This week’s dream: star spotting and whale watching in Baja
A popular retreat for Hollywood A-listers, the Mexican state of Baja California, on the Baja Peninsula, is known for its desert landscapes, “rosy” mountains and old Jesuit missions. But perhaps the best reason to visit is its “dazzling” sealife, says Sally Emerson in The Sunday Times. Lying between the peninsula and the Mexican mainland is the Sea of Cortez, which Jacques Cousteau called “the aquarium of the world”. Dolphins, whales, sea turtles, whale sharks and sea lions converge off its spectacular shores to “party and breed”. The peninsula’s Pacific Coast is also fantastically rich in wildlife, especially grey whales, which come here to mate between December and April.
The state capital, La Paz, sits halfway down on the Cortez sea. On a boat trip from its marina to Espíritu Santo island, you may see dolphins arcing over your vessel’s wake, sea turtles swimming alongside, and mobula rays leaping and spinning mid-air. Sea lions often approach visitors as they snorkel off the island itself, mirroring their movements. Still more curious are the grey whales in Baja’s Pacific lagoons. They rear up “like Moby-dick” right beside tourist boats, and mothers push their calves to come close. “It’s a horrible irony that in the days of whaling, these placid creatures were labelled ‘devil fish’ because they fought back so fiercely.”
The peninsula’s high-end hotels sit on a strip of the south coast known as Los Cabos. John Travolta celebrated his 50th birthday at the “sublime” One&only Palmilla, where “nothing is too much trouble”: the pool attendants even polish your sunglasses. Elsewhere, in “somnolent” old towns such as Todos Santos and Loreto there are only “simple” boutique hotels, but the seafood is “exquisite”. It’s worth exploring more remote corners, too – such as the hamlet of San Javier, whose grey-stone Jesuit mission, built in 1699, radiates “a soul-calming peace”. Scott Dunn (www.scottdunn.com) has a seven-night trip from £4,200pp full board, including flights.