Tag Archives: baja

NEW Trip: Baja Blue & Gray Whale Extravaganza!

New Trip Announced – Baja Blue and Whale Combo 2013 – Whales Guaranteed!

Trip: Safari-style basecamp whale watching in Baja’s Magdalena Bay combined with lodge-based blue whale touring in Loreto Bay – whales guaranteed Feb-mid March!

Why this trip: Affordable soft adventure travel (this is not a kayak tour), guaranteed eyeball to eyeball gray whale sightings, chance to touch a gray whale, exclusive beach base camp in prime gray whale calving lagoon; combined with chance to snorkel and whale watch (blue and fin whales) in Sea of Cortez UNESCO World Heritage site, near Loreto, Baja California.

LORETO, BAJA CALIFORNIA — Being up close and personal with a gentle gray whale is something everyone should experience at least once in their life. Sea Kayak Adventures offers one of the best opportunities for this type of soul-rejuvenating and inspiring adventure. Magdalena Bay is federally protected by the Mexican government as a winter sanctuary for the California gray whale, where the whales give birth, nurture their calves and mate. The company has a novel offering – combining this special tour with a Loreto Bay snorkeling and whale tour in the Sea of Cortez. Both a national marine park and UNESCO World Heritage site, one can often see blue whales (the largest creature on the planet) and the slightly smaller fin whale.

Sea Kayak Adventures’ Isla Santo Domingo “safari-style” base camp is located right in the heart of the largest gray whale calving area in Magdalena Bay (Pacific side of the Baja peninsula), where we can see whales right from our camp. However, this adventure offers much more than simply seeing whales. On Sea Kayak Adventures’ whale watching tours, from six-man motorboats, participants have a chance to actually touch one of the 20,000 gray whales that winter in the waters of Baja California’s Pacific coast each February and March. It is hard to believe that in the 1950’s these gray whales were near extinction due to whaling.

“It’s the moment of a lifetime,” says SKA president Terry Prichard, “and gray whale sightings are guaranteed.” Each day motorized skiffs take participants out to the deeper waters of Boca de Soledad, where ‘friendlies’ have been known to swim up near the boat. In camp, as whales breach and spy-hop just offshore, guests can explore whalebone and shell-littered beaches and look for herons, egrets, shorebirds, dolphins, and spouting grays. (That sound after nightfall? Whales breathing.)

After the gray whale excursion, participants will go snorkeling and whale watching in Loreto Bay National Marine Park/UNESCO World Heritage site, based out of our downtown Loreto tour hotel. Here they will have a chance to travel alongside a massive blue whale – the largest creature on the planet, and/or it’s slightly smaller cousin, the fin whale, and even pods of curious dolphins.

Guides versed in whale natural history lead fun activities for participants, point out all wildlife, including leading birding excursions by demand, and prepare all meals in our huge camp kitchen. Whale guarantee – gray whales guaranteed Febrary 5 through March 10 – if none seen, the company will give participants a free day tour whale watching.

Tour participants will arrive on a Sunday and depart on a Sunday; with four nights’ hotel (with pool) accommodation in Loreto, daily whale watching by motorboat, all camping gear, naturalist guides, meals at camp, taxes, arrival airport transfer. This is not a kayak tour; novices are welcome. Airfare to Loreto in southern Baja California, Mexico, meals in town, national park fee are not included. Feb & March 2013 dates include air arrival and departure days. Cost: $1495 US for this eight-day tours (10% off for youth 17 and under). Alaska/Horizon airlines now fly into Loreto LTO from Los Angeles LAX five times a week.

 

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a
family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

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Baja Espiritu Santo Sea Kayak Journey – La Paz, Baja

La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico — Want a warm world class outdoor vacation this winter/spring without having to rough it?  Read on.  U.S.-based outfitter Sea Kayak Adventures Inc. is proud to announce the newest addition to their Loreto, Baja repertoire of fully guided luxury camping sea kayak and whale watching tours – paddling, snorkeling and exploring the wild and rugged Island of Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit Island) off La Paz, the capital city of southern Baja. The island is another jewel in the Sea of Cortez island collection off the southern half of Mexico’s forgotten desert peninsula, in waters teeming with whales, dolphins, colorful fish and seabirds.  The outfitter is world renowned for leading fully catered/guided groups of wanna-be novice kayakers to the turquoise coves and sea caves of uninhabited islands making up the Islands of the Sea of Cortez UNESCO World Heritage Site October through April and into remote gray whale calving lagoons along Baja’s wild west coast February through first week of  March.

“Just three hours by express van service north of Los Cabos (“Cabo”) where celebrities, mega resorts and tequila bars reign supreme, Espiritu Santo Island offers a tranquil, stress-free experience”, says company founder Terry Prichard.  “The accessibility, the history, the wildlife, the spectacular scenery and uncrowded nature of the uninhabited wilderness island makes this experience the polar opposite of the Cabo scene”.  “One could easily combine both La Paz and Cabo areas to visit on the same trip to the Baja peninsula if one wants”, he added.

