Today was one of the more interesting days of our trip. At our friend Nancy Neuerburg’s recommendation when we were gathering intelligence last Fall from friends who have previously traveled in Baja, we signed up for a “sampler” trip with Baja Outdoor Activities to go by boat to Isla Espiritu Santo, an island about 5 miles off shore from La Paz. We started out with an hour’s travel up a dramatic coastline of granite cliffs rising directly out of the sea on the east and windward side of the island. On the way, we had the exciting opportunity of 3 times seeing a single Manta Ray jump out of the water, about 5 feet into the air, do a complete 360-degree flip, and flop back into the water. Wish we’d caught that with the camera! After passing the north end of the island, we anchored at a smaller island, mostly just an rocky outcropping, where we spent a little over an hour snorkeling on a shallow coral reef with a nice range of fish life, a school of several million sardines, and nice sea fans and sponges. In addition to the four of us clients from the boat, plus our amazing Mexican Guide, Tulio, who was in the water with us, we were joined by dozens of sea lions! About 400 of them live year-round on this island. They are quite curious and swam with us, twisting and swirling in the water all around, sometimes swooping at high speed within several feet of our snorkel mask before veering away at the last minute. It was quite a rush! Despite our shorty wetsuits, the water was only 70 degrees so left us feeling chilly. After that restful activity, we motored down the western shore of the island about 20 minutes and pulled into a nice sandy beach where we launched sea kayaks. We kayaked for about an hour and a half down a rocky coast and through a rock arch. Most of the trip was quite easy and incredibly pleasant, however there was one stretch where the wind, surge and swells caused Bob a bit of a problem with feeling unstable. That segment soon passed and we moved on down the coast to another sandy beach where we pulled in for a nice lunch, including a cold tea made from dried hibiscus flowers. After a 45-minute lunch break, we got back in the skiff and went another twenty minutes down the coast where we pulled into yet another sandy bay. Here we took a short hike/rock scramble up to some cave paintings. After our hike we returned to the skiff and headed back toward La Paz. Just south of Isla Espiritu Santo, we saw ahead a significant section of water that looked very “roughed up”. The boat captain headed in that direction, and we inquired what was causing the water spray and localized rough waves. Tulio informed us it was a very large school of Manta Rays swimming and feeding on the surface. We drifted nearby for about 20 minutes, and during that time Tulio estimated the school was 500-1000 Manta Rays, all swimming on or near the surface, with their “wings” flapping above the surface causing the rough water and spray. Tulio said he had only observed this phenomenon once before in the 3 years he’s been guiding trips to the island. The school swam directly under our boat several times, and you could see hundreds of rays at a time, only 1-5 feet under the boat. Incredible! From the time we showed up at BOA’s office at 8 in the morning until we returned, it was 9 ½ hours of high adventure. We were salty, and dried out from the sun, tired but happy with our day. Unfortunately the day’s activities didn’t really lend themselves to photography, so you’ll just have to accept our word for it that it was a spectacular day.
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