Tag: Sea of Cortez

Unforgettable Six-Day Kayaking Adventure in Loreto

Our six-day kayaking adventure begins on the morning of March 22 when our guide picks us up at our hotel and takes us to our launch site, a beach, Playa El Quemado south of Loreto. Actually, we had met our guide the evening before for a briefing and to provide us with bags for our gear. We booked our trip through Paddling South/SeaTrek.

We were surprised to find that we were the only two guests on this trip, which meant we had rather personalized support with our guide Jorge and the boat driver Adrian. We had opted for a skiff supported trip, which meant that our gear went by panga and we had cold beer and fresh food.

At 10:15 AM on March 22 we were on the water. It’s about a three-mile paddle to Isla Danzante where we made a stop at Honeymoon Beach (Playa Luna de Miel). A gorgeous beach with clear turquoise water. We did a short hike here to a panoramic vantage point. We then returned to our boats and paddled to a beach further south, Playa Arenas, where we set up camp.

We spent two nights camped at Playa Arenas. On the second day of the trip we paddled to Isla del Carmen where we had lunch, put our wetsuits on and got in the water to do some snorkeling. Whenever we stopped, up went the tent to provide us shade from the sun and, of course, a cooler with cold drinks. Paddling to and from Isla del Carmen and snorkeling made for a long day. It was 5:30 when we returned to camp. Having logged 12 miles, we were feeling a bit tired.

I must say that the food that Jorge and Adrian prepared was excellent. We had fresh fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, and of course tortillas and beans. We were well fed.

The trip was billed as a kayaking, snorkeling and hiking trip. We had several opportunities to get in the water and marvel at the coral and tropical fish as well as a couple of opportunities for short hikes to explore the plant and animal life. For photography I had my recently purchased iPhone 17 which I kept in a dive case whenever we were on or in the water.

I had a few issues with the camera, seemingly having a mind of its own and changing modes on me. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of getting the camera to behave, but in the end, I was quite happy with the results.

On the third day we broke camp and paddled to a beach on the peninsula where we stopped for lunch. The intent was to camp there, but Jorge decided that the beach was not suitable, so we put the kayaks on top of the panga and motored to another beach, Playa Aquililla, a few miles south. Our last two nights were spent on a lovely beach four miles further south and our final takeout was at Playa San Cosme.

Here’s a map of our track over the six days with color segments representing different days. Over the course of trip, we did not see any other kayakers, and only an occasional fishing boat off the coast. It was a week of paddling and camping on remote and secluded beaches with amazing sunsets and sunrises. We did not spot any whales or turtles, but we did spot several pods of Pacific Bottlenosed Dolphins as well as a variety of birds. Overall, it was an adventure of peace and tranquility and an opportunity to be close to nature. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Kayaking Baja

In early December we managed to get our kayaks out on the Sea of Cortez for a couple of paddles. We had traveled to Baja as part of a caravan of 11 campers on a trip led by Bob Wohlers and the Off-Road Safety Academy. Our first opportunity to paddle was at Bahia San Luis Gonzaga. We spent two nights camped on the beach, which afforded us one day to kayak. We had calm water and no wind. We paddled from our campsite on the beach out around an outcropping of rocks and to the point at the northeast end of the bay. We saw numerous birds including Frigate birds, but not much other marine life. Coming back from the point we noodled along the shore poking into all the little inlets we could find.

We logged 6.6 miles and had a very pleasant paddle. Here’s the track of our paddle.

Our second opportunity to paddle was on December 10. Anticipating wind we were anxious to get on the water early, launching at 9:45 a.m.

We spent the better part of two hours paddling along the beach, around the headlands and back. Sure enough, on the way back the wind came up, as you can see from the whitecaps in one of the photos. Fortunately, we only had to contend with the wind for the short distance back to our camp.

Here’s a short video captured with my GoPro camera while paddling.