Moments before sunrise, the sun painted the Sierra de la Giganta with alpenglow. Water reflected the orange sky, and surfacing bottle-nose dolphins sliced through the colors. Mobula rays swam near with their wing tips in the air.
We cruised slowly through more small groups of bottlenose dolphins, and when they swam in our bow wave, we leaned over the ship’s railing to watch their maneuverings. Then we sighted another species—an enormous group of at least 700 long-beaked common dolphins! Small groups took turns riding the ship’s pressure wave, while others leapt in our wake. Hundreds of dolphins surrounded us, swimming in synchrony, diving, leaping, and breathing. What a wonderfully energizing and joyful encounter!
Shortly after lunch we arrived at our afternoon anchorage on Isla San José’s northwest shore. A lively pod of bottlenose dolphins was swimming near shore, so we boarded expedition landing crafts to cruise among them before heading to shore.
The early afternoon was very relaxed, and devoted to various water sports: we kayaked, paddled on stand-up paddleboards, swam or simply refreshed ourselves in the comfortably cooling water. In the late afternoon, naturalists led walks exploring the shoreline, plants, and bird life. Some of us ventured up an arroyo that narrowed and curved, and along the way we found a rare cactus known as night-blooming cereus, as well as many owl pellets.
While we were enjoying water sports and walks, the hotel department was preparing dinner ashore. When it was ready we enjoyed a delicious barbecue dinner, sipped margaritas, sat around the bonfire, and toasted marshmallows for s’mores. As we finished the last bites of our feast ashore, the sun sank over the Sierra de la Giganta. What a lovely, relaxing, dolphin-filled day in Baja California.
