In addition to local pelagic birding trips Monterey Seabirds sometimes offers a trip to the Sea of Cortez. This trip will not be offered in 2006, but please check this page again later in 2006 to see details about the 2007 trip.

To give you an idea of the details of the trip, here is the description of the April 2005 trip:

From April 17-24, 2005 visited the Midriff Islands in the Sea of Cortez, known as the Galapagos of Mexico. We chartered the 80-foot Don Jose from Baja Expeditions for a one-week cruise from La Paz. This trip paralleled some of the journey undertaken by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts in 1940 as described in their book The Log from the Sea of Cortez.

The Don Jose is a motorized live-aboard boat that accommodates 16 passengers in seven above-deck, air-conditioned cabins. It is small enough to take advantage of protected anchorages at night and has two skiffs for island landings. It is outfitted with a swim step, storage lockers and an on-board natural history library. The second and third decks are high above the water and offer excellent vantage points for viewing whales and seabirds. Learn more about the Don Jose.

We looked for seabirds, manta rays and sharks as well as whales and dolphins. This area has 30 species of marine mammals. Snorkeling, sea kayaking and hiking on uninhabited desert islands are also part of the adventure.

For seabirds we hoped to see Brown and Blue-footed Boobies, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Craveri's Murrelet, Yellow-footed Gull, Least and Black Storm-Petrels and Red-billed Tropicbird, to name a few.

Cetaceans seen in this area include Minke, Humpback, Blue, Sperm, Short-finned Pilot, Bryde's, Pygmy Sperm, Fin and Killer Whales and several species of dolphins.

Cost for this trip is a bargain at $1650 per person (double occupancy) and includes accommodations on the boat and one night at a La Paz hotel, taxis to and from La Paz Airport, all meals and beverages, kayaks and snorkel equipment. This same trip is offered by other ecotravel tour companies for as much as $2450 per person.

Marine Naturalist John Conlon, author of Razorback: A Natural History of the Finback Whale, was on board.

See our trip reports from the 2005 expedition and the 2004 expedition. For a trip description, go to Baja Expeditions Whale Watching Cruises and scroll down to Sea of Cortez Whales & Birds. For general information on the boat and previous trip reports go to the Baja Expeditions home page.

If you are interested in future trips, or if you have any questions, please contact Roger Wolfe at rogwolfe@cruzio.com.