Southern Tip of Baja

Southern Baja: Frailes and Cabo. Wind Horse is escorted by both humpbacks and jet skis.

We have many fond memories of the southern tip of Baja. Some of the best of these involve Frailes, a sometimes rolly anchorage 40 miles up the coast from Cabo San Lucas. The first time we were in Frailes was 1977. We were going ashore using our rowing dinghy and small outboard. As soon as the bow touched the beach. Skip’s little brother Tony (now a judge), jumped out to hold the dinghy in the surf – and promptly disappeared underwater! The approach to the beach was very steep.

The next time we visited was in 1990. Sarah and Elyse were taking a holiday break from college and were with us. That evening we were serenaded by humpback whales. Their songs traveled from a nearby underwater canyon through our aluminum hull.

We’re happy to tell you that some things have not changed. The humpbacks are still singing for the anchored boats. You have to listen carefully, but you can hear different melodies. It is very cool.

Of course, the totally deserted beach now has a large congregation of inhabitants: Mexican fishermen, campers, land cruisers with their motor homes, and many expensive-looking houses.

Baja California humpback whales

There’s no mistaking these whales as humpbacks. And they were all around us on our way towards Cabo. Many came right alongside the hull, as if to say "Howdy, how was the trip down from Icy Straits in Alaska?" The photo above is not cropped, and the camera lens is at minimum zoom. We could have touched this guy with the boat hook.

Frailes humpback whales

There are certainly a lot more tourists and humpback whales. We can recall only seeing a few of the latter in our previous trips. But this time we had dozens of them keeping us company, and some were putting on acrobatic displays. Included was a vertical leap complete with 360-degree rotation.

humpback fluke Southern Baja

Another almost full frame photo.

humpback tail fluke with piece missing

Check out the piece missing from the tail fluke. How do you suppose that happened?

We remember Cabo San Lucas as a sleepy, charming village, with a dirt road running through town. Well, things have changed!

cruising in Cabo San Lucas

About the same time we came into the concentration of humpback whales, beachfront development started looking major. This hotel is probably not in the Back Packing guide to Baja.

Cabo San Lucas development

And this is just a small sampling of other places to stay in the Cabo Anchorage.

Cabo San Lucas cruising

If you prefer to be on the water, we had this guy, anchored bow and stern, as company.

Cabo inner harbor

In 1976 we sailed Intermezzo through the narrow breakwater into the inner harbor, as the transmission was not working. In 1990 you could anchor in the inner harbor, but had to move out of the way for the ferry when it arrived from the mainland.

Not any more.

inner harbor Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico

The harbor is chock full of sport fishing boats, a couple of sailboats giving rides to tourists, and the usual array of jewelry stores associated with the cruise ship business.

Los Arcos, Cabo San Lucas

Remember that fabulous deserted white beach at Los Arcos – once the scene of a Sports Illustrated swim suit issue? It has been discovered.

parasailing Cabo San Lucas

If you’re into tourist-type activities, you won’t be bored here.

jet ski Cabo

You can even rent that most heinous of inventions, the Jet Ski. No experience needed to drive – or to annoy those anchored nearby (one of the cool things to do on a Jet Ski is see how close you can come to other boats at full throttle).

WiFi hotspots Cabo San Lucas

The good news is that our Verizon cell phones worked and we were able to connect to the Internet with WiFi from this hotel. An hour of dialog with the family, a few business calls, and we bid farewell to quaint Cabo San Lucas.

In the midst of this maelstrom of tourist activities we were accompanied by a series of humpback whales from just outside the anchorage to well past Cabo Falso. Maybe these are the teenage humpbacks, who are up for some excitement after a long quiet summer in Alaska.


Posted by Steve Dashew  (February 27, 2007)



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