Four great days in Malarrimo
Driving Baja California – Part Four
Updated July 2022
This is part four of the “Driving the Baja Peninsula” series. Click on the Travel menu at the top for the other parts.
At Guerro Negro, we stayed at a place called Malarrimo, which consists of a hotel, restaurant, campground and whale watching tours, all on one property. The restaurant is excellent, and the price is very inexpensive. I had filet mignon cooked to perfection, with mushrooms, and with a margarita, of course. I am getting quite fond of margaritas. (Click photos to enlarge).
If you like oranges, you will be in paradise. You can buy a big sack of oranges that you can barely lift for a couple of dollars.
Whale Watching
The Gray Whales spend the summer off the coast of Alaska. Then, in the winter, they migrate to the coast of Mexico. It is the longest migration of any animal other than birds. There are whale-watching excursions all along the coast from Vancouver to Mexico, but they go out into the ocean and see the whales as they swim past. The best place to see the Gray Whales is in the lagoons in southern Baja, where they spend the winter and have their babies.
We went out in a 23-foot open boat with 11 tourists: six Mexicans, three Canadians and two Italians. There are tourists from all over the world here but, except when a caravan pulls into town, there are not a great number of tourists. Guerrero Negro is not an easy place to get to and requires a sense of adventure. Of the thousands of tourists in Baja, California, very few of them come here.
Whales Up Close
The Mexican government-approved whale-watching tours are not allowed to approach the whales within a distance of fewer than ten metres. However, there is no rule against having the whale approach the boat; they do. So we shut off the motor and sat there. The whales came by the dozens to within an arms-length of the boat. Close enough that some lucky people were able to touch them. The whales would surface near the boat and spend a great deal of time there. They seemed to enjoy the company, or perhaps they were just curious. I don’t believe the tour boats bother the whales. We did not chase them or harass them in any way. The whales came to us.
The Gray is the third type of whale that I have seen. I saw Humpback Whales near Massachusetts and Orcas near Vancouver Island. I have seen the Grey Whale before near San Diego but not near as close as this. It was in the open ocean. Today I saw one close enough to see its eyeball moving.
I don’t know how many whales I saw, but it was a lot. It was the most I have ever seen and the closest. There are more than 1,200 whales in the lagoon. I also saw dolphins, pelicans and sea lions. The tour was three hours long. It was marvellous. Forget whale-watching in a large ship on the open ocean and come to Guerrero Negro.
Videos
Here are a couple of short movies to show you how close the whales were:
Birds
Guerro Negro is also an excellent place for birding. I saw Great Brant Geese, Blue Herons, Great White Herons, Snowy Egrets, Reddish Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Cormorants, both white and brown pelicans, Black-Crowned Night Herons, a great many Osprey, and many others.
Salt
Also near the lagoon is the world’s largest saltworks. They pump water out of the lagoon into a field and wait for the water to evaporate, leaving the salt behind. I saw huge mountains of salt. They export it to Canada and USA as well as for local use. The company is 49% owned by Mitsubishi Motor Works and 51% by the Mexican government. The jobs at the salt works pay an above-average wage, and the men of the town all want to get a job there, but it isn’t easy. I was told that the jobs are hereditary and are handed down from father to son.
Recommended
We spent four fantastic days at Guerrero Negro. The weather was lovely, and the wildlife viewing was awesome. With a great restaurant nearby and time to relax in the sun, what more could you want? I highly recommend a visit to this town but getting to it is not simple. Travel off the beaten path, and you will be rewarded.
Next Stop
Next we head to San Ignacio and Mulege. Click here for Driving California Part Five.