In my last post, I indicated there was more to share about our Sunday trip to San Jose del Cabo—and there is—but every day brings with it new experiences that lessen the impact of the one before. Sunday was finding ourselves unexpectedly in the midst of the Ironman competition as we slow-crawled down the highway toward church. We saw some of the bicycling (112 miles) which took place after the swim competition (3.8 miles) and ended with the running (26.2) miles, which trapped us in town for the duration. I wanted to say something profound about the endurance these people exhibited to finish off a three-hour or longer run when the temperature was hovering near 90 degrees. Then Tuesday happened and, with it, my focus shifted.
One of the things I love about vacations with my husband is that he’s very adventurous. Maybe not jump-out-of-an-airplane adventurous (although I wouldn’t put it past him) but never satisfied with the status quo. Cabo San Lucas is quite the tourist town—which is not our thing. Fortunately, we’ve been planning this vacation long enough that Chris was given lots of suggestions about places to explore. Cabo Pulmo was one of them.
Rumored to have the best snorkeling in all of Baja California Sur, Cabo Pulmo is also a national park. Had we not read the reviews about it beforehand, I would have been very suspicious of the seemingly-long sand and gravel road that separated the highway from our destination. And then we pulled into “town” if you can call it that, bordered by several cabanas offering snorkeling, fishing and kayaking tours. But what caught our attention was the view beyond—the clearest ocean water we’d ever seen on this continent, comparable only to Costa del Sol in Spain. Breathtaking!
We’d decided ahead of time that we wanted to take a boat ride out to the choicest snorkeling spots and was blessed with good timing—which enabled us to be the only two on the tour (except our guide, of course.) Our first stop was the only coral reef in Baja California. To be honest, I spent most of my time muscling myself against the current determined to pull me away from the reef, so though I saw ocean life and lots of coral, I was only too happy to move onto the next spot—a swim with a school of fish.
Talk about surreal! There must have been a thousand or more jack fish, some over two feet long, swimming beneath us as far as we could see. They weren’t at all concerned that Chris and I joined their party or kept up with them for about ten minutes. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if a hungry shark came along, but figured they’d be more interested in the fish than me.
Our next stop was a sea lion colony. “Don’t get any closer than six feet,” our guide instructed us. But as we swam near their sunbathing rock, a few of these hefty creatures decided it was time for a dip and slipped into the water, honking out a warning. I decided it was best to keep my distance, but Chris was braver than I as the sea lions drew close to check him out. As we climbed back into the boat, our guide told us he saw a whale out on the horizon and wondered if we’d like to follow up. It’s near the end of the season, and they’re usually spotted early morning, so this was unexpected. However, the smooth waters alerted the whale of our boat, and we got only a long-distance view of it.
The last stop was a bay teeming with underwater life. We saw live coral and more color than I’ve ever experienced before. Purple, turquoise, yellow, gray, purple with white spots (puffer fish), neon green (needle fish), lavender (star fish) and on and on. By this time, we were both getting distracted by the cold water and ready to end our tour. I only wish I’d had an underwater camera, although I doubt it could have captured the true essence of our adventure.
As we headed back to our casa—tired, salty and slightly sunburned—we felt grateful for the experience. How anyone can question the existence of God with the creation around us is beyond me. Sadly, some would be put off with the long sand and gravel road, and either be so focused on it they miss the blessing beyond, or give up and never reach it at all.
Comments 1
Your trip sounded awesome Jennifer. I love to snorkel and I could picture the beautiful colorful fish you were describing! Guess it was worth the hassle getting there too! Thanks for sharing!
Hugs…Corlis