Up Close Whale Watching By Zodiac In Cabo San Lucas

It was very personal, only myself, my husband and crew members. The last day for whale watching and Jose was able to locate one last humpback for us to see! It was awesome!

We went on a zodiac small group whale watching trip in Cabo with Xo as our guide and José as the captain. We were four adults and were in a boat with a total of 8 people. The trip was wonderful, and uniquely so because of this exceptional crew. They were passionate about their work, highly knowledgeable and interested in encouraging understanding, appreciation and respect for these gentle giants and for nature in general. We saw the beautiful Whales, sea lions, sea birds and the gorgeous environment from The sea. We learned so much, and saw the whales up so closely. Awe-inspiring experience- NOT TO BE MISSED! Ask for xo and José!

The guide is excellent. The view is great. The ride is very enjoyable.

Had a great time out on the water with JJ (captain) and So (guide)! We saw around 15 whales with a partial breach! Ride took around 2.5 hours total

This was such a great experience for my family and I. We’ve never gotten so close to whales in our life! I wasn’t sure how the kids would do (9 and 7), but they loved it! It was a small group so it was intimate, we got to ask a lot of questions. Our guide Xochi was incredible and very knowledgeable which made it even more memorable.

We've gone on whale watching with Cabo Expeditions several times. As usual we had up close whale experiences - breaching, fin slapping, fluke tail sightings. We also were surrounded by a pod of dolphins. The guide was very knowledgeable and answered our many questions. We also enjoy riding in the Zodiac; fewer people on board and fun bouncing through the waves. The only thing that would have made the experience better was less time spent trying to hear the whales' songs. I would have preferred more actual whale sighting time and not so much time doing photographs, etc. at the Arch.

The activity was shorter than promised in the description. We were in fact not offered bottled water. It was nearly 80° and there was no water offered at all. Barely saw any whale action. I saw the whales from my condo for over an hour on 2/14 yet these guides couldn’t seem to find the whales for more than a minute or two. Had to wait 40+ minutes for transportation back to the hotel which was $10 per person. Absolutely not worth the money paid, highly recommend going with a different company if you want to actually see whales or enjoy your excursion.

Book this excursion immediately! We saw many whales (and lots of dolphins, too) Our captain, JJ, was a master navigator. Clem, our guide, was such a delight. So knowledgeable and friendly. The small group size and zodiac boat made for an incredible afternoon. Highly recommend!

PROS: 5 star is partially due to the many humpback whale sightings and good weather. The guide was easy to understand and informative; the captain steady and competent. Small size group and nimble boat gave us lots of opportunities to see the breaching whales. A plus was a large pod of dolphins that followed us for a while doing water acrobatics! CONS: boat was really too small to accommodate a “boat photographer”, a young man seemingly suffering from a hangover. When whales were sighted he would jump up to take photos and blocked many otherwise good views. The guide requested the guests stay seated to keep the viewlines open - sadly, there are always seems to be couple of people who don’t think the rules apply to them. Constantly waving, continually extended selfie sticks used by standers also blocked good views. Wish selfie sticks were not allowed. TIP: If you are coming in by cruise ship tender, it is a .8 mile walk around the entire marina to get to Cabo Experience dock (50 feet from the tender dock but across the main channel out of marina). There is no bridge there so if you are pressed for time, take a water taxi. Get a morning time cruise if possible. Better chance for activity.

Amazing experience! We saw so many whales, it was truly incredible. Xo and JJ were terrific guides, highly recommend!

Amazing! Small boat and So and JoJo were phenomenal. They looked for signs of whales and brought the boat so we could see them. They were very respectful of the whales too. We saw several whales and a pod of dolphins. Highly recommend!!

What an excellent experience! The crew was amazing, we saw close to 18 whales. Xo was our tour guide and she was so much fun! I would highly recommend this adventure!

