Puerto Refugio provided the perfect scenario for an early morning kayaking expedition. Located on the extreme north end of Angel de la Guarda, which is Mexico’s longest island, this place exemplifies some of the best qualities of the Sea of Cortez: still waters, solitude, dramatic landscapes and plenty of wild creatures to watch. But it was not only the kayakers that enjoyed such privileges, as the hikers too admired their share of beauty in the desert.
Puerto Refugio makes such a great refuge in part due to a couple of islands that protect the north and north-west sides of the bay, Mejía and Granito. Granito Island is home to numerous California sea lions and we visited them during the second half of the morning. From the Zodiacs we explored the island and got a chance to observe many interesting behaviors. We even had a marvelous experience when a series of loud cries led us to the first sea lion pup of the season! Cuddled next to its mother, the one or two days-old baby seemed tiny compared to the eight-hundred pound males that swam all around while patrolling their territories. However, everything in this world is relative and even those big males seemed small compared to the couple of young stray northern elephant seals that were present at the island! As there are not breeding colonies of elephant seals in the Sea of Cortez, those two individuals had to swim at least some fifteen hundred miles from the nearest colony off Baja’s Pacific coast. A good example of how youngsters, either human or not, sometimes like to wander around before settling down…
During the afternoon we encountered a large group of long-beaked common dolphins while on our way to our afternoon destination. Their speed, grace and pure beauty kept the photographers on board busy and put smiles in our faces for a long time. Shortly after that the Sea Voyager dropped her anchor at Bahía Alcatraz. There we enjoyed a delicious barbeque dinner ashore and as the daylight slowly vanished, another wonderful day came to an end.
The quiet and protected waters at Puerto Refugio provided the perfect scenario for an early morning kayaking expedition. Located on the extreme north end of Angel de la Guarda, which is Mexico’s longest island, this place exemplifies some of the best qualities of the Sea of Cortez: still waters, solitude, dramatic landscapes and plenty of wild creatures to watch. But it was not only the kayakers that enjoyed such privileges, as the hikers too admired their share of beauty in the desert.
Puerto Refugio makes such a great refuge in part due to a couple of islands that protect the north and north-west sides of the bay, Mejía and Granito. Granito Island is home to numerous California sea lions and we visited them during the second half of the morning. From the Zodiacs we explored the island and got a chance to observe many interesting behaviors. We even had a marvelous experience when a series of loud cries led us to the first sea lion pup of the season! Cuddled next to its mother, the one or two days-old baby seemed tiny compared to the eight-hundred pound males that swam all around while patrolling their territories. However, everything in this world is relative and even those big males seemed small compared to the couple of young stray northern elephant seals that were present at the island! As there are not breeding colonies of elephant seals in the Sea of Cortez, those two individuals had to swim at least some fifteen hundred miles from the nearest colony off Baja’s Pacific coast. A good example of how youngsters, either human or not, sometimes like to wander around before settling down…
During the afternoon we encountered a large group of long-beaked common dolphins while on our way to our afternoon destination. Their speed, grace and pure beauty kept the photographers on board busy and put smiles in our faces for a long time. Shortly after that the Sea Voyager dropped her anchor at Bahía Alcatraz. There we enjoyed a delicious barbeque dinner ashore and as the daylight slowly vanished, another wonderful day came to an end.
