Our first port (after a day and a half at sea) was Cabo San Lucas. The ‘Miracle’ anchored in the Sea of Cortez at 11:00am. We had to anchor out in the bay, presumedly because the depth of the docks in the harbor was not deep enough for our ship.
Today our excursion was “Whale Watching & Coastal Cruise” aboard a sleek & speedy catamaran. Since we were anchored off-shore, there were ‘tenders’ to take us to the pier. Tenders are smaller boats to ferry passengers from ship to shore.
We boarded a tender and it took us to the pier where we waited for our Whale-Watching tour to begin.
(Notice the spelling…)
We had 15 – 20 minutes to wait for our catamaran boarding call. As we walked up and down the pier, we watched the Mexican pelicans swim and fly around – one pelican actually hitched a ride on the motor of a small boat, guess it was too lazy to swim or fly in the noon-day sun…
Happy seal
There were also seals, sea turtles, colorful fish and of course sea gulls, too fast for pictures.
There was a catamaran with a helicopter setting on the bow – not our’s however…
Awaiting the tourists on the pier as we disembarked, were locals dressed up like pirates complete with brightly colored costumes (photos for just 100 pesos/per pic). Or you could book a tour on an awesome pirate ship relic. To add to the ambiance, Mariachi music blared from nearby speakers… a real carnival energy.
At our appointed time (1pm), we boarded the double-decker catamaran and headed out to sea. We chose seats under the cover of the canopy on the first deck. We did not want to get sunburned! None of us are blessed with ‘olive skin’.
Our first ‘stop’ out of the bay was the famous rock formation and arch, ‘El Arco de Cabo San Lucas’ where we gently drifted for 10 minutes. The tour guide informed us that this particular site is the only place where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean.
After our priceless, one-of-a-kind (El Arco) photographs were safely stored on our SD cards, the Captain turned the vessel out to sea to seek a whale for us. We had researched the whale spawning season before we booked our excursion and it was whale season (during our trip), yet, no one could ‘guarantee’ any sightings of whales.
The sea was quite choppy on our way out, so our craft stayed in the Sea of Cortez water and avoided the Pacific Ocean. It was like riding a bronco, or I imagine that’s what it would be like.
Listing sailboat to show the wind on the ocean.
Once we were safely headed out to deeper water, we were offered Margaritas, Pina Coladas or soft drinks, included in the price of the tour. Even though tropical drinks flowed freely, we felt lucky no one got too tipsy, sick or fell overboard. That makes for a good day at sea!
We chased the waves looking for whales and finally saw one whale and a couple of water spouts off in the distance. The one whale we saw did not ‘breech’ the water. Our solo whale humped his back out of the water close to our catamarans’ bow, yet it was indistinguishable from the surrounding water.
After a couple of hours happily searching for illusive whales, the Captain turned the catamaran back toward shore, again, passing El Arco and anchoring in the harbor.
The Miracle was due to set sail at 7pm for Mazatlan – we boarded the tender again at 5:30 and made our 6pm dining reservation: couldn’t miss our fantastic food & favorite staff.
A note about excursions: Patti’s daughter (who cruises a lot), said we should book our excursions through the cruise line and NOT go ashore and just pick up a tour from anyone selling a tour on the dock. The reasoning behind this… If the tour (booked through Carnival- our cruise line) gets back to the ship late… the ship HAS to wait for you! If you booked a non-cruise line excursion, and it gets back to the ship late, the ship does NOT wait for you. Then it is up to you to get to the next port or back home. Needless to say, we booked all of our excursions through Carnival. I believe this is true of all cruise lines.
Had we stayed on board the ship instead of day tripping. we could have; played trivia “Guess that song”, played Sudoku, played card games, indulged a sweet tooth, or had a “discounted” massage in the spa, or enjoyed the Serenity Deck (practically alone). OR we could have gone to an Art Auction on board the ship.
After dinner we went to an “80’s Song and Dance” performance, drank Chocolatini’s, and sang along with terrific ensemble entertainers.
Later, we were rocked by the waves of the ocean, gently singing us to sleep in our ‘turned-down’ beds. Thank you Newbon (our excellent room steward)
Next stop Mazatlan…
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