The tour was stated to be “small group, no more than 15 people”. Our boat had 18 people on board. Apparently in the count of 15, the crew was not counted. Way too many people for the size of the boat to be considered safe. If there was a biologist on board, it was a mystery who it was. The guide who did the talking never introduced herself as a biologist and she did not seem very knowledgeable and never asked if anyone had questions. I would not repeat this tour and certainly would not recommend it to anyone. We did see whales, however actually seeing the whales was difficult due to the overcrowded boat. We missed quite a few sightings. The captain did try to give us opportunities to see whales however. He was quite considerate.

Truly amazing experience! A must do. Our captain went the opposite way of all the other boats. We got a private show with the whales. At least 20 whales with 3 that were up close and personal for 45 minutes. Tons of breaches.

Yes, this was a fantastic crew and the water and the temperatures were beautiful. We saw many mother and baby humpbacks. We saw a bunch of tails. This was fantastic and I’m coming back again tomorrow. Thank you so much.

The trip was absolutely amazing! Highly recommend! We saw lots of beautiful dolphins and amazing whales. 🐳 I will do this excursion again!

Xo & Juan Jose were awesome guides, went all over looking for whales and saw tons whales, dolphins and rays jumping! So many tails and we learned a ton, and got so close! Definitely recommend!

It was fun a saw lot of whales. Katherine and captain Baltazar were awesome and kind. Captain Baltazar drove and take us around to see the whales. Cabo Expeditions is a good company, easy to communicate and response to all my questions prior to the activity.

Nice location between Cabo an San Jose for kayaking and snorkeling. Casey and Luis were great. Nice beach to hang out on after we finished as well.

Boat crew were friendly and shared fun information about the whales. Saw great whale activity up close.

Ladies and gentlemen! If you want to get the absolutely best experience finding and seeing whales, I can make no greater recommendation than with the Zodiac Boat cruise amigos in Cabo San Lucas. The team got us some excellent opportunities to see multiple humpback whales in the Pacific Coast waters. The team included a boat pilot, photographer, and excursion guide, who spoke excellent English. You'll be taking a tender boat transfer from you big ship, but once you get to the main dock, you don't have to travel far (within walking distance) to get to the Breathless hotel, where the small excursion boats depart. We were even 20 minutes late to our noon appt. and they came back and picked us up! After getting us some beautiful photos of the :blowhole portada," they navigated us for the next couple of hours in several spots until we spotted our humback whales: A momma and baby humpback. They explained the whales habitat, journeys, and birthing logistics and were very friendly and funny! We loved this experience! Thank-you to Jireh Collazo, (photographer) & amigos, and to Trip advisor for setting this up for us.

Absolutely fantastic!! The guides were knowledgeable and within 5 minutes of starting the tour we were watching a mom and baby whale!

The ocean was full of whales that we were tracking. Then suddenly we were no longer tracking the whales. We were just sitting there looking at one another as the minutes ticked by. All the other boats we were with continued on and we sat there. No one said anything. The captain and the assistant (not a biologist as claimed) started to serve drinks and the “photographer” started to sell us photos. Let me be clear here. We had been on the water for less than 25 minutes of a 2 1/2 to 3 hour excursion. All three pretended nothing was wrong. Meanwhile, as the photographer distracted us trying to sell us individual photographs for outrageous amounts of money, attempting to hide behind the opened cooler, the captain and other guy worked on the boat’s engine. No one told us anything. The increasingly strong gasoline smell, and their strange behavior, however, gave them away. Finally, as one of the guys hailed down another boat and asked in Spanish for help, I inquired if they were by chance having engine problems. He laughed and said yes. We were then getting towed in by another boat. He didn’t even tell us that we were going back to the docks. After, we directly asked him if we were returning. He said yes with another laugh. He then informed us that we could either go out another day with them for free or we could get a full refund. Needless to say, everyone on the boat, wanted a full refund. When we got back to the counter, the woman tried to say we could not get a refund because we had seen whales. Fortunately, all the passengers knew we had been told we were getting a full refund and no one was going to accept not getting a full refund. After everyone refusing to backdown, she did process the refunds. We all waiting for the refunds to show up in our accounts. The deceit, the more expensive price for the trip, charging outrageous amounts of money for photographs, especially when others include photographs for free, their deceitful and avoidant behavior, and their run down boats, lack of a biologist …. Steer clear! There are many great options that are professional, and less expensive.

