MEXICO: Mobula Aggregations in the Sea of Cortez
MOBULA MIGRATION
In the Sea of Cortez
Follow the migration of hundreds of thousands of devil rays off the east coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and encounter numerous pelagic species— sea lions, dolphins, whale sharks, orcas, oceanic mantas, and more— in this natural aquarium.
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$3490 USD per person (double occupancy).
Includes:
All accommodations (best available), snacks on the boat, breakfast spreads, two dinners, snorkel boat with captain for 6-8 hours daily (5 on water days + 1 additional activity day), one day of land or SCUBA activity, guides, airport transfers from La Paz Airport, entrance fees, and payment processing fees by Visa/MasterCard.
Does not include:
Any flight tickets, personal spending, insurance, additional food and drinks not mentioned under included, tips for local staff, and anything not explicitly mentioned as included.
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8 Days / 7 Nights
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Maximum 9 people, minimum 4 people.
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La Ventana, BCS, Mexico (airport transfers from La Paz, BCS, Mexico are included, you may also fly into San Jose del Cabo airport and arrange transport for an additional fee).
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Moderate.
This trip is pelagic snorkeling and free diving trip. You can expect to swim for a distance in open water for significant periods of time, occasionally up to 200 meters from the boat. You should be a highly proficient swimmer to participate in this expedition.
Free diving is optional (the alternative is snorkeling). For free divers who wish to carry more weight than surface level neutral buoyancy, they must present a PADI or AAIDA certification to our team before the start date of the trip. Otherwise, you will only be permitted to carry weight for surface level neutral buoyancy. Certification is not necessary to participate.
EXPEDITION DEPARTURE DATES
Click on a date to apply to join.
THE LOCATION
The Sea of Cortez, off the east coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, was described by legendary oceanic explorer Jaques Cousteau as “the world’s aquarium” due to the sheer number of pelagic species that can be found in these waters. Every day you head out on the boat you are not totally sure what you may encounter— whales, dolphins, rays, mantas, sea lions, whale sharks, and tons of fish and turtles are all present here.
Where we base— the town of La Ventana— is a beautiful beach town with great local eats, miles of white sand beaches, and loads of desert cactus vegetation. In the off-season (non-windy season from May to June) it is the best place in the world to see gigantic fevers of mobula rays and other pelagic species as they migrate in and out from the Sea of Cortez.
THE ACTIVITIES
Every year from early May through mid-June, hundreds of thousands of mobula rays migrate through the Sea of Cortez.
The rays attract predators— orcas— which have become more or less resident in the region, as their diet consists largely of mobula rays and dolphins in Baja. Large pods of bottlenose, spotted, and spinner dolphins can also be found, along with the rare whale shark, everpresent sea lions, and other migrating pelagics like Bryds whales. If you’re particularly lucky you may find the orcas.
Taking advantage of this magnificent migration, you will snorkel and free dive with these pelagic species from our panga. We also include an optional SCUBA diving experience in Cabo Pulmo to get up close and personal with massive schools of fish and bull sharks.
THE PEOPLE
La Ventana started out as a quiet fishing village where locals caught sharks, tuna, and mantas. Some twenty years ago it transformed into a happening kite surfing destination, and today about half the town’s winter residents are Canadians and Americans.
Still, locals live here and form the backbone of the community, but sometimes find themselves left out of the kite surfing economy.
Commercial fishing, including shark fishing, continues here. We work exclusively with local captains who know these seas the best because they have fished them for so long. We see tourism as a replacement income for them— instead of catching sharks and mobulas, now they are guiding tourists in these waters. It helps shift the perception of this resource from commodity to conservation. The more we can employ them, the more species become cherished and protected.
THE COST
The total cost of this trip is $3490 USD per person based on a group size of 4-9 individuals.
