Cabo San Lucas from our ship.We had booked a whale watching/snorkeling tour and it was leaving fairly early, so we had to hurry and eat so we could get an early tender off the ship. The ship was not able to dock right next to land, so it was anchored out a little ways in the harbor. There are little boats called "tenders" that saddle right next to the ship that take people back and forth all day. Our group was on boats 1 and 2. We had all met after breakfast on the ship in a predesignated place so we could leave all together. I didn't count, but there must have been at least 25 of us.
These are "tenders"
The tenders took about 10 minutes to get to land. On our way in we noticed that there was some pretty nice yachts docked there and even one huge one with tinted black windows all the way around and a helicopter on one of the decks! Very posh! Jim took a bunch of pictures.
There were also a bunch of very small boats....only big enough to put a couple of people in. They had these outboard motors that had a bunch of bird poo running down the sides. There were so many pelicans here and they used those small boats for perches. Pelicans are big birds!! Big birds make big poop! Yuck!
After docking, we made our way through the maze of ropes and photographers to get to our tour boat. They practically tackle you to get your picture....they hope you'll buy it later on. When you're off the dock, they tackle you to buy their wares or to rent their boats for fishing or whale watching or whatever. There are so many of them! I feel so bad for them. I always hope that they get enough business to feed their families!
Our tour boat was nice! I was very surprised! It had two levels. The upper level had benches to sit, and the captain steers the boat from up there. The lower level was mostly inside and had benches and tables to eat at. There were windows all around so you can still see out while eating. There was also a wet bar, a hot table and built-in bar-b-cue on this level. From this level you can access the very front of the boat on the nose. You really get the wind in your face out there. I spent a lot of time there just soaking up the sun. I had images of "Titanic" as Kate was out on the front nose like she was flying. On this boat, you can go way out on the front tip, too. Erin loved it there and stood there for a long time.
Me, Max and Austin sitting inside.We first visited a colony of sea lions. A bunch were sitting on a flattish rock not too far off the shore from Cabo. Boy did they stink! In this same area there were many wonderful rock formations jutting out of the water. Beautiful!
Sea Lions.Next we went out a ways from land to try to find whales. We did see a few humpbacks, yes. But not for very long and mostly just their backs. We did see two tails, which was cool.
Our end goal was going to a harbor that had a small, private-ish beach. There were lots of fish here. The tour provided snorkeling equipment. Most everyone got in the water. But not me....I didn't even bring a swim suit on the trip! No way you're getting me into one of those!
Corinne and ErinJim in snorkeling garb
Austin jumping from off the top level of the boat.Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, even though it was kind of a short stay. Oh! And I almost forgot..... Erin had something sting her leg! It was not real bad, but bad enough that it cut her swimming short and she had red, irritating marks for several days. Glad it wasn't worse than it was!
A view of the beach.By the time everyone got back on the boat, lunch was ready! A very Mexican meal for us! Tortillas, salsa, guacamole, beans, cheese, rice, fruit, strips of seasoned beef and chicken shish kabobs. It was wonderful! I really piled up the guacamole, salsa and corn chips, cuz those are a few of my favorite things!
Food!They also had a guy making us drinks at the wet bar. The virgin strawberry daiquiris were very good and the best part was that they just kept on coming....no charge! They also had sodas, but no one wanted them! Are you kidding?? You can get cheap, 'ol soda any time. But mixed drinks are another story! yummy!
Mixing drinks!
Austin enjoying a strawberry daiquiriOn our way back to our starting place, the captain took us out a bit, just in case we saw some more whales. We did! All humpbacks. You can see them spout out there and the captain would chase them down. More backs and tails and THEN, there was this pod of three or four that gave us a REAL show! They were jumping out of the water and flipping their tails and throwing water every where. It went on and on and on! Our tour was supposed to be only three hours (insert Gilligan's Island theme song here), but because we found these fantastic whales, the captain kept us out there an extra hour! They never did dive out of sight. We finally just left them to get back to shore. It was a huge high-light of my whole vacation! Jim got some great pictures that are way worthy of framing! They were that good!
As we pulled away and sped up to leave, I watched out the back at those whales. You could still see them jumping and playing until they were too small to see. Way cool! I was sad to leave them. We found out from the captain that it was really rare to see whales jumping out of the water, and so to see them jumping so much was VERY lucky for us!!!
As we got off the boat, we put a tip in their tip-jar, because the crew was great and SO worth the money we paid!! I'd do it again in a heart beat!
The crew plus "The Cruise Lady"After getting off the boat, we headed into town on foot. We didn't get very far. The kids were tired and didn't want to walk much. Erin just wanted to make sure she got a souvenir for one of her friends....that was not hard to do. There are so many cheap things that are so Mexican-y. I thought that was cool! When that was done, it was back to the dull ship for the rest of the day.
It was a good day.....a VERY good day!
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