“Each week we take groups of 12-13 travelers from all walks of life to a very remote part of Baja and we pamper them,” says owner Terry Prichard, a naturalist and veteran Baja guide since 1989.  He describes his guests as “open-minded people, ages 11-79, who enjoy being outdoors, being intimate with nature, but who do not want to be bothered with setting up camp and cooking.  We offer non-kayaking gray whale tours as well as sea kayaking tours. We delight in seeing our guests fall in love with Baja and the prolific marine life each week on our tours.”

Prichard and his crew paddle mostly two-person touring sea kayaks on 5 to 8-day tours departing weekly – note all tour itineraries include hotel nights in La Paz. Unlike its tippy whitewater cousin, a sea kayak is a comfortable and very stable craft, and basic paddling skills easily learned.  No previous kayaking or camping experience is necessary, as basic instruction and certified sea kayak guides are provided. Participants can enjoy naturalist-led hikes and snorkeling while the guides set up camp and prepare gourmet meals.   “Ah – savor margaritas and tapas on the beach as the sun sets, followed by sumptuous dinners crafted from the freshest ingredients. We take care of all the details while tailoring trips to meet everyone’s desires”, Prichard adds.

Espiritu Santo Island offers world class paddling in warm, pristinely clear, intensely blue waters and snorkeling in coves teeming with tropical fish, some found nowhere else on earth such as the Sea of Cortez angel fish. Opportunities for sightings of pods of playful dolphins, barking sea lions, leaping manta rays as well as fin and blue whales– the largest mammals on earth– await the patient paddler. With luck, we often see the occasional plankton eating whale shark Guests will explore sheltered turquoise coves, spectacular sea caves and headlands by sea kayak, discover lovely white sand beaches with sublime sunsets and brilliant star-gazing.  Custom tours for families and groups (such as all-women’s trips, yoga trips and families with teens only trips) can be arranged.

“For the active traveler, southern Baja has it all — striking desert scenery, sunny skies, warm water, uninhabited beaches and incredible marine life,” says Prichard of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, adding “our Baja tours continually make lists of the best outdoor adventures available by CNN, National Geographic Traveler Magazine, Outside Magazine, Yahoo.com, etc.  In the winter Baja is usually sunny and dry, in the 70-80’s F (26 C) in daytime and 50-60’s F (21) at night.”

All tours depart from and return to historic La Paz, the capital city of southern Baja, situated 1,000 miles south of the USA border (a 3-day drive), but just a 3-hour drive north of Cabo.  Prices start at $995 per person including airport transfer, taxes, 2 nights’ hotel, meals while kayaking, all sleeping/camping/kayaking gear, instruction and guides (1 guide per 3-4 guests). Alaska Airlines services La Paz on a daily basis from Los Angeles.  The company has operated in Mexico under full permit of the Mexican government since 1993.  The company is the first and only such outfitter to carry out all human waste, and go carbon neutral, and their local guides work actively with researchers to protect endangered sea turtles.  SKA is financially committed to the preservation of the local natural and cultural resources.

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a
family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

Spring Break Baja: The “un-Cabo” Family-Fun-in-the-Sun Solution

Loreto, Mexico –Sea Kayak Adventures, Inc. today launched a new array of family-only tours in Baja and BC Canada for 2013:  The company has found the perfect venues for multi-generational soft adventure tours – including their new for spring break 2012 “Baja Family Kayaking Base Camp” designed for those who wish to experience Loreto Bay National Marine Park UNESCO World Heritage site and the islands of Loreto or La Paz in comfort and style.

Let your family share the breathtaking beauty of Baja with an adventure of a lifetime – at a relaxed, vacation-pace! Kid-friendly base camp trips allow for easy mornings without the concern of breaking camp, so you can sip your coffee and enjoy the rising sun from the comfort of a beach chair while the guides prepare breakfast for you and your family. A support boat accompanies these tours, so youngsters who tire of kayaking can ride along. Let entertaining and highly educated guides lead hikes, play games, and host hermit crab races while you enjoy happy hour (or participate!). Itinerary suitable for youth ten and older who are at least 4 1/2 feet tall (other June-July dates available as well) – youth under age 18 get 10% off. Parents and grandparents love being pampered while teens play and learn new skills and experience nature at its finest!

Create a new family tradition and priceless memories with your teenagers that will last a lifetime – learn to paddle a sea kayak and bond with your tween or teenager as endangered blue and fin whales – more than four times as long as your kayak – plumb the depths for tasty crustaceans in Baja’s Sea of Cortez. March and April 2012, a selection of six-day (four days of paddling and two hotel nights) trips is being offered. Paddle a leisurely 3-4 hours per day looking for the world’s largest animals and explore desert islands in Mexico’s newest national marine park – Loreto Bay National Marine Park/UNESCO World Heritage Site. No prior experience is necessary.