The trip includes accommodation in a beautiful private beach house in La Ventana, 5 days of boat trips with captain Lore (6-8 hours per day), snacks on board, one activity day (option to choose a land activity or SCUBA diving in Cabo Pulmo National Park for certified divers), guide, breakfast groceries, and a welcome and concluding gourmet dinner. All entrance fees and payment processing fees by Visa/MasterCard are included, along with airport transfers on the start/end date from La Paz airport.
The cost does not include any flight tickets, personal spending, insurance, additional food and drinks, tips for local staff, and anything not explicitly mentioned as included.
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Fly into La Paz International Airport (airport code LAP— remember not to confuse this airport with La Paz, Bolivia, or you’ll end up in the wrong continent). Our driver will meet you on arrival and bring you to the seaside town of La Ventana on the Sea of Cortez.
Once you arrive, you’ll be shown your room in the group beach house and we’ll all hang out together until dinner— a wonderful homecooked meal at the house catered by a professional local private chef.
Program, gear check, and safety briefing to follow dinner.
Note: sometimes there are a lot cheaper/more direct flights into San Jose del Cabo International Airport (airport code SJD). This airport is about a 2.5 hr drive from La Ventana, as opposed to a 50-minute drive from LAP. We can also arrange transfers from San Jose del Cabo at an additional cost of $100 USD per car per way.
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Breakfast foods are stocked in the refrigerator and pantry, feel free to eat whenever you’d like between 06:00 and 06:45. We will have a final gear check at 06:45 and then begin to lead the boat just at the beach in front of the house for a 07:00 boat departure time.
From 7 am until around 1-3 pm (depending on the weather, what we find, and how far away we venture offshore) we spend the day out on the water looking for pelagic wildlife to swim with. While you can generally expect to find schools of mobula rays (80% chance) and large pods of various species of dolphins (95% chance), you may also encounter various other species, as a ton of wildlife is transiting through these waters at this time. We have found orcas, Bryds whales, juvenile and adult whale sharks, spine-tailed rays, oceanic manta rays, cow nose rays, sperm whales, mola mola, mahi mahi, blue marlin, and more. Each day brings a new opportunity to find something intriguing.
Snacks and fresh drinking water are prepared on board.
Once we return to shore, we clean off at the house and then can choose to go into town for more food or hang out until dinner. Dinners are on your own, but normally the group sticks together to explore some of the best local restaurants in town— fish tacos, seafood, burgers, aguachile, ceviche and more are all delicious and help support local businesses.
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See the previous day.
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See the previous day.
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Today you will be able to choose from one of two activities— a land or sea day.
Land day:
You will depart for the city of La Paz, where you can visit the local markets, walk the promenade, enjoy nice cafes and restaurants in town (lunch included), and then spend the late afternoon at Playa Balandra, one of the most magical beaches in Mexico.or
Sea day:
You will leave in the morning for Cabo Pulmo National Park, a 2-hour drive south along the east coast. When you arrive, you’ll have a quick lunch at a seaside restaurant before getting fitted up for your SCUBA dive gear. You’ll then head out for two tank dives in this incredible environment. Common sightings include massive schools of fish and numerous bull sharks. You must be SCUBA certified to participate in this activity (OW minimal certification). -
See Day 2 (same schedule).
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See the previous day.
In the evening we will share in a gourmet experience at a private catered event just for the group at Casa Xolo, one of the most magical spots in the desert just outside of town.
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The check-out time from the house is 10 am. We will arrange airport transfers back to La Paz for the group according to your flight schedule.
The following itinerary is meant to serve as a guideline for the trip, rather than an exact play-by-play. As is true of all inertia experiences, we leave room for sporadic interactions, unforeseen opportunities, and time buffers to compensate for unexpected scenarios.
MAGICAL MOBULA FEVERS
Snorkel and free dive with tens of thousands of devil rays, each one measuring 4 feet across.
MEET THE LOCALS
Dive with bull sharks in Cabo Pulmo National Park.
LOOK FOR PELAGICS
Explore the miraculous Sea of Cortez in search of even larger pelagic species.
