7 Tips for Travel To Baja This Fall

My first exposure to the gray whale migration was as a child in Alaska. Whales could be seen migrating from the freezing Bering and Chukchi Seas off the coast of Alaska on their way down to Mexico, to warmer waters and beaches I dreamt of one day seeing. 

I’ve since learned that whales also provide well-known carbon dioxide sequestration benefits: their iron-rich feces provide the necessary growing conditions for phytoplankton, or microalgae. Phytoplankton are similar to plants we find on land in that they contain chlorophyll and require sunlight in order to live and grow, however in this case they are buoyant and float in the upper ocean, where sunlight penetrates the water. Although phytoplankton are microscopic, taken together, they have a significant influence on our atmosphere, capturing an estimated 40% of all CO2 produced – four times the amount captured by the Amazon rainforest. 

This fall I’m thinking it’s time I took my son to learn first hand about whales, their migration path, and how they can help our climate, and one of the perfect places to find them will be in Todos Santos a little town in Baja California Sur, just a couple hours from the busy resort town of Cabo San Lucas. 

To prepare for the trip, I checked in with Bryan Juaregi, the owner of Todos Santos Eco Adventures and a dedicated supporter of Tomorrow’s Air since 2021. She generously offered a few tips to help make our trip even more memorable below:

1. Make time for kayaking in the Sea of Cortez 
2. Try camping in style in the Sierra Laguna Mountains 
3. Prepare to be amazed at the gray whales in Magdalena Bay 
4. Bring an open mind and plan to exercise creativity among the artists of Todos Santos 
5. Bring your hiking boots and hike the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve 
6. Bring an appetite and your dancing shoes for the day you join the Mexican Survival Cooking Class 
7. Bring binoculars to spot egrets, blue herons, flycatchers and many more birds

Bryan met her husband Sergio when he was a kayaking guide and she was a guest on Isla Espiritu Santo. They fell in love, launched a business, and since 2002 have been building Todos Santos Eco Adventures into the leading eco adventure company in the region. She says "Fall is one of our favorite times of year in Baja because the water is still warm and clear from the summer, there are lots of turtles hatching on the beaches and the humpback whales have returned from their journeys elsewhere. It's pretty dreamy!" 

Since 2021 Todos Santos has been supporting Tomorrow’s Air, supporting orders for four tons of carbon dioxide removal with permanent storage. 

Learn more about Todos Santos Eco Adventures and considering joining us this fall!

Written by Christina Beckmann

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Sources:

BBC: How Whales Help Cool the Earth

National Ocean Service: What Are Phytoplankton

Scientific American: Can Putting A Price on A Whale Save the Environment?

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