A curious whale investigates a small tourist boat in Baja’s Magdalena Bay. Every spring the bay fills with migrating whales, dolphins, pelicans and other birds — but very few people. Photo by Don Mankin

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Kayakers circle El Hongo (the mushroom), a sandstone rock near La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, Mexico. The small, historic city is a perfect home base for a whale watching excursion. © Isabella Biava | Dreamstime.com

The large gray whale drew close to our boat. Crusty barnacles on its skin stood out like dense clusters of thread woven into an abstract tapestry.

Several people scrambled to the side to lean over and touch the majestic beast as it sidled alongside. I could have either joined them or sit back and take photos. I opted for the latter, and I’m not sure I made the right choice.

Whales of Magdalena Bay

I was on a small boat with nine other people to observe gray whales at the endpoint of their annual migration from the Arctic to Magdalena Bay on the Pacific Ocean side of the Baja Peninsula, where they give birth to their newborn calves.

For three days, we ventured out into Magdalena Bay in wooden fishing boats called pangas, skiffs pressed into service for the whale-watching season from January to March. The pangas, covered with large blue tarps to offer protection from the unrelenting Baja sun, are powered by huge outboard motors to zip around the vast bay in search of whales.

Although our main goal was to see whales, the setting was stunning, well worth the several hours we spent on the water each day. The sapphire bay is framed by untouched barrier islands with stark desert mountains and expansive, deserted beaches.

We saw plenty of whales, often at a distance, sometimes up close, occasionally right alongside the boat. At times, they would stick their snouts out of the water to “spy hop” — raise their heads above the water to check out the view and decide which boats to grace with their presence.

It’s not known why some whales, known as “friendlies” approach the boats so closely. But it’s clearly their choice, as they have the entire sea in which to hang out.

Our up-close encounter was, hands down, the highlight of our three-day whale watching adventure. It happened on our last day, about an hour before we had to return to camp and head back to La Paz, the city where we started our trip.

I have had several close encounters with large marine mammals over the years — orcas in Alaska, gray whales in British Columbia, walruses in Siberia, and whale sharks in Indonesia, among others — but the experience still makes my heart pound.

The whales weren’t the only highlight of the trip. Playful dolphins, pelicans, frigate birds and cormorants were our frequent companions. On the second day, we stopped for lunch on a beach on one of the barrier islands. We had the pristine beach to ourselves. In this day and age, that solitude alone would almost be worth the time and expense of the trip.

Glamping on the Bay

Every afternoon, we retired to our camp, a mile or so down a rough, dusty road from the formerly sleepy fishing village of Puerto Chale, now a bustling whale watching hub.

In the camp, large tents lined a bluff overlooking a lagoon and a small beach, offering stunning sunset views of the bay and the mountains on the distant barrier islands from pretty much every angle.

Each tent was outfitted with two cots, air mattresses and sleeping bags. Our camp chef, Vickie, served us excellent Mexican home-cooked meals in a big communal dome tent, which we also used for happy hour cocktails, presentations about whales and just hanging out.

At the edge of the camp was a small tent with a rudimentary toilet, essentially the same “facility” you would find on any organized camping trip. With the warm sun, pristine sand and glistening water, it was much like a beach resort, albeit without plumbing.

An instant community

In my many years of adventure trips, I have found that you meet certain kinds of people on these trips who add significantly to the experience. The people I meet on these expeditions are almost as important to my enjoyment of the trip as the wildlife, wilderness and cultural attractions. This journey was no exception.

In addition to my wife, Katherine, and me, there were two couples from London, a couple from China and two women friends from California. They were all personable, lively and smart. We made good use of the communal tent for stimulating conversations and cocktails every afternoon and evening after our daily whale watching excursions.

Our naturalist guides, all from Mexico, were also exceptional — informative, helpful and just fun to hang out with. We rapidly formed an instant community of fellow like-minded adventurers.

The allure of La Paz

La Paz, the capital of the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico, is well worth a visit in its own right. A short two-hour flight from Los Angeles, La Paz is an appealing city with many attractions, including the Malecon, a scenic 3.5-mile-long waterfront promenade with 180-degree views of the Bay of La Paz.

Numerous Mexican restaurants line the street across from the promenade and serve a wide variety of seafood, including fish and shrimp tacos, the local specialty.

It is also the starting point for a separate five-day kayak trip around Espiritu Santo Island, a desert island six miles off La Paz in the Sea of Cortez.

I took that same trip, one of my all-time favorite kayak trips, in 1989. On that excursion, I tried snorkeling for the first time; it is still some of the best snorkeling I have ever experienced. I loved the area so much that I returned several years later, first on a sailboat and later on another kayak excursion.

Those adventures opened my eyes to the wonders of this magical region — its scenery, waters, marine life, desert, mountains and whales.

I may not have had the opportunity to stroke that curious whale’s mottled, crusty skin, but at least I have the photos to remind me of a wildlife encounter like none other.

If you go

Round-trip flights with two stops to La Paz on Delta start at around $650. Or you can fly to Los Angeles and catch a nonstop Alaska Airlines flight to La Paz for about $700.

The Seven Crown Centro Hotel (centro.hotelsevencrown.com) offers a discounted rate of about $120/night for clients of Sea Kayak Adventures (seakayakadventures.com), the tour operator for this trip, which hosted my wife and me.

Sea Kayak Adventures also offers a five-day kayak trip on Espiritu Santo Island. Most of the people on our trip also took the kayak trip the week before our whale watching adventure.

Nim Restaurante in La Paz offers an upscale, fusion dining experience. The menu at the rooftop restaurant at the Seven Crown Hotel on the Malecon is more prosaic, but the views of the harbor and the bay are outstanding.