Whale sharks at La Paz, an Oasis HD Experience!

We may not have TV anymore, but we keep having Oasis HD moments! We decided to be brave & venture out on the whale shark tour and it was unbelievable! The day began by me donning a wetsuit, Robin declined, and then heading out in a 26 ft panga (boat), complete with a tiny bano (bathroom). We did not have long to wait as a group of about 10 whale sharks had been spotted so we put on our snorkelling gear & jumped into the water. I must admit the water was pretty disgusting, full of plankton & poor visibility, so swimming almost blind, and then coming face to face with a 20-30 ft. whale shark less than 5 ft. away was frightening to say the least. Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish, growing to a length of 40 ft. & a weight of 15 tons. Thankfully they pretty much ignore the crazy people who chose to invade their territory. My biggest fear was swimming over top of one, then it lifting it’s body up & whacking me. They feed with their mouths wide open sucking in water which passes thru it’s “gills” & they keep the good stuff. They can process 1500 gallons of water per hour. They feed head up & tail down, but swim horizontally. They have several fish swimming right along their bodies, cleaning them. We spent close to an hour swimming with the group, never far from at least one or two – surreal experience! I used my camera in it's waterproof case, but the sharks were so close it was hard to get a good picture!

The day was far from done; we headed off towards Isla Espiritu Santo to a sea lion colony for snorkeling with them. On the way we spotted a humpback whale, passed amazing layered rock formations and stopped at a frigate bird colony. There were hundreds of birds flying or perched and the males had their red neck pouches all puffed up as it’s mating season. These birds are huge – 3 ft. across with a wingspan of 7 ft. The sea lion colony is home to hundreds of them, all making noise at once. We snorkeled with them, the young ones are especially curious, swimming underneath us & going right up to the boat, another fantastic experience! On the way back the captain stopped so we could watch a group of manta rays splashing & swimming, then to watch turtles poking their heads up in another bay. Lunch was ceviche served on a lovely beach. The whole day tour was only $60 each!

We spent another beautiful day kayaking at Balandra bay as it is more protected from the wind & waves. We explored a mangrove area & of course Robin had to paddle down a passage way until it almost closed in on us. We stopped at 4 or 5 little beaches, had a picnic on one and enjoyed the sunshine & 26-28C temperatures.

We are camped at Tecolote beach, tucked into the sand dunes just back from the ocean, listening to the waves lull us to sleep. It has been windy, the one calm day was the whale shark tour, but it is warm. We have walked the beaches and today hiked up into, then over the hills to the next bay, of course picking up a few more interesting rocks. Yesterday while walking along the beach we spotted an 18” manta ray feeding in the shallow water, flipping up its wingtips up & out of the water as it swam. We stood very still, in ankle deep water & it kept passing 3 ft. in front of us as it circled thru the area. Another Oasis HD moment for sure!

Sorry to disappoint you Pat, but we have not done any decorating for Christmas. We will relocate to the campground in Cabo before the 25^th, maybe then we will pull out a few things. The holiday will be a quiet one, thinking of our families & enjoying some lobster on the barbeque.  We wish everyone Feliz Navidad & Ano Prospero 2014. Also Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! Thanks again for the comments, we definitely appreciate them.