La Paz

Today was another magical day in Baja. We left the RV park around 9 am for the 30 minute drive to Playa Tecolote, where we’d heard there was a great cruise. We learned that for 550 pesos (about $50) we’d have a 4 1/2 hour ride around Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida viewing various sights and stopping for snorkeling and lunch on a beach. We left the playa around 10:30 with 6 people on board, then made an unexpected stop at a beach near the south end of Espiritu Santo to pickup 4 people. They had been dropped off the previous afternoon and had camped overnight on the island. We then proceeded counter-clockwise around E.S. and P to the north of it. Our first big stop was in a rocky cove with hundreds of sea lions, including pups. This was our snorkeling spot – coral, tropical fish, and the occasional seal lion swimming with us! The only down-side was the cool water – not really cold, but I wished I’d had a “shortie” wet suit. After about 30 minutes, we continued around Isla Partida to a warm sandy beach and lunch of ceviche, marlin salad, ham and cheese sandwiches and soft drinks. Slightly warmer water, so we swam a little also. After an hour or so, we continued cruising past interesting rock formations and other sights. Then, heading to open water we thought we were returning to Tecolote only to find we were moving into a school of hundreds of porpoises breaching, diving, rolling and just putting on the most marvelous show. Finally it was time to return to port.
We returned to camp, cleaned up, and then drove to La Paz Centro and strolled the waterfront, where we saw the most amazing sand sculpture of the last supper. We watched the sunset on the bay over magaritas, then people-watched through a leisurely dinner in a terrace restaurant. Life is good!