San Jose del Cabo Whale Watching Sunset Tour with Snacks

4.97

(29 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“Sometimes the whales are late — but they always show up,” our captain grinned as we pulled away from the marina in San Jose del Cabo. I liked him right away. The boat was smaller than I pictured, but that made it feel more personal, like we were all in on something together. There was this salty breeze, and someone behind me opened a bag of crisps — weirdly comforting, even out on the Sea of Cortez. I kept glancing at the horizon, half-expecting a tail to appear any second.

The sun started dipping behind the Baja mountains and everything turned gold and pink. Our guide, Marisol, pointed out a spout in the distance — “That’s a humpback!” she said, and everyone scrambled to one side of the boat (probably not what you’re supposed to do). I almost dropped my drink. When the whale surfaced again, it was so quiet you could hear people exhale. It’s hard to explain how big they look up close — like seeing a bus glide by underwater. And then there was this moment where nothing happened except the sound of water slapping against the hull and someone’s kid whispering “wow.”

I didn’t expect to care about snacks but honestly, after an hour scanning the waves, those little bites hit differently. Someone passed around cold sodas and Marisol told us how locals believe whales bring good luck for fishermen here — she laughed when I tried to say “ballena” with my accent (I definitely butchered it). The light kept changing; sometimes you’d catch a flash of silver on the water or just watch pelicans skimming past.

On the way back toward San Jose del Cabo, nobody really talked much. Maybe it was just being out there at sunset or maybe everyone was replaying that first whale sighting in their head. I still think about that view sometimes — how ordinary things felt special for a while out on that boat.