Please note the tour price reflected on the brochure is subject to change. Due to seasonality, and taxes prices of the tour are subject to change without due notice. Please consult with the operator directly for the recent price.
Cradle of the Grey Whale: Baja California Uncovered

Overview
Short Description
Boat excursions to spot whales and dolphins in pristine lagoons. Day trip to Espíritu Santo Island to spot a number of bird species as well as observe and snorkel with the playful sea lions. Exploring the Sierra de San Francisco, a mountain range with a diverse flora, rugged canyon scenery and prehistoric rock art.
Itinerary
Day 1 : Mexico City
Today you begin your journey by boarding your international outbound flight to Mexico City. Upon arrival make your way to the nearby airport hotel in preparation for your journey to Baja California tomorrow.
Day 2 : La Paz
This morning fly to La Paz, one of the gateways to beautiful Baja California. You have the afternoon at leisure to relax and recover. This evening meet the rest of your group for dinner and an introduction to the days ahead.
Day 3 : La Paz
Today you could relax at your own leisure. Alternatively you have a choice of excursions. Spend time exploring some national parks or go swimming with whale sharks.
Day 4 : Loreto
Travel to the port of López Mateos on Magdalena Bay for your first whale watching excursion. Continue on to Loreto, with stops at Baja's own "Monument Valley" and at the spectacular drop-off of the Sierra de la Giganta into the Sea of Cortez.
Day 5 : San Ignacio
Today you leave Loreto for San Ignacio, taking in many attractions along the way. Hike through volcanic scenery to a giant column of cacti, and perhaps swim in Conception Bay. A little further north you'll see the historic mining town of French origin, Santa Rosalía, where you will visit the metal church designed by Gustav Eiffel. Later, hike against the backdrop of Tres Vírgenes volcanoes before reaching picturesque San Ignacio.
Day 6 : San Ignacio
Travel to the San Ignacio lagoon, where you will embark on your second amazing boat trip to look for the grey whales. This is the smallest lagoon to find the whales and is often a memorable experience,
Day 7 : San Ignacio
Today you will explore the Sierra San Francisco, a diverse canyon landscape of endemic flora and prehistoric rock art.
Day 8 : San Ignacio
Travel by road to Guerrero Negro today. En route to the wharf you'll enjoy an interesting tour of the world's largest "open sky" salt works, before embarking on a whale watching trip on Scammon's Lagoon.
Day 9 : Loreto
Begin the journey back to Loreto, visiting an old Jesuit mission en-route as well as taking a hike at the base of the spectacular Tres Virgenes volcanoes.
Day 10 : Loreto
Having covered a lot of ground, today has been built in for you to choose what you would like to do. You may wish to simply relax at your hotel, or walk along the Malecon and explore Loreto. Alternatively, you could book an excursion to Isla Coronado, or visit the Oasis and Mission of San Javier.
Day 11 : La Paz
Your morning will start with a short walking tour of Loreto, where you will visit the mission church and mission museum. In the afternoon you will return to La Paz.
Day 12 : La Paz
Today you will visit a series of stunning secluded beaches and bays, surrounded by mangroves. Your guide will take you on a little known path right along the edge between mountain, desert and mangroves, to an otherwise inaccessible beach. On this nature walk you will have the chance to see some of the many bird species native to the area.
Day 13 : International return flight
Transfer to the airport for your flight to Mexico City followed by onward international departure.
Day 14 : International return flight
Arrive home today to complete your journey.
Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Audley Travel.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click
"Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for
the final trip price.
3,322 Audley Travel Travel Reviews & Ratings
Cradle of the Grey Whale: Baja California Uncovered
Company Reviews
I’ll use Audley for all my travel moving forward
The locations were perfect and the activities made the experience extra special.
I would definitely recommend Audley and especially Ewan to anyone looking for a more bespoke experience.
Unresponsive
I contacted Audley as they came recommended by Wilderness Travel, the company we traveled with previously.
I left multiple messages for their regional specialist Adam -- voice messages through his co-workers (Alec and Jacky), email, website inquiry -- he didn't reply. I finally spoke to another specialist at the office (Lydia) and pressed her to not take yet another message for Adam, but tell me honestly if they are interested in working on our itinerary or we should move on. She then told me that they are busy. Well, wish they had some integrity to tell me on the first call, so I didn't have to loose time on trying to contact their "specialist".
p.s. They sent their automated marketing message with ALL their trips listed in response to my website inquiry. In this message they included: "When you are ready...". I replied that, indeed, we are ready, as I explained in my inquiry -- ready, know where and when we want to travel and are inquiring if you are interested in creating a private journey for us. No reply! Instead, they sent another marketing message the next day (and after Lydia already told us that they are very busy and won't be able to make reservations.) The second marketing message had no option to "unsubscribe". Again, I replied to that message and asked them to stop spamming me with marketing materials.
UPDATE: Audley's Client Experience Executive reached out to me in response to this review. She apologized profusely and wanted me to know that my "feedback is being heard". She said that she spoke with the employees' manager to "ensure mistakes like this don’t happen again and provide additional training to support their growth." She also promised to ask the marketing to delete my name from their marketing list. I took her at her word.
I don't know if this interaction with the client experience executive convinced me to seek Audley's services in the future, but I promised her to include in my review this "status update".
There are much better travel companies than Audley
I’m booking for South Africa and they simply can’t accept that another company can provide a better itinerary at a lower price - even to the point of asking for the other quote and saying this is usual practice in the industry!! ( rubbish) . Totally unprofessional behaviour. Furthermore , sending me emails knocking my choice of hotel and safari park while at the same time promoting hotels that clearly have issues as evidenced by poor ratings on the major sites
I use another well known travel provider that actually provide high quality at a decent price
Audley are simply interested in selling the highest price hotels etc that give them the maximum profit rather than what is right for you
They love themselves and keep on saying nonsense such as “ I’m really pleased with what I’ve come up with and hope you are too “
They need to get real
I won’t reveal the name of the agent dealing with me as that’s probably unfair
Amazing Trip of a life time
Christmas in Thailand
Mark Hotham at Audley Travel helped us to put together the holiday of a lifetime. He helped us through the complexity of different start dates, advised on a suitable hotel and arranged a terrific trip to the Elephant Hills camp in the jungle.
The arrangements worked splendidly, the hotel in Khao Lak was first class and the Elephant Hills trip was magical.
Nothing was ever too much trouble for Mark and every effort was made to deliver the holiday we were looking for.
We have already recommended Audley travel to our friends and they will be our first choice of travel agency from now on.
Our California Trip
Details
Flight & Transport Inclusions
All internal ground transport
Group Size
Intimate Group - 12 max
Trip ID#:
audley-travel-39894
We respect your privacy and take great care to protect your information. By clicking «Send my questions» you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. An account will be created for you to track your submission and a temporary password will be emailed to you.
×You can access members-only savings of up to $700 on over 6,000 Travelstride Select trips.
Sign in to see trip eligibility
With your FREE membership you get to:
- Save up to $700 per person!*
- Access private deals and offers
- See personalized trip recommendations
- Save favorite trips
We respect your privacy and take great care to protect your information. By joining you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
You could save $ 600 per person on this trip!
