The Adventure Paradise Of The Four Seasons Los Cabos At Costa Palmas

11.03.2024 - 12:53 / forbes.com

We hop from a small fishing boat onto an even smaller panga, as we’re about to enter Mexico’s Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park, located along the East Cape of the Baja California Peninsula between Cabo San Lucas to the south and La Paz to the north. I’m here with my two teenage daughters, and they are about go snorkeling for their first time. They are excited and a bit nervous. “Will there be sharks?” they inquire for a third or fourth time. “Definitely not,” our guide responds with a smile. Which comes across as comforting if not convincing.

It’s February, and we’ve traded the prime ski season of our home in Park City, Utah, for some warmer adventures, together with a healthy dose of fine dining, relaxation and tanning our pale winter skin. The UV index has crossed into double digits, which is the only KPI (key performance indicator) my daughters have for a beach vacation. It’s a metric they obsess about for weeks in advance. Alas, the skies above the Sea of Cortez are finally clear after a couple days of wind and passing clouds. The air temperature is climbing into the 80s, and the water temps are “wetsuit optional” in the 70s.

The reason for switching watercraft is because larger boats are prohibited within the 27 square miles of the protected Park. The area was designated as such in 1995 and has since became a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2005) and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance (2008). This is because it’s home to 11 different species of coral, which are also the oldest in North America and the northernmost in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

There are other groups in the Park searching for marine wildlife experiences with their guides, and it brings back memories of our safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. Except we’ve traded bush vehicles for a pangas, and instead of leopards and elephants, we’re seeking sea lions, sea turtles, humpback whales and perhaps a pod of orcas that’s been spotted recently. The big difference between a safari and snorkeling is that we’re about to get up close and personal with these sea animals.

There are three stops on the snorkeling tour. The first is a swim along one of the bigger reefs, where schools of colorful fish including Mexican goatfish, snapper, porkfish and yellowtail snapper are concentrated. We’re in approximately 40 feet of water, and visibility is phenomenal. Next stop is an area frequented by sea turtles, and the finale is swimming with a raft of friendly sea lions around a large rock outcropping, upon which they can otherwise be found sunning themselves. Given how they play and bark and interact with one another, it feels like we’re swimming in underwater dog park.

The bookends of this marine adventure include seeing a humpback whale