BEACH, TACOS, AND DESERT
Hang out with new friends in an awesome beach house in the desert of Baja California Sur, Mexico.
EXPEDITION DEPARTURE DATES
All Expeditions are limited to a fixed maximum and a minimum number of participants (4~9 people) to ensure a safe, intimate, and sustainable experience.
Click on a date below to apply to join an expedition.
If no trip dates are available, private trips or extra dates may be possible to organize according to your schedule pending our teams’ availability and the seasonality of the activity. Contact us to arrange a private trip.
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We rent a beach house for the mobula season with both single and double rooms. Everyone will stay together at the beach house.
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You do not need to be a certified diver or free diver to participate in this program. That being said, certified divers will have a really fun time on this trip, as the ability to get close to marine wildlife without disturbing them.
For the day trip to Cabo Pulmo, open water certification is needed to participate in the full day of activities, but non-certified divers are able to do a two-dive Discover Scuba course.
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You do not need to be a free diver to participate in this trip. It is, by and large, a snorkeling trip, with one optional day to go SCUBA diving in Cabo Pulmo National Park.
Trained free-divers will enjoy this trip a lot since you’ll be able to get closer and share in more intimate experiences with pelagic species, but staying at the surface is also a very rewarding experience.
That being said, all participants should be very capable and confident swimmers in open water. You should be able to swim 200 meters in open water (with fins) before needing to return to the boat.
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For this trip you should bring all of your own snorkeling and/or free-diving gear— this includes a light wetsuit (2-3mm or a shortie or swim shorts with a rash guard), mask, snorkel, weight belt with weights, fins, and any other gear you require. Beach and bathing towels are provided at the house. The boat has a dry section for your phons and electronics.
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Yes, you will have internet access throughout the trip. The house has high-speed fiber optic internet, and the town of El Sargento is covered by a 4G mobile network. While on the boat the network will only work while close to the town.
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Officially, it is not permitted to get into the water with whales and orcas. It is permitted to swim with dolphins and sea lions, as well as all types of fish, including sharks and rays. The trip leader will assess the situation before each water entry and brief the group on what to expect.
Keep in mind this is not a whale swimming trip. For that, you can check out our programs in French Polynesia and Dominica.
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Orcas are resident along the southern part of Baja California in the Sea of Cortez. That being said, encountering them is not common. We may encounter them a couple of times a week or once every three months, as they have a large range and can easily travel very long distances. Seeing orcas takes a good amount of luck, but we have encountered them every season thus far, so it is possible!
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All participants should be able to swim for at least 200 meters at a time unaided in open water. As this is a pelagic swimming trip, decently strong swimming skills are a prerequisite to participation. Participants are selected on a first come first serve basis.
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The food is amazing. Baja has a wonderful blend of traditional Mexican fare with its own unique take on seafood, beef, and vegetables. We visit local restaurants throughout the trip and have a foodie emphasis throughout, especially for our dinners.
We are able to accommodate most dietary restrictions on this trip, including vegan diets.
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Generally speaking the seas on the Sea of Cortez are quite calm in May and June, especially in the mornings. While the interior side of the Baja Peninsula is known for its strong winds and surf, the winds tend to die down significantly by April, resulting in much better boating and swimming conditions. The surf may pick up by mid to late afternoon depending on the day, but we normally head back to shore before the winds get too strong.
The approximate temperature range goes from daytime highs of about 35 degrees to nighttime lows of about 18 degrees (typical desert weather). Water temperatures are around 25-26 degrees.
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Yes, a packing and preparation list is emailed to all participants a few months before the trip start date.
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While insurance is not required to be able to participate in this trip, we do recommend it for a variety of reasons— health and safety while overseas, sudden or last-minute change in your travel plans, or missing/delayed gear/luggage. We recommend sticking to bigger, reputable providers such as Amex and Allianz as their claims filing process is uncomplicated and reimbursements are fast.