Our small boat captain and guide knew what he was doing. His expertise brought us fabulous sightings of whales.

Raft captain and guide were knowledgeable and fun. Chased whale activity in both Sea of Cortez and Pacific. Boat was small a fast. Hang on to you seat and hat. Not good for someone with back issues or walking difficulties. We saw humpback, Grey and orca. Told this is rare. Also dolphins. Great day up close with the whales.

Water was rough with swells and the boat bounced violently when speeding. This was very alarming for passengers, especially since it was overloaded without seats for some of us. The crew didn’t seem to take this very seriously. Also, there was relatively little explanation and communication in English, and they spent more time speaking with each other in Spanish. The whales, however, were magnificent, with many breaches. If the crew had been more conscientious, it could have been a very nice experience.

We had an amazing experience on the water. we saw many whale tails and a few breaches. The boat is small and fast so we covered a lot of territory. Oscar and Rodrigo were knowledgeable and fun. I highly recommend this experience.

Our guide, Jorge, was wonderful! We saw 4 whales. Jorge kept a respectful, considerate distance from the whales as opposed to other tours and nothing was lost. Our couple photo of the arch will be forever cherished as well!

Our whale watching trip was fantastic. I wish I could remember our guys names but it was the noon trip on 12/30. We saw tons of whales, even a big out-of-the-water breach. I highly recommend!!

We had an amazing tour and saw many humpback whales! It was a magical day in Cabo! Highly recommend!

Jose and Luis were excellent Captain and Skipper for our adventure. Jose obviously has much experience observing the habits of the amazing humpback whales, because when he said keeping watching, we were rewarded by an amazing acrobatic whale breach! Maintained the boat at a respectful distance of mom & calf, which as whale watching enthusiasts is important to us. We didn’t miss any of the action and highly recommend!

Zodiak ride was great fun, but be aware: It not 2.5 hrs of whale watching. Assume 30 min out and back, leaving 1.5hrs, of which roughly half can be devoted to finding them. Also, the tour states a max of 15 people, and in another spot, 13 max. We had 11 and it was packed. A good time but also pricey for a short viewing time.

We had a fantastic time with our crew! We saw 20 breaching! The water was super rough, but not once did we feel unsafe. Brilliant experience!

Jose was very informative. Service was great. Enjoyed whale watching. Unforgettable experience. Viator states ride pickup/drop off included in the booking. But it’s not all true. It’s free for 4 people pick up. I paid $20. Need to correct.

We have done a lot of whale watching and this was one of the very best excursions. Our guide/driver, Jose, was really great. He was very enthusiastic and knowledgable. Luck smiled on us and we saw so many whales jumping, fin slapping, tail slapping etc. Highly recommend this tour!

Cabo San Lucas was on my bucket list, especially during the humpback whale migration down from Alaska. Cabo Expeditions and Jose provided an outstanding whale-watching experience. Exception service in a nice location. Included roundtrip transportation (we were in a villa in Pedregal) in an air-conditioned van. 24' Zodiac raft was comfortable and clean. We started with a trip to El Arco, which was at its most turbulent, with large cerulean blue swells and surf into the cliffside. Still beautiful and awe-inspiring. Better in a Zodiac raft than in a kayak. Then we went to the south side of the last massive rock of BCS and turned back towards Medano Beach to begin sighting the whales. Right away, we saw a humpback that waved goodbye with its tail. We followed to whales swimming together for about 15 minutes. When we turned to head towards a breaching whale, we nearly crossed paths with two other whales, then were along side them close enough to be bathed in whale exhalation mist. The breaching male was putting on quite a show to impress his mate, with giant fin slapping, repeated tail whacking, swimming on his back with both fins out of the water, and several half-body breaches. So beautiful. On the way back, we saw a mother and her very young baby whale. Jose had a sixth sense about when we would see the whales: "2 o'clock in 10 seconds", and sure enough, a whale would surface. Fantastico! I've not seen so many whales, and so close-up. I wore jeans and brought a water-resistant jacket. The Zodiac was big enough that water rarely splashed into the raft, even when we were a mile out with 3-4' swells and surf. Next time, it'll be Tevas and shorts. A jacket was indicated on the way out (we booked the 9am tour) as it was cooler on the ocean, but not needed on the return. Highly recommend.

