Our last big stop in Baja? Guerrero Negro! ? This area is home to Ojo de Liebre, a massive lagoon where the gray whales come to mate, and then birth their calves 12 months later. In February and March, there can be as many as 2,000 whales in the lagoon!
About Guerrero Negro and Whale-Watching
Guerrero Negro is the first major town you’ll see after crossing into Baja California Sur. When passing through, it honestly doesn’t look like there’s much to do or see here, unlike many of the other Baja towns. The city was founded in 1957 after an American built a salt works here to supply the U.S. The nearby lagoon, Ojo de Liebre, has a high concentration of salt, which has ultimately led this salt mine to become the largest in the world.
When it comes to seeing the grey whales, there are three areas within Baja California, Mexico where you can take a tour, depending on the time of year: Ojo de Liebre (Guerrero Negro), Bahia Magdalena and Laguna San Ignacio. During our first journey to Baja, we had a fantastic grey whale tour at Laguna San Ignacio, but we knew that Guerrero Negro has the largest concentration of whales passing through — so we had to book a tour here this time around!
The gray whales stop in these lagoons on their two- to -three-month, 6,000-mile journey from the Bering Sea — yep, all the way from Alaska — to give birth to 1,000-pound calves. The best time for whale-watching season is between December through April, with February and March being the sweet spot to see most of these aquatic visitors.
We scheduled a tour with Malarrimo, who have been providing local tours to see the whales up close since 1974. Not only does Malarrimo offer grey whale tours, they also have a hotel, RV park and restaurant on site. (More on that later.) We chose Malarrimo based on reviews and recommendations. Our tour guide Tony was a wealth of information! He shared the history of Guerrero Negro, as well as information about the grey whales migration patterns.
Grey whales can weigh up to 40 tons and measure nearly 50 feet long. Their fluke, or tail, can get up to 10-feet wide! While that sounds quite huge, it’s a whole other experience to see these majestic sea creatures in person. In our opinion, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you cannot pass on! It’s clear that the grey whales love to put on a show for their human spectators, as they’ll breach and spout across the entire bay. What’s incredibly unique about these tours is that the grey whales will seek out human contact, often coming right up to the whale watching boats! Despite being hunted and killed long ago, the locals have spent a considerable amount of time building trust with these incredible creatures — and it shows. We were incredibly fortunate that the whales swam right up to our boat during our tour, getting close enough for us to pet them! (Yes, I totally cried. ?)
After our grey whale tour, our shuttle took a quick stop at the salt works, which is so large and vast that it covers 33,000 hectares (acres), including 28,000 ha of collection ponds and 3,000 ha of crystallization ponds. The salt here is not mined, but extracted from ocean water via evaporation. Here in Guerrero Negro, they produce 9 million metric tons of salt every year! We had a lot of fun exploring the salt works, which look like large crystals.
Where to Eat in Guerrero Negro
Once we got back into town, we were starving! Everyone talks about Tacos El Muelle, or the grey whale food truck. Here you can devour shrimp and fish tacos that are sooooo fresh and delicious. Be careful of the hot sauce though — it’s a doozy!
Where to Camp
As I mentioned previously, it’s super convenient to book a tour through Malarrimo and stay on their property. There’s an RV park behind the hotel and restaurant. It’s basically a parking lot that offers easy access to get in and out, as well as showers and restroom facilities. Besides whale watching and taking a tour of the salt mines, there’s not a whole lot to do in Guerrero Negro. In those instances, we seek out a place to camp in the evening and take off the next day, and Malarrimo was perfect for that. Plus, the have a shuttle that departs from the property to Ojo de Liebre, making it as easy as possible for whale-watchers.
The restaurant is conveniently located in the main building too. We enjoyed dinner here with our friends Rove & Swig. The food was delicious! We each ordered various fresh fish and margaritas. The wait staff is very attentive and kind. Two thumbs up for us!
In Summary
If you ever find yourself in Baja, Mexico, you MUST take this tour. We’ll never forget it! ?
Have you ever seen gray whales up close in the wild?
