Baja Whale Watching with Fantasy RV Tours

Baja Whale Watching with Fantasy RV Tours
Read about the highlights of this exciting guided RV trip!

By: Kenny & Sabrina Phillips

I think it is safe to say that we are officially hooked on Fantasy RV Tours. We just returned from their Baja Whale Watching Tour and have already signed up for their Moab Off-Roading Jeep tour. We love how everything is planned out for us and all we need to do is show up to enjoy the adventure. 

The Baja Whale Watching trip starts out very similarly to the Taste Of Baja trip (formerly known as the Baja Wine & Dine) which we did in October of 2023. To learn everything you need to know about driving your RV into Mexico for that tour as well as the whale watching tour, read our blog post. 

The Whale Watching Tour has been our most anticipated trip to do with Fantasy RV Tours as we booked it over a year in advance. The tour is very popular and fills up quickly and for good reason – where else can you go to see, pet, and possibly even kiss a gray whale?

Learn more about Fantasy RV Tours and their upcoming offerings here. If you are a GoLife Perks member, you can save on their caravans and tours created specifically for Winnebago owners!

Getting Started on Our Adventure in Baja, Mexico

This trip is much more than a whale watching tour. You will need to travel more than five hundred miles south of the border! However, you will have plenty of time to chat with locals, enjoy beach camping, and experience food from several restaurants – some of which are located right on the campground property. Without Fantasy RV Tours we would have never known about any of these hidden gems!

The trip starts with driving into Mexico and staying at Belle’s favorite campground in Mexico: Clam Beach RV Park. We all love this campground because of the beach access plus full hookups that include 50- and 30-amp service. Belle loves running right along the water while doing her best not to get wet. 

We also enjoy the fact that the Fantasy RV Tours team picks us up from here and takes us to Splash Restaurant to enjoy a fantastic meal while overlooking the beach and getting to know everyone on the trip. It amazes me how quickly everyone becomes friends on these trips, I think it helps that RVers are very friendly, and we all have that common interest of exploring and adventure. 

The next day we were back on the road to continue further south. Fantasy RV Tours does a great job by holding a driver meeting every morning and letting us know what to expect while traveling, including road conditions, sights to see, fuel areas, and of course directional tips to be sure everyone is staying on track. We all leave together and do our best to stick together and, if we do start to separate, we have walkie talkies to stay in touch. 

Driving in Mexico is not like Driving in the U.S.

Driving in Mexico is very different than here in the states, especially the further south you go. The roads become very narrow, in fact they are so narrow that our Class A does not fit mirror-to-mirror on the highway, and the lanes are a single lane in each direction, but luckily the locals were very generous about giving us space when passing with oncoming traffic. (Read this article by the Holcombes to learn more about exploring Baja, Mexico, by RV.)

I honestly believe that the drivers in Mexico are some of the most courteous we have ever encountered. That being said, if you own a smaller RV such as a Winnebago EKKO, Winnebago Travato, or Winnebago View/Navion you are going to feel much more comfortable navigating through the streets and highways. Despite over 130,000 miles under my belt of driving our Class A Winnebago Vista, even I was feeling tired after a day of driving due to paying extra careful attention to the road and surroundings. 

The drive is a nice mix of small-town charm and beautiful stretches of scenery, so be sure your passenger is ready to snap some photos of the coastline, mountains, and interesting architecture.

There are plenty of opportunities along the way to empty tanks, refill water, and fuel up. Fantasy RV Tours takes all of this into account and plans the drives accordingly, making sure every type of vehicle is well taken care of. You can drive as slow as you are comfortable with as the Fantasy RV Tour guides and new friends are not going to leave you behind.

Camping Along the Way

It took a total of three days to reach the campground for the whale watching and during those travel days we stayed at one campground and one dry camping spot. The campgrounds after Clam Beach do not have 30- or 50-amp service, instead they have a standard 15-amp service. But we did notice it was easy to over-tax those circuits, so be prepared to take it easy on what you operate on electric. 

Fantasy RV Tours recommends operating your water heater and fridge on propane, if possible. Most of the campsites in the campground also provided sewer, but if yours did not there was a dump station available to empty your tanks, or you could do what we did and make friends with our neighbor and share theirs. 

Our boondocking/dry camping spot was one of our favorite places to camp because it had a small farm behind the camp hosts property, and they allowed us back there to walk around and see the animals. We had a campfire that night and our Fantasy RV Tour guides made all of us dinner, this was another great opportunity to mingle with our new friends and learn more about them. The campgrounds had restaurants on property and our dinners were included with the tour.

We felt like everyone in Mexico was so accommodating and thankful for having us visit them. Even pedestrians would wave to us and signal for us to blow our horns. And not just the kids, these were full-grown adults excited to see us caravan through their town. 

On the third day of travel, we arrived at Guerrero Negro and stayed at Malarrimo Hotel, Restaurant & Campground. This was a full hookup campground, with 15-amp service and water/sewer. 