Along the way you’ll also spot frolicking dolphins and sea lions, snorkel with angelfish in 72-degree water, and search for rare blue-footed boobies and blue whales. Spend nights camping on white sand beaches in sheltered coves and dining on lasagna and dutch oven brownies under brilliantly starry skies framed by volcanic rock cliffs. Teens love the hermit crab races after dark on the beach!

Tours depart from and return to Loreto and/or La Paz, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Stable two-person kayaks, paddling gear and instruction, snorkeling gear, meals and all camping supplies (including sleeping bags) are provided. Our naturalist guides are enthusiastic experts at activities helping families have fun together! The company also unveiled a new non-kayaking “Baja Family Gray Whale Base Camp” in Magdalena Bay gray whale sanctuary/calving ground in February and early March 2013, for kids as young as eight.

Price starts at $995 US per adult (and 10% off for teens) including two nights’ lodging in Loreto and three nights’ camping. Airfare is not included. Alaska/Horizon Airlines offer direct service (1 hour jet flight) into Loreto (LTO) from Los Angeles (LAX), or fly via Los Cabos.

Sea Kayak Adventures Inc is the only sea kayaking outfitter in Baja and BC Canada listed on National Geographic Adventure Magazine’s: “Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth 2009” and named on National Geographic Travel.com “Best Deals for Adventurous Travelers 2010” and “Best Whale Watching Locations 2011”.

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

BAJA HO HO HO! PADDLE WITH SANTA IN BAJA!

LORETO, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR – Need a sunny idea for Christmas this year – how about a fully catered sea kayaking/snorkeling tour in Loreto, Baja?  Rumor has it Santa will make an appearance by kayak on the tour!   OR

Ring in the New Year snorkeling with tropical fish in this UNESCO World Heritage site, watching dolphins leap from your stable kayak, sipping margaritas on the beach, marveling at the most incredible stargazing imaginable.  Tours fine for novices.

Baja whale watching and sea kayaking tours also make a great gift idea for Christmas, milestone birthdays or even wedding registry for loved ones who enjoy soft adventure without having to fully rough it.  Help your loved ones attain their dream travel “bucket list”!  From 28 October 2012 through 2 May 2 2013, the U.S.-based outfitter offers weekly four to six-day guided kayak trips in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, and gray whale tours February and March 2013.  We’ll bake a cake for you from scratch in our camp Dutch oven, celebrating on a sandy beach under the stars!   And our guides have been known to whip out a guitar to serenade at sunset!

Surrounded by warm waters, the towering mountains of the Baja peninsula and cactus-dotted deserts, adventurers forget about all but the present, as they maneuver two-person kayaks through the winter gathering place of blue whales, and among pods of dolphins guided by our marine biologist sea kayak guides. Paddling alongside bus-size fin whales as they surface and sink mere yards from the kayak is the highlight of the tour.

Guests also explore the area’s islands on foot, snorkel in Mexico’s newest national marine park (Loreto Bay National Marine Park) also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and spend nights under the stars camping on secluded beaches in personal dome tents.  Loreto is the site of the first mission in all the Californias, built by Jesuits in 1697, still in use today as a Catholic cathedral open to visitors.   Sleepy Loreto is truly the UN-CABO of Baja.  A portion of all proceeds go to conservation organizations in Loreto.

These all-inclusive tours include kayaks and instruction, all gear, sleeping bags, camping supplies, all meals at camp, two nights at a Loreto hotel and airport transfer for prices starting at $895 US dollars, featuring an outdoor island happy-hour, complete with hors d’oeuvres and margaritas each day at sunset. Airfare is extra. Excursions are limited to 12-13 guests. No prior kayaking experience is necessary; all gear provided.

The company also offers an extra one to three-day gray whale adventure in Magdalena Bay on Baja’s Pacific coast each Feb and March. Participants will get the chance to get eyeball to eyeball to gray whales in quiet lagoons. Cost is $150 for full day tour including snacks and lunch, to $995 for 5-day tour there.

Not included: air fare from Los Angeles on Alaska Air http://www.alaskaair.com, gratuities, meals in town, $25 national park fee.  10% off for youth age 8-17.

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

Yoga on the beach and playing in the ocean: the best of Baja

New Trip:  Baja Kayaking & Yoga on the Beach Retreat
Dates:
Oct 28-Nov 2, Oct 28-Nov 4, 2012; Jan 27-Feb 3, Mar 31-Apr 5, Mar 31-Apr 7, Apr 7-14, 2013

Why this trip:  Novice sea kayaking and snorkeling Loreto Bay UNESCO World Heritage site with twice daily introductory yoga – fully catered and guided – just bring yourself!

