"Kayak ..." a Estado de Baja California Sur Travel Page by windsorgirl

I will summarize here, my 8 day Kayaking Trip with Tofino Expeditions. The trip is advertised as 8 days, but actually, you only paddle for 6 days and camp overnight for 5. You are put up in a hotel for the other 2 nights.

On our first day we were picked up very early from the hotel and driven to our launch site about 20kms south of Loreto. Here we had a lesson on kayaking before we headed off to Isla Danzante which was only 2.5 miles away. You can see our destination in the photograph. It took us about an 1hr and 20 min to make the crossing. An easy start for our first time out!

Once on the island, we set up our tents, had lunch, explored the beach and collected many large and beautiful shells. However, the shells had to remain behind since Isla Danzante is a National Park.

We spent 2 nights at this campsite. We had great views from our beach looking west toward the Baja Peninsula and the Sierra Giganta Mountain Range.

We saw alot of bird life on the island including sea gulls, pelicans, turkey vultures, orioles, hummingbirds and even cardinals.

Be forewarned that the camping is primitive. That is, no fresh water for bathing, just the sea. Bring your own biodegradable salt water soap. There are also no toilet facilities, so be prepared to squat at the water's edge.....be sure to check for scorpions or rattlesnakes first!

After a siesta, our guides took us on a hike to a viewpoint on Isla Danzante that looked down on the east side of the island and a natural rock formation called The Arch. You can see it in the bottom of the photo.

Back at camp we feasted on fish tacos and a freshly baked pineapple upside down cake before retiring to our tents early. It gets pretty windy and chilly in the evenings. I recommend bringing a polar fleece, a good water resistant wind breaker and a touque.

After a hearty breakfast we headed out in our kayaks to circumnavigate the island. It's a 9 mile trip around.

The water was like glass that day and we stopped on the east side of the island at The Aquarium for lunch and a snorkel. The water is a bit chilly, so I recommend bringing a wetsuit if you have one.

During the night, from our tents we heard a whale blowing not far off shore, it was very cool. We all rushed out to see, but could barely make anything out in the dark.

The next morning we had a very early start and paddled 9 miles that day to our next campsite. We could see pods of dolphins jumping in the distance and also whales, but also from quite a distance.

We stopped for lunch and a snorkel at Puerte Citos. The water here was very clear and shallow and we saw many fish and especially starfish.

This campsite was back on the Baja peninsula, at Driunfo. You can barely make out our yellow tent at the base of this mountain (on the right hand side of the photo). We stayed here for 2 nights, I appreciate that we didn't have to pack up and relocate every day of our tour.

On this day, we had a break from paddling and instead took a 5 mile hike to a canyon and back. We walked along an arroyo and saw many birds and cactus along the way.

Later that day the boys dove for clams and we enjoyed fresh clams as appetizers that night.