Espiritu Santo

The splurge activity of this trip was a day-adventure out of La Paz to Espiritu Santo Island in La Paz Bay. An hour-long (?) motorboat ride took us from La Paz, up the eastern side of Espiritu Santo, past it's smaller neighbor just to the north (Isla La Perdita), and then to a couple of rocks just north of that which happen to be home to about 400 California sea lions.

This particular location is a safe haven for the sea lions because while their usual predators (especially orcas, sharks) sometimes pass by, they never linger. The absence of sharks also made is possible for us to strap on snorkeling gear and actually swim with the sea lions. Lacking an underwater camera, I don't have pictures of that, but it was pretty freaking great. The water was C.O.L.D., but the sea lions distracted us enough to withstand it for an hour-plus. They played with us like we were of their own kind, sneaking up on us, darting around us, swimming straight for our faces and then, at the last minute, veering down to swim just beneath the length of our bodies, and even sometimes playfully biting our hands like puppies...though that actually hurt and I don't recommend that part.

There were also beautifully colored fish, corals, and starfish to gaze at while snorkeling around, whenever the sea lions got sidetracked elsewhere.

Then we motored back south to Isla Espiritu Santo itself and pulled up to a beach for lunch.

Our guide, Francisco, took us for a short walk up into a canyon from the beach....

...and then we were able to get in kayaks and paddle around the bay.

Lots of fun creatures to gaze at while circling the rock in the bay and on land.

(Hard to see, but that's a starfish in the water)

Another day in paradise.