Captain's Blog

Searcher Baja Whale Tour #2 – February 21 – March 4, 2025

Hello Whale Watchers!

Day 1

Searcher left San Diego Friday evening with 25 passengers, 3 guides, 7 crew members and headed South.

Day 2

Saturday morning, we checked in at Ensenada and continued southbound toward Isla San Benito. On our travels, we saw a variety of seabirds and had a few distant encounters with gray whales and humpback whales. Late in the day, we encountered a mega pod estimated in the thousands of common dolphins.

Day 3

Isla San Benito did not a disappoint. We observed plenty of Guadalupe fur seals, California sea lions, and elephant seals hauled out on the rocks and beaches of West Island. After departing we encountered numerous fin whales which were up feeding relatively shallow. As the sun set, we left and continued down the Baja Peninsula toward Laguna San Ignacio.

Day 4 & 5

The lagoon in San Ignacio is one of our favorite stops on these trips, and it lived up to the hype. There were approximately 60 animals in the lagoon. We saw a friendly cow-calf pair on the second day in the lagoon, which let everyone get a touch. We saw a lot of activity over the past couple of days, with spy-hopping and breaching as well.

Beside all the incredible sighting, the access to fresh, local, sustainable seafood down here is a huge draw to the area. Straight from the ocean to the plate. The local Pangaros styled us out with clams, sea bass, and oysters from the oyster farm in the lagoon, which we will be enjoying over the next few days. We left in the evening and headed for Bahia Magdalena.

Day 6

We lucked out again on Wednesday with approximately five blue whales just above the entrance to Bahía Magdalena, which we stayed with for a couple of hours. Numerous gray whales and humpbacks were spotted throughout the day. It was also a great day for birding, we had two red-billed tropicbirds and got the birders a black-footed albatross.

In the evening, we tried something a little different and headed in close to Isla Margarita around Punta Tosca to check out the California sea lions hauled out on the beach. We also spotted a bald eagle perched on the rocks near the shore.

Now we’re headed for Los Cabos and the Gorda Banks for humpback whales. So far, we’ve heard nothing but reports of beautiful weather ahead.

A big thank you and photo credit to Tabata Olavarrieta! Our expert guide on all the tours and Marine Biologist.

Searcher and the Crew would love for you to join us on the adventures! Our 2026 schedule is available on our website.

Click the link below to discover a trip of a lifetime!

Searcher Baja Whale Tours

– Captain Mike and the Searcher Nature History Crew

Hello Whale Watchers!

Days 6 & 7, February 12 – 13, 2025, have been an unforgettable show of nature’s power with the past two days having been nothing short of magical as we cruised along the Pacific waters off Baja California Sur, specifically near Bahía Magdalena and San José del Cabo. This stretch of ocean truly came alive with an incredible display of humpback whale activity.

We witnessed tail slaps, pec slaps, spy-hopping, and even a few synchronized breaches from multiple whales at once.

Stay tuned to follow our next three days of adventures! We have skiff rides, birding walks and a snorkel session planned!

We would love for you to join us on the adventures! Our 2026 schedule is posted on our website.

Click the link below to discover a trip of a lifetime!

Searcher Baja Whale Tours

– Captain Mike and the Searcher Nature History Crew

Hello Whale Watchers!

Searcher is thrilled to announce that we’ve officially kicked off our first whale-watching tour of 2025! We set sail from San Diego, CA, on February 7th for a 10-day adventure with our wonderful friends from The Travel Naturalist. Our journey runs from February 7th to February 16th, and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Day 2 – Heading South from Ensenada
We checked in at Ensenada early in the morning. The weather wasn’t ideal for whale watching at first, so we spent most of the day traveling south. Along the way, we were lucky to spot a few southbound gray whales and pods of common dolphins. Tomorrow, we’ll arrive at Islas San Benito.

Day 3 – Islas San Benito
We reached Islas San Benito around 8:00 a.m. and were greeted by elephant seals hauled out on the beach. Our guests hiked across the island to the seal colony, where they enjoyed close views of the growing Guadalupe fur seal population. It’s incredible to see their numbers increasing each year! We’re now headed to Laguna San Ignacio, where we’ll spend the next two days exploring.

Day 4 & 5 – Laguna San Ignacio
The past two days in Laguna San Ignacio have been nothing short of magical! We had plenty of encounters with gray whales, including some incredibly friendly ones. When we arrived, there were 32 whales in the lagoon, and it seemed like even more arrived on the second day.

Tomorrow, we’ll be offshore near Bahia Magdalena, searching for more whales.

Stay tuned for updates from Days 6 to 10!

– Captain Mike and the Searcher Nature History Crew

April 8

Hello whalewatchers,

Today we enjoyed the beautiful colors on the sandstone cliffs at Isla San Jose, Punta Colorado. Then a big highlight was watching the eclipse from the deck of Searcher!

It was a great way to end a fantastic trip with a boatload of happy whalewatchers!

Land crew and Team Searcher

April 7

Hello whalewatchers,

Today we went ashore at a wonderful beach at a peninsula location. The birding was excellent and we generated a good list for the day.

During our travels, we spotted several marine mammals including CA sea lions, long-beaked common dolphins, a blue whale and a large group (500-700 individuals) of Guadalupe fur seals at Las Animas. We took a skiff ride close to the island to observe these fascinating animals and their behaviors.

Land crew and Team Searcher

April 5

Hello whalewatchers,

We had an exciting stop in La Paz Bay this morning, as many passengers swam with the whale sharks here!

Land crew and Team Searcher

April 4

Hello whalewatchers:

We enjoyed a fantastic encounter with humpback whales today! There were two large groups of whales, including mother and calf pairs, showing lots of aerial behaviors and activity.

Later in the day, we found some mobula rays to entertain us.

A big thank you to Tabata O  and Kate Sutherland for our photos used here.

Land crew from Team Searcher

April 4

Hello whalewatchers:

The whale of the day? BLUE WHALE!

We encountered 25-30 blue whales during the morning, and several more after that. We also spotted two humpback whales and a huge herd of common dolphins.

Our seabird sightings were also terrific: shearwaters, petrels, murrelets, tropicbirds, storm-petrels, frigatebirds, and brown booby. The weather has been great and so we are busy with more wildlife spotting.

A big thank you to Tabata O  and Kate Sutherland for our photos used here.

Land crew from Team Searcher

April 2

Hello whalewatchers:

Our second day in Laguna San Ignacio brought us more gray whale interactions and some wonderful birding in the mangrove ecosystem present on the lagoon shorelines.

The morning whalewatch excursion was on the slow side for sightings, so we opted for a birding trip next. The tide was low and we found a good list of shorebirds including white ibis, herons and egrets, and seabirds such as terns, jaegers, cormorants, and gulls. Osprey, turkey vultures, pelicans, and frigatebirds soared overhead.

Later we encountered some active and curious gray whale calves, so our day in the lagoon was deemed a success!

A big thank you to Tabata O  and Kate Sutherland for our photos used here.

Land crew from Team Searcher

April 1

Hello whalewatchers:

We arrived to Laguna San Ignacio this morning in anticipation of meeting up with the gray whales in the lagoon where mothers are still caring for their calves. On our first trip out, we were met with curious and friendly whales. The guests were all smiles!

The bird list from today was impressive as well, with many seabirds such as shearers, boobies, terns, loons, jaegers, and gulls

We’re looking forward to another great visit with the whales tomorrow.

A big thank you to Tabata O  and Kate Sutherland for our photos used here.

Land crew from Team Searcher