Whale-watching dates announced for 2022-23 season

November, 2022

Gray, blue, and humpback whales can be spotted on their journey in coastal waters from Baja California to Oaxaca. Whale-watching dates for the upcoming season were published in the government’s official gazette on Oct. 19, as well as rules that apply to observation spots and restricted zones in eight states on the western coast of Mexico: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Nayarit, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Sonora, Oaxaca, and Guerrero.

The whale-watching season will go from mid-December to April in most states, though in Baja California, the whales can be observed as late as mid-May, while in Guerrero the season ends as early as March.

Every year, as the northern ice pushes southward, whales migrate from the cold Bering and Chukchi seas near Alaska to Mexico’s warm Pacific coastal waters to breed, attracting a great number of tourists to watch the migration. According to the International Whaling Commission, Mexico is now the most popular whale-watching destination outside of the United States.

Whale-watchers can spot gray, blue, and humpback whales on their journey along most of Mexico’s Pacific coastline. In accordance with current Mexican environmental laws and in order to protect the natural habitat of the whales, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has restricted access to certain areas.

In the Baja Peninsula, whale-watching is banned in a 2-kilometer zone around the Arch of Cabo San Lucas, as well as offshore from Punta Ballenas, in order to prevent the excessive conglomeration of boats. For the same reason, the Bahía de Acapulco and the Bahía de Puerto Marqués – both in the municipality of Acapulco de Juárez – have also been designated as off-limits. And, to prevent disturbing whales with newborn calves, an area from Punta Mita to the mouth of the Ameca River has been made a restricted zone.

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