“Grey Whale Eco-camp and Grey Whales and Whale Sharks”
Reviewed 1 week ago

With wildlife based holidays you can never be sure if the said ‘wildlife’ is going to turn up; it is the risk you take. Our trip to La Paz, Baja California Sur delivered wildlife in shedloads.

While there we did two trips, both with Panterra Eco Expeditions.

The first was to an eco-camp in the Grey Whales Lagoons of Magdalena Bay. The camp was remote, beautiful and basic; you could sit on the beach and watch the whales and their calves in the lagoon or take a trip or five, on the water in a panga (small boat) which meant that you could get even closer to the whales. We were impressed by the way in which Lela (Panterra) allowed the whales to make the decision as to whether they wanted to engage with the panga or not and also if there were too many boats around a whale to back off and wait for another one to engage with us. We had so many whale and calf encounters we lost count, but each one was special and the calf allowing us to tickle their tummy was very special indeed. Not only did we see whales, but we also learnt a great deal about them. Make sure you have a jacket, as the pangas move quickly about the water and often have some distance to travel to find the whales. This trip lasted three days.

The second part of the trip was a live-aboard on the MV Adventure and again exceeded our expectations in what Lela and her crew delivered. This part of the trip was six days. Because of the unusual weather Lela moved the trip itinerary around, so that we could undertake the snorkelling activities – Whale Sharks and Sea Lions – when the Sea of Cortez was calm. What can we say swimming with Whale Sharks – how privileged were we – I’m not a strong swimmer, but Alan made sure I could keep up with the Whale Shark by giving me some help. As for having a Sea Lion swimming directly for you and then turning away at the last moment is still making me laugh; I’m not sure who was more interested us or the Sea Lions.

Other great moments – the bird life, Ospreys being so plentiful around La Paz; who knew cactus could be interesting; beach combing like we did as children, but with much more variety; the Mobula Rays doing both forward and backward flips – making us laugh out loud; the humpback whales breaching and showing us their flukes and deeply special the two Blue Whales we saw. Not to mention the fantastic food, always just the right amount and extra snacks available whenever required; and then there were the cocktails – sitting on deck with a delicious cocktail in hand watching wildlife. Thank you Panterra – Lela, Alan and the MV Adventure crew – ‘Amazing’ is an overused word, but both parts of the trip were amazing. Top Tip make sure you have spare batteries and memory cards for you camera – you are going to use them all up.

Visited March 2017

TripAdvisor

Hats off to Panterra Eco Expeditions!

For the second year in a row I joined Lela and her Panterra crew for many awesome adventures in the Sea of Cortez.

The first week we camped at a whale camp on Santo Domingo Island and were able to interact with the Gray whales and their babies. There are no words to describe interacting in a very safe fashion with these magnificent mammals. Truly an eye opener. Also many beautiful things to see and do in Magdalena bay.

I had the pleasure of taking my older sister on the trip and it was truly an adventure of a life time. It was her first trip, her first holiday in her life and I know she wants to go back.

We went back to La Paz and snorkeled beside whale sharks and California sea lions.

I was very fortunate to spend the second week in the Sea of Cortez with the Panterra crew, whale watching, hiking, snorkeling and enjoying one of the most beautiful places on earth. The sea life, the birds and the wonderful people will keep me coming back.

I truly love the Panterra Eco expeditions and cant wait to go again. There are so many trips to choose from I could spends years returning and playing in the Sea of Cortez.

Panterra has an amazing crew, truly wonderful people, and the chef is spectacular.

Tracey – Duncan, BC