This campground had some infrastructure damage from a recent hurricane and was under repair, which meant some of the power pedestals were not working (or worse … they were wired incorrectly!). So be sure you bring a surge protector, ideally one that can read improper polarity. 

We spent three full days at this campground and one of our dinners were included, we felt the Malarrimo restaurant made the best margaritas. The other two nights we were there, we were able to explore on our own or go out in smaller groups for dinner.

Also, while here, Fantasy RV Tours came by and picked up our laundry to be cleaned. They really go out of their way to pamper us!

Ready to Meet the Whales!

Malarrimo Hotel, Restaurant & Campground is where the shuttle would pick us up and take us to the boats for the whale watching, which was two days in a row. We thought that was great as it doubled our chances of seeing and possibly touching a whale. 

Note: Some people may be worried about touching a wild animal, as we are always taught to observe and not touch, but this is a special case. They even tell us while on the tour that it is okay to touch them because they are coming to us and we are not chasing them. They take the boats out to where the whales are then set the engine to idle and wait for the whales to approach. I found this article that explains it more and shares: “[The whales] love to rub and touch. That’s how they communicate.” 

Sabrina and I love animals and would never want to do anything to harm them. Although, once you get out on the water, you realize the whales are the ones in total control and look at us in a similar way. At 49 feet long and over 60,000 lbs., they could easily cause us some trouble, but they don’t. 

They seemed to be incredibly curious of us, they would swim up to our boat and turn to their side to get a good look at us. They would pass by and spray us with water from their spouts or splash us with their tails and fins. Even when they would come close to the boat they never intentionally bumped or pushed the boat. 

They were amazing to watch and felt as if they were performing for us as they did maneuvers in the water including barrel rolls. They made it clear that they wanted to interact with us, sometimes positioning themselves vertical so their heads could completely come out of the water for scratches and to be pet. 

Leading up to the trip, I was nervous thinking about being out on the water with whales larger than the boats. But I have to say, I worried for no reason. They are very docile, friendly, and curious. They appear to understand their size advantage over us and approached with caution to not harm us in any way. 

This was by far the most adventurous trip we have ever taken, and it is hard to put into words what you feel when you see and interact with these beautiful creatures. I think the feeling that best describes this interaction is pure joy. It’s impossible not to smile and call out to them and praise them when they splash or show off. In the moments interacting with them, I truly believe we made them just as happy as they made us. 

Tips For Being on the Water

The two days we were on the water were a bit rough, so we took Dramamine to help keep our stomachs settled. At one point, Sabrina needed to stop looking at the whales and collect herself. A tip we learned while being out there is if you feel like you are getting motion sick, stare out at the horizon and stay focused on it as you bob up and down. 

If you are prone to motion sickness, maybe try to sit in the center of the boat as it will not lift as high as the front or back. Overall, I would say this is something you don’t want to miss, it feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even if you are prone to motion sickness, I would say it’s worth it. You can also consult with your physician and see if they can prescribe you something for the trip.

Benefits of the Team Effort During a Caravan

One of the best things about traveling to Mexico with Fantasy RV Tours is the support you will get. Not just from the team, but also from your fellow travelers. During this trip, one of the members of our group sunk his 44-foot Class A down into some sand and became stuck, but I and about six others helped dig him out and get him back on the road. 

Another one of our travelers struck a large rock with his exhaust pipe which not only dented to the point of blocking all air flow, but also pulled the exhaust out of his catalytic converter. Again, about six of us (including one of the Fantasy RV Tour guides) stayed back with them. 

I carry a ridiculous number of tools with me including a reciprocating saw, cordless drill, and impact wrench. We were able to cut away the damaged area of the exhaust and reconnect it to the converter. We also were able to use some metal clothes hangers to replace some of his exhaust hangers. We had him back on the road in just over an hour. 

Incidents like this make traveling with Fantasy RV Tours invaluable. If either one of these RVers were alone, finding help without speaking the language would have been a difficult feat and would most likely completely ruin your trip. 

Baja with Fantasy RV Tours: More Than Whale Watching

As if whale watching was not enough, this trip packed a lot of extras like three nights of camping on a beach where we had beach campfires, music, and happy hours. Needless to say, Belle really enjoyed this as we would take long group walks along the beach to a nearby decommissioned lighthouse. Along the beach, we rescued washed up starfish, saw hermit crabs, and admired very interesting seashells. 

We were also taken on a salt mine tour, where 90% of the world’s salt comes from. Plus, we enjoyed a very interesting winery tour where we were able to go into an underground cellar, and we had a day trip to Ensenada. 

There were no dull moments of this trip. But, as always, you don’t have to do everything and can spend your time in any way you like. 

A Little Fun Fact About this Trip

Before we all crossed back over to the United States, Fantasy RV Tours shared some fun facts about our travels: we drove 1,011 miles, averaged twenty-eight miles an hour, and spent just a little over thirty hours in the driver’s seat. So, as you can see from these stats, the group moved at a very nice leisurely pace.

For a short video of our whale watching trip, check out this video here. 

If you have any questions about this trip, please let us know and Sabrina and I will do our best to answer them. Take care all and safe travels!