Los Cabos (Mar/Apr 2023)
Be sure to scroll below to view our photos and videos after our story for this trip.
Whales & Mako, Blues, and Bull Sharks
Is there a more iconic visual representation of Los Cabos than this?
When we came to the Cabo area last October, we decided that we would start making regular trips to Baja throughout the year. I used to visit parts of Baja regularly when I lived in California—having grown up there—but living in the DC area for 20 years made Baja somewhat of an inconvenient trip. But now that we’re in Houston and a short direct flight away, we’re out of excuses.
Makos, blues, mobula rays, sea lions, marlins, bait balls, and the occasional whale sighting seemed like a good start to build a yearly schedule around. Therefore, we found ourselves in Cabo San Lucas in March/April for our first Baja trip of the year—right in the middle of mako and blue shark season, hoping to catch a glimpse of a shark I’ve never seen in person. While I’ve seen plenty of blue sharks, makos have always proven to be an elusive sighting. Would our luck change this time?
Fortunately, the answer was “heck yes!”
We planned for three days of mako and blue shark excursions, with the possibility of adding a fourth day and delaying our visit to Cabo Pulmo if absolutely necessary. I was deadest on finally seeing that elusive mako. Adding to the motivation was the fact that the previous 2-3 weeks before our arrival, news out of Cabo reported heavy mako and blue shark action, to include a massive 15-foot mako sighting a mere days before our arrival. If there ever was a time to finally see a mako, it was now.
We rented a place overlooking the very marina we would leave from every morning. The short 5-minute walk turned out to be plenty enough to build up excitement and adrenaline. On the first day we struck gold right away. A friendly and playful blue shark almost immediately joined us upon our arrival to the site a few miles off the Pacific coast. Plenty of fun, plenty of video and photo opportunities. Not a bad start to our trip.
The second day was an exercise in persistence. We arrived at our designated point off the Pacific coast once again, only no shark emerged like the previous day. Compounding the issue was the lack of current, which is essential for spreading the chum and fish parts to a wide area, increasing the chances of luring a shark. Unlike static shark dive sites such as Tiger Beach, Bimini, Playa del Carmen, and Jupiter, we were told that sharks don’t congregate here. They are merely passing through the area, occasionally veering off their course to investigate the concentration of fish scents created by the tour operators. It’s this reason why they rarely see any of these sharks twice, which is why they essentially start the luring process over every day. Miracle workers indeed.
Persistence paid off waiting for this handsome fellow to show up
Over an hour went by as the deck hands constantly threw fresh chum in the water. My impatience got the best of me, so I decided to jump in the water and wait it out there rather than on the boat. An hour-and-a-half later, still no sign of a shark. The captain—I assume showing appreciation for me braving the cold water for over an hour—called to shore to push back our arrival time at the dock. Eventually, both my patience and his charity were rewarded. Right as the captain was about to end the trip, a blue shark showed up. Game on!
Since the other customers and the guide were still on the boat, I enjoyed a good 10 minutes alone with the shark. It’s the first time I’ve been completely alone with a blue shark, getting every opportunity to see first-hand why many consider them to be the most playful shark in the ocean. The shark continuously hid under the boat before darting at me in a playful manner, making contact with my camera rig and allowing me to get amazing photos and videos without disturbance from others. Eventually the other customers joined me in the water. The shark stayed around to play some more, but eventually left. Good times all around, especially for how dire the trip was looking.
But as fun as the day became, alas, still no mako.
On our first day, one of the dive guides had looked at the weather forecast and mentioned that the winds and current were looking promising for makos on our third day. I tried not to get overly excited, but I couldn’t help myself. We made the 5-minute walk to the dock that morning with an extra pep in our step with all the hope in the world that today was the day. Once again we headed to our predetermined spot off the coast, and this time we didn’t have to wait long for our reward.
“Mako,” shouted the dive guide. “Two Makos!”
And there it was; our first ever mako sighting in the flesh
I was immediately in the water before he finished saying “mako”. I barely had a chance to position my camera when a mako darted directly towards me, giving me an opportunity for a perfect video and photo of the encounter. The other costumers made it into the water quickly and admired the beauty of these two active makos continuously bouncing between us and the bait.
“Another mako,” someone shouted. Low and behold, a third mako had appeared, and then a fourth. It was only a quick cameo for the fourth mako as most people didn’t get a chance to see it. The third mako stuck around for a bit, appearing and disappearing a few times before leaving for good. However, the other two makos stuck around for a while. It wasn’t until the captain summoned us back to the boat when the few of us who had braved the cool Pacific water to the very end had to say goodbye to the last mako who gave us quite the show.
We had done it. Not only was the elusive mako now a reality, we had spent 2+ hours interacting and taking tremendous amount of photos and videos of the encounters. I couldn’t be happier.
Not to be outdone by the lower Cabos, we headed over to Cabo Pulmo as planned on the fourth day, partly to redo some of the unpleasantries we endured on our first trip—not worth mentioning—but mostly to re-kindle the spirit we had experienced in the first place. This time we rented a private boat with one of the top-notch dive outfits that created an a-la-carte experience for us. The wind, surf, and swells were very rough the whole time we were there, but thus the advantage of a private boat; with us as experienced divers in tote, the captain and guide had no reservations taking us out when almost no one else dared to go. We were rewarded with multiple trips to one of the wrecks that had become a cleaning station for bull sharks. There we saw dozens of sharks each day, visibility and the cold water being the only obstacles to immaculate enjoyment. We also experienced Cabo Pulmo’s best reefs alone, basking in the large schools of jacks and colored fish, along with the occasional bull shark cruising over the reefs. And just as unpredictable as the Sea of Cortez can be, several of our surface intervals became whale watching expeditions as humpback whales cruised by, breaching and creating a private spectacle for us. What a trip!
With that, mako and blue sharks are now checked off this year’s Baja list. We’ll be back in May to visit the famed sea lion colony in La Paz, along with searching for mobula rays in La Ventana. We can’t wait. CaaS
Check out these photos from our trip:
Check out these videos from our trip on our YouTube channel:
