We recently returned from another amazing trip with Magdalena Bay Whales. This was our fourth excursion with them. We have done two Whale tours and two Ocean Safaris (ie snorkeling with Marlin…YES THAT’S A THING!). This last trip was the marlin tour.

Our entire family loves these trips, however, they seem to hold an EXTRA SPECIAL spot in Ellia’s heart. She loves when we go here, stay in the tents on Magdalena Island, and go on adventures. I think it’s a combination of the activities and the fact that being out there causes us all to disconnect from “life” and spend a whole lot of time together doing really cool things.

 

Evening campfire back at camp.

 

Snorkeling with Marlin

The way the Marlin snorkeling works is that you boat around looking for bunches of birds flying over the water. What those birds are doing are spotting the sardine bait balls in the water. Once the captain locates the bait ball everyone jumps in, and there’s where we find the marlin zooming in and out of the bait balls, feeding on the sardines. It’s quite the experience. The adrenaline of “There they are! Jump!” The cold water, and these massive fish swimming around not caring about you, but just trying to get their lunch, it’s really cool.

 

The Bucketlist Dream Come True

There have been a few things that I have wanted to experience since moving to Baja, and one of those dreams has been to swim with a school of Mobula rays. On this trip, we finally got to experience that, and it was absolutely everything I hoped for. We saw a few rays jumping out of the water so our captain brought us closer. When we jumped in there was a huge school of them slowly swimming by. We got to jump in with them twice, giving every member of our family a close-up look at the school. That MADE MY TRIP. Here’s a video of it. It still blows my mind to watch it.

 

Can’t Wait To Go Back Again

We can’t wait to go back again, probably in February, when the Gray whales go to Magdalena bay with their calves. We have done this excursion twice already, but have yet to have the lucky experience of actually touching a whale. I know that sounds weird, but in Magdalena Bay, the whales are very accustomed to the boats and they will surface to let you tickle, pat, and even kiss them. We have come very close several times, but it all depends on the whale’s mood, and so far they have all been just a little out of reach. I feel like this is our year for that experience, fingers crossed.