Great whale watching experience! Saw calves with their mothers and about 5 more whales showing off. I felt safe the whole time and the guides were great and predicting where the whales were going to come up!

Amazing experience!! The whales were extra energetic and really put on a show. Jose was a top notch boat captain, the driving was great. It our first trip to Cabo and we were staying a bit out of town. Transportation was offered and made us feel more comfortable than other excursions which needed us to Uber from our hotel.

We had a wonderful time. The whales were so close to us we could almost touch them. Our captains Jose and Ramona knew exactly where to go and when to stop the boat and let the whales come to us. The whale would swim under our boat and then raise up and look at us. This lasted almost 30 minutes. This was a trip of a life time!!

The captain and 2 crew were great! We started with a close up view of the arch and surrounding rock out crops and beaches, then a peddle to the metal search for breaching humpbacks up the Pacific side. We saw plenty of these giants. We slowed to a crawl once we were in proximity. Wow! What a SHOW! We stayed out a little bit longer because the last one was the closest and did a triple beach. A grand end to the tour. Then a we zipped back to the harbor. We mostly took videos, so not many photos.

Jose has lots of experience! Every time he said 1,2,3 ready then whale jumped out of the water. Never missed!

Captain Jose knew just where to go. All of the other boats went to the Pacific side, CJ went toward the Gulf. We had unrestricted viewing of a Mom, calf and nurse whale. Great job by the crew.

I have done a couple of whale watching tours in Cabo and I really liked this one because it's a smaller operation and the tours take less people which is nice. The only thing was that they chose to go very far away, like 20 miles, instead of choosing something closer, the whales are everywhere so why go so far. I felt like the time with the whales was too short.

While ALL of the other tour boats turned right out of the harbor, Captain Jose turned left, and, to quote Robert Frost, that made all the difference. We went about 20 miles east to a spot Captain Jose knew that a mom, calf and nurse whale were hanging out. He stopped the boat and we just drifted a bit and in a few minutes there they were, less than 25 Ft from the boats. We followed them around for about 45 minutes and were rewarded with a dozen or so separate surfacings. Just incredible. We were the only tour boat in the area. On the way back CJ took us over to the Pacific side, where there were at least 25 other boats chasing a couple of whales. It was a zoo. We stayed on the perimeter of the scrum and were able to catch a couple of glimpses of a whale, but the views were spoiled by the sheer number of tour boats in the area. CJ and his first mate Romel were friendly and knowledgable. I can't say enough good things about them,

So much fun. Jose and Romel wanted to make sure we saw whales and we did. We were the last boat out. Great pictures.

What a great experience! The people who took us out were super attentive making sure everyone was having fun. It was well organized and an awesome time, a true highlight of our Cabo trip.

This was the highlight of our trip! We took 3 different whale watching excursions and this was the best. Our guides were fabulous at spotting. The whales treated us to Mexican Spray directly in front of our zodiac! We highly recommend!

We LOVED our whale watching tour and snorkeling, although the water was freezing! We were so lucky to see many whales and even some breaching! The captain was very kind and did not rush so we got a really great show from a couple whales! I am so glad we decided to rent the entire boat as there were 12 of us,

We went out with our captain Jose. Excellent tour. We saw the beach, arch, sea lions and the whales were amazing! Mom and baby, breeching whales. It was the whale watching experience of a lifetime. Our captain was excellent. We will be back. The front of the boat is super fun!