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Reprinted with permission of Travel Weekly Magazine

Travel Weekly associate editor Frank L/ Kurtz joined Cruise West for a one-week sailing along the east coast of Mexico’s Baja California. His report follows.

In the 1960s, "the Baja" was a destination coveted by independent, mostly young wanderers. The Baja meant off-road driving and hiking, desert treks and "eating local". But then the wider world discovered Los Cabos (the Capes), and Cabo San Lucas, at the southern terminus of the Californias, became a tourist draw. Cruise West, which began its inaugural season in Baja in December 1998, is using Cabo San Lucas as a winter base for both this ship and the Spirit of ’98. 

Despite the newness of the operation here, itineraries have already undergone changes. Some were brought about by tides and currents, others by crew members’ observations. In the latter case, it would seem the line is determined on focus more on old Baja than on touristy Cabo. On the first sailing, for example, passengers boarded on Cabo San Lucas on the first afternoon, had dinner aboard, then had the run of the town for a few hours of nightlife as the ship remained in port.   "The passengers didn’t seem to find the town all that interesting at night, " one crew member reported, "A lot of noise, a lot of bar-hopping fraternity boys, that sort of thing, so we’ve dropped it", she said. Instead, the ship departs soon after dinner the first night, passes up its published first stop, in Bahia de Los Muertos, and makes for the more distant Bonanza Bay on Isla Espiritu Santo and its more congenial anchorage.  It was here, in the morning, that so many of the widely traveled passengers aboard showed their surprise and awe at the nearness of the desert landscape to the rich, varicolored waters of the Sea of Cortes. The ship anchored a couple of hundred yards offshore, and two launches shuttled passengers to the cove’s beach for a morning of nature hiking, kayaking and snorkeling.

There was a hour long hike into Bonanza Bay’s near canyon, with a primer on its plant and animal life and on its geology provided by cruise coordinator. The line’s cruise coordinator Heather Bell already well versed in the natural history of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, underwent intensive classroom training in Seattle, then 10 "very full" days of field training with scientists in Baja before the line launched its program here. Bell’s narration during that first walk and subsequent ones consisted of no mere recitation of species names. She was intent on our learning about the survival strategies and adaptations evident in the various cacti, succulent bushes and trees that cling to this forbidding landscape.

The cruise will afford two more destinations for nature walking, snorkeling and kayaking on barrier islands, one at Isla Carmen, near Loreto, another at Isla Partita, near La Paz. The latter choice was an improvisation, as the intended anchorage was occupied by a private yacht, leaving not enough tether room for Endeavour.

The wildlife portion of the trip was well supplemented with after-dinner presentations by Bell on subjects such as Baja geology, whales and seabirds, and there also was talk on California’s missions. A much-anticipated part of the itinerary was an overland ride by bus to the Pacific side of the peninsula to view the gray whales that come here from Alaska to spawn and rear their young.  In Baja Magdalena, we went out in the protected bay in six-passenger pangas (open boats), and our boatload alone managed to see up to 10 gray whales. In one instance, we got within about 20 feet of a mother and calf, which casually circled the boat for 15 minutes. As impressive as this was, the bay was also very rich in seabird variety. At the barrier islands, we’d seen many turkey vultures, brown pelicans, osprey and frigate birds, and here, we saw some of these as well as herons, cormorants and whimbrels.

The pace of life aboard Spirit of Endeavour varied with the day’s plans. Meals - beginning with a daily 6 a.m. continental breakfast, followed by a full breakfast an hour later - were well varied, produce was fresh and generally well prepared, and dress and seating were casual. Mealtimes were not, however, for hanging out and chatting over second cup of coffee, unless one chose to miss a shore program or one of the evening presentations.

Cabins on board Endeavour, in their four categories, are considerably roomier and more cleverly laid out that they are on the two other of the line’s ships I’ve visited. Sprit of Glacier Bay and Spirit of Alaska, and were said by a couple of agents on board to be among the best in the small ship category. A particular delight in main-deck cabins is being able to sleep next to a large picture window with the night seas and swells rolling just a few feet below.

The itinerary of this cruise afforded passengers a chance to observe real daily life in towns that are not over touristed and to visit some of Mexico’s historical attractions.

The first town we visited was Loreto, whose mission church, begun in 1697, was the first in the Califonias. Here and at other towns, including Mulege and Santa Rosalia, our cruise coordinator was joined by two guides from a local ground operator, Contac-Tours, who shared in the narration and in answering queries during bus rides and strolls through town. Our final port call - and unscheduled point of disembarkation - was La Paz, a jewel of a port town and the capital of Baja California Sur. Spirit of Endeavour had developed a minor mechanical problem, and though the ship was given clearance to get back under way following temporary repairs, the captain decided to have passengers driven by bus to the airport at San Jose del Cabo, two hours away. This meant we would miss a last look at Cabo San Lucas’s famed offshore Arches - the end of a continuous mountain chain that stretches to Palm Springs, CA. But we had seen Los Arcos in the moonlight no the way out of port, and the bus route afforded us new views of Baja’s steep sierras and desert passes.

On that final night aboard in La Paz, a few passengers were talking about the richness of this destination in terms of its natural and cultural attractions. One travel agent on board, who’d visited Cabo San Lucas before, said, she was glad to have seen more Baja and a little less of Cabo. She’d been with Alaska Sightseeing / Cruise west in south-central Alaska, too, and said she was glad the itinerary there did not pay much attention to Anchorage, but went straight for the glaciers and the coastal towns. "They have a saying up there: "Anchorage is about a half-hour from Alaska", she said, adding, "After this trip, I think, I’d have to say that Cabo is at least a half-hour from Baja."

Fact Sheet: Spirit of Endeavour

Line: Cruise west

Built: 1983

Passengers: 102

Itinerary: Seven Day cruises from Cabo San Lucas, with an optional four-day extension to the Copper Canyon, from December to April.