2027 Schedule

Are you thinking about San Ignacio Lagoon?

Consider some of the negatives before making a decision.

1. If you were a pregnant gray whale swimming 5000 miles or more to give birth in a safe sheltered bay, why would you swim an extra 1 or 2 or 3 days? The distance from Laguna Ojo de Liebre south to San Ignacio is about 150 miles. Your baby is due now, where do you go? Laguna Ojo de Liebre of course. See the Census at the bottom of this message.
2. San Ignacio has 1 small whale watching zone that allows 16 boats at a time. Our bay has 3 large zones. We are located on the shore of Zone 2 where only 6 boats are allowed.
3. For anyone not wanting wet feet and legs all day this note is for you. At San Ignacio all must wade out to the boats. You carry your camera and shoes and clamber over the side of the tippy pangas. Wet feet and pants are the norm and the morning temperature is typically in mid 50s with a light to moderate wind. Slip on the muddy bottom as many have done and your phone or camera is now a rusty souvenir. We have a dock and step down into the boats!
4. We have on average 5 to 10 times as many whales. Look at the census figures at the end of this note.

Standard Trip Activities

• 4 day three night trip has two travel days, two whale watching days.
• 5 day four night trip has two travel days, three whale watching days.
• 6 day five night trip has two travel days, four whale watching days.
• Two boat trips scheduled each whale watch day, but weather can cause delayed or canceled boat trips
• The standard option for our meeting point is the DoubleTree Hilton– Bayside on Harbor Dr. in San Diego.
• Departure time 7:00 am. Return approximately 4 pm.
• Our camp provides towels, robes, slippers, shampoo, conditioner, body soap and all bedding.
• All meals are provided when in camp. No meals included during the travel north or south.

Travel Options

NOTE: Ground transport between San Diego or Yuma and camp can take place any day. Flights are only on Monday, Wednesday or Friday in either direction. Flight or ground transport are the same price. Our standard trip offer: San Diego start. Ground transport across the border to Ensenada. Flight from Ensenada to near our camp. Ground transfer to camp. Return the opposite route. Travel 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM. The plus for this trip is the nice 2.5 hour flight from Ensenada to Guerrero. The negative is that the flight is delayed or canceled 10% to 20% of flights. One excellent option: Ground transport San Diego to Camp. Travel time 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM. The plus for this option is that in more than 30 years of operation we have never canceled or changed the date of a ground route trip. For our first 20 years operation our standard transport was by ground, not air. The negative is that instead of the 2.5 hour flight and 1 hour van ride from the airfield to camp you will be driving roughly 10 hours. A second excellent option for some: Ground transport Yuma to Camp. The relatively new highway 5 is a less traveled road with much less traffic and fewer towns to pass through compared to highway 1, the route from San Diego. The route is also shorter by nearly 100 miles. Travel time 5:30 AM to 4:00 PM. The plus is a shorter drive through less populated areas. Trip has never been canceled. The negative vs. the flight is that the drive time is longer than the flight time. One other option which is excellent for some travelers: Fly into the Loreto, BCS airport. Then ground transport to camp. You get a flight from anywhere to Loreto, BCS. Because most flights arrive noon or after you will stay overnight in Loreto. We arrange the transfer from the airport to the hotel. Our driver meets you at your hotel at 8:00 AM for the 6 hour drive to camp. The approximate travel time is 8:00 AM to 3 PM for this option. The plus of this trip is that it is almost never delayed because of flights. The plus or possibly a negative is that you will have one afternoon and evening on your own in Loreto. Fourth option is to fly from Hermosillo Mexico to the airfield in Guerrero Negro where we meet your flight. Plus is this flight is seldom canceled. Also since this requires you to make the flight reservation we deduct $500 Per person from our standard price. Negative is that you must make the travel arrangement and handle any changes. We simply meet you at the airport on arrival. Call, text or email Keith for information or just to talk about whales. +1 (626) 512-0877

Whale Count Comparison at Two Locations

2024 and partial 2025 Gray whale census for Laguna Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio Lagoon. Data from Mexican government census figures. Mag Bay is not shown because the count is always less than San Ignacio.