Christmas in the Sea of Cortez! It is always a privilege and pleasure to be at sea during the Christmas season. Kids of all ages travel with their families from near and far to experience the holiday season, bringing the generations together to celebrate all the joy and magic of this special time of year.
Our Christmas began under the auspices of a full moon, which peaked in the wee hours before dawn. A full moon on Christmas Day hasn’t happened for 38 years, since way back in 1977 (before many of our younger guests were even born) and won’t happen again until the year 2034. With a perfectly clear sky the full moon set in the west just as our sun was rising in the east. Early risers had the thrill of watching them both for just a brief overlap in the early dawn.
Our goal this morning was to snorkel on the coral reef at Cabo Pulmo, the only living coral reef system in the entire Sea of Cortez. This area is a marine preserve, and since being declared such in 1995 the diversity and abundance of reef fish has made an impressive comeback! The coral heads in this area are absolutely resplendent with fishes of all sizes and colors. Highlights included Moorish idols, king angelfish, yellow-tailed surgeons, azure parrotfish, and the comical guinea fowl pufferfish. Some of us even got the pleasure of meeting a green sea turtle as it slowly passed beneath our fins! Off shore we snorkeled with literally tens of thousands of big-eye trevally, which slowly circled each and every one of us, just as interested in us as we were in them.
The highlight of the morning for me came in the form of an adult humpback whale, which absolutely put on an aerial display the like of which I haven’t seen any other rival in my 30 plus years of watching whales. Breaching time and again this jorobada threw its massive pectoral fins into a full rotation as it pirouetted for a total of 18 full breaches with the beautiful sand dunes and red rocks of Cabo Pulmo for a backdrop. Merry Christmas indeed!
Our afternoon was spent leisurely following the coast of the Baja California Peninsula, where we encountered several more humpback whales, each busy with their own humpback agendas. Sunset found us at Land’s End, the famous granite arch and rocks of Finisterra, the very southernmost point of the peninsula. As the sun set into the golden sea, we raised a glass and toasted friends and families all over the world, wishing them a happy holiday season and a healthy New Year to come.