LORETO, BAJA CALIFORNIA  — Master yoga instructors, in conjunction with Sea Kayak Adventures Inc. are offering new Yoga and Whales tours in Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico that combines daily yoga, kayaking, snorkeling, with a little adventure, suitable for novices, and fully catered.

Each sea kayaking day begins with a yoga session on the beach led by our certified yoga instructors.  Then participants will accompany naturalist guides on nature hikes, whale watching, snorkeling and sea kayaking outings depending on the trip.  Additional activities will include treks along deserted beaches, exploring uninhabited islands and star gazing. Each evening begins with a restorative yoga session while guides prepare happy hour – margaritas on the beach at sunset!  No prior kayaking or yoga experience is necessary.

The October & March/April tours give novices an opportunity to sea kayak and snorkel to their heart’s content in the Loreto Bay National Park, in the Sea of Cortez. The park is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Company owner Terry Prichard, states “One third of the world’s marine mammals live in the Sea of Cortez.  On most tours October through April our tour groups view dolphins, sea lions, fin whales and if very lucky the elusive plankton-eating whale shark or the blue whale, which is the largest animal ever to have lived on earth.”

The “Gray Whales of Magdalena Bay & Kayaking Combo with Yoga Jan 27-Feb 3, 2013” tour are perfect for those whale lovers who want to get eyeball to eyeball with a baby gray whale from a motorized skiff and stay at a safari style basecamp in the heart of gray whale congregation – hear the whale blows at night from your cozy tent!

The itineraries “cherry-pick” the best parts of the park’s uninhabited islands to camp and explore, according to Prichard.  Participants stay at comfortable camps situated on secluded island beaches, and can choose to do daily yoga as the sun rises or the sun sets daily over the tranquil waters.  Yoga is always optional. Naturalist guides will do all the cooking and camp chores as well as teaching the basics of sea kayaking and leading nature walks. “Just leave all the details to us,” smiles Prichard, adding, “our yoga tours are wildly popular so these will fill up quickly.”

The tours departs from Loreto and includes airport transfer upon arrival, two nights’ hotel in Loreto, two or three nights’ safari-style camping, all guided activities, all meals while camping, daily yoga sessions, all taxes, all land transport and naturalist guides.  Small groups; gourmet food!  Price:  $1050 for the Dec 4-9, 2011 tour and $895 for the Feb 10-14, 2012 tour.  Airfare to Loreto, meals in town, gratuities are not included.  Alaska/Horizon Air provides a direct 75-minute jet flight Los Angeles LAX to Loreto LTO once daily.  Tour itinerary includes the fly-in, and fly-out dates.

 

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

Bucket List – Kayak With Baby Right Whales Argentina Patagonia

Why this trip: THE only place in the world one can paddle with southern right whales and their babies, each fall in Peninsula Valdes UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Argentina’s Patagonia.

Puerto Madryn – Sea Kayak Adventures Inc is proud to unveil a new trip – southern right whale watching by sea kayak and skiff in sheltered lagoons on fully catered guided tours each October through early December from our exclusive site. The tours are suitable for novices in good health.

“The two lagoons on the Peninsula Valdes are to Antarctica’s southern right whales what the lagoons of Baja are to the California gray whales, providing sheltered calving grounds in warmer waters” states Terry Prichard, founder of Sea Kayak Adventures, Inc, who has been running sea kayak and whale watching tours in Baja since 1993. “The right whales feed in the rich waters of Antarctica the rest of the year, so this is THE perfect window of opportunity to view the babies.”

The company’s associate in Argentina has exclusive use to private land access to a remote, sheltered part of the lagoons, which are federally protected and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Whale researchers gather at this spot each year to study the whales as this is the only place they calve. “We could see the mother and baby whales right from our beach camp at all times” exclaimed Terry Prichard. “On two mornings the water was calm as glass, and we could see the babies breaching and tail slapping, and even hear the babies vocalizing – a soul-rejuvenating moment for me. In our kayaks we drifted along silently 70 meters away from a mother and baby as they were resting. These whales are much larger than the gray whales we see each Feb in Baja, so that felt quite close enough!”

Itineraries range from three to six days of paddling, whale watching and birding by kayak; mostly camping, with some hotel nights. To the kayaking can be added a 2-hour skiff cruise among the whales at the end, visits to a penguin colony and park headquarters. Guests will camp on beaches lined with cliffs full of fossils, view dozens of unique mammals such as llama-like guanacos and maras right behind camp, as well as the mom and baby whales just off the beach.

Other trip highlights are the expert local guides, delectable and bountiful camp meals including local specialties of lamb, seafood, beef, cheeses, fresh baked goods, mate tea and Malbec red wine.

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.