Ocean Safari - Orcas

Spotter Airplane Supported Mobulas & Orcas

Ocean Safari - Orcas

Spotter Airplane Supported
Mobulas & Orcas

SEASONS

April – Mid-July

8 Days, 7 Nights

TYPES OF ADVENTURES

Liveaboard

PRICING (Pp. dbl occ.)

Luxury Liveaboards: From US$4,000

Whole Boat Charter Available

    Destination Overview

    Gallant Lady - Spotter Plane

    Mobulas & Orcas

    Orcas? Really? Yes and with a lot more to this adventure than mobula rays and orcas.

    From January onwards and with the help of our spotter airplane, we see blue whales, fin-back and humpback whales in the southern Sea of Cortez.

    By April we often observe solitary and often heavily pregnant whale sharks. We always see and are usually able to get in the water with huge pods of dolphins, enormous aggregations of mobula rays that can number in the tens of thousands at night.

    As the season progresses and the water warms up, we typically start seeing pilot whales and cow nose rays. Of course the star of the show is the orcas (killer whales) and unique behaviour in which they chose to interact with our snorkelers and swimmers.

    Special feature if you book on the Nautilus Gallant Lady. We have gained a park permit for underwater lights for night scuba diving at a location usually frequented by schooling mobulas. If the mobulas grace us with their presence, this is the highlight of any trip.

    Video of our Mobula & Orcas Adventures! →

    Ocean Safari - Mobulas

    Interact with the whales and the mobulas

    We aren’t talking about whale watching but rather orcas that choose to come in and interact in-water with our guests on the whales’ own terms. Orcas are highly intelligent and curious apex predators and the interaction is friggin amazing and occurred on 78% of our 2022 liveaboard expeditions.

    Accommodation is onboard either our 116-ft expedition yacht or 45-ft sailing catamaran and you can have a fine time onboard watching all the action from your yacht. But for those who are comfortable in the water and have at least a moderate level of fitness, you can’t beat heading out in one of our fast boats to spend hours at a time with the animals.

    Interaction is always respectful and on the animals own terms. You can expect to be in the water with the rays, any whale sharks that swim by, dolphins, inquisitive and interactive orcas and possibly the fin back whales.

    There is nowhere other than the chilly waters of Norway where orcas routinely interact with humans like this. That’s Baja!!

    INSIDER TIP: at the end of March and early April it’s possible to overlap a San Ignacio Lagoon gray whale expedition with a mobula and orca cruise for an amazing combo.

    Gallant Lady Sunset Stretched

    Sample Itinerary

    Sample Itinerary

    Fly into SJD. Cabo. Expedition yacht might leave from Cabo or La Paz. Sailing catamaran leaves from La Paz.

    Day 1

    Complimentary backscatter photo and video workshop at SeeCreatures Cabo San Lucas. Either 5 pm meet and board in Cabo or mid-afternoon transfer to La Paz.

    Day 2

    We always start off at our favourite hotspot for masses of mobula rays leaping for joy first thing in the morning because, well it’s really fun! Our airplane will be in the air scouting for orcas and other big critters and our naturalist will be in touch with friends up and down Baja to trade notes on animal sightings. We have been on the water running charters since 1974 and have a large network of colleagues that work together with us. Your captain will be in comm’s with your pilot for the latest updates and we will fire up the fast boat during the day to get close to any big animals. Cocktail hour. Sunset. Dinner. Evening presentation!

    Days 3 – 7

    The local corumel wind tends to start blowing every evening until 10:30 am or so. Shore hikes, kayaking or scuba will be on offer in the morning. With our airplane taking off when the corumel wind dies down as critter spotting is very difficult when it’s choppy. We will spend the rest of the day trying to get you the best encounters possible within the bounds of the utmost respect for the animals.

    Day 8

    Breakfast and disembarkation around 8:30 am. Complimentary coach transfer back to SJD if you are in La Paz.

    INSIDER TIP: at the end of March and early April it’s possible to overlap a San Ignacio Lagoon gray whale expedition with a mobula and orca cruise for an amazing combo.

    Operated For Safety

    Gallant Lady Sunset Stretched

    Operated For Safety

    Safety is a very serious business. Mother Ocean can be capricious and unforgiving. We hold ourselves to the highest standards and you should expect and demand no less. In our view, every dive boat should be operated within a certified ISM safety management system, outfitted with sprinklers, emergency smoke hoods for everybody and the same safety, fire, life saving equipment and radios as the largest cruise ships. Captains, mates and engineers should have professional commercial mariner qualifications and all crew should have STCW professional mariner certification. Safety is not something to publish in a brochure. It’s part of our DNA. A cornerstone of our culture. Something that we have been living by for every day of the last 30 years.

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