Incredible Whale Watching At The Lagoon

The Observation area of the Lagoon is a whale watchers’ paradise. You start in the morning and go in at intervals of a few hours with rests in between. Whatever time you choose for whale watching before sunset, you will never be disappointed. Words cannot describe how it feels to be up close with these giant yet gentle creatures, playing with their cubs and swimming within handshaking distance to pet and kiss them.

Every time we have gone inside the Observation area, there has been something new awaiting us. We have seen whales from a distance spouting or breaching multiple times. We have also observed them coming near us below our boats, curious about what other creatures like us are doing in their territory. But there is no anger, no aggression on their part, it is like they, more than us, understand that we are all, regardless of where we live, the land or the ocean, children of Mother Nature.

Let us go through a typical day at the Lagoon.

Any day at the Lagoon whale watching passes in the blink of an eye, leaving us wanting more and more of the experience. Let us take one of the days that has been imprinted in our memories for years to come.

But before coming to the core purpose of our visit – whale watching, a word about our guides. They are very experienced, have a quick eye for whales, and know precisely where we will get to see the giant animals.

7:45 – We depart the camp on a beautiful morning with almost no wind and after an easy ride, enter the observation area. Immediately, we see the whales, mother and baby pairs scratching the bottom, some others spy hopping, and babies breaching. It was an active morning as a mother and baby pair approached our boat. We had wonderful interaction, they kept coming to us for a while and the baby was opening its mouth, giving us beautiful baby whale smiles. Everyone got to give the baby good rubs and kisses. Eventually, Mom decided to go and we headed over to the beach for our 30-minute break.

We enter the area again for our second session and headed toward the mouth of the Lagoon. Whales were spread out everywhere. Finally,  we got close to the breakers where we found about 7 pairs swimming against the current and a juvenile occasionally spy hopping. It was good to see the interaction between them, they offered a lot of good photo opportunities. At this point, we returned for a break.

12:30 – We left camp for the observation area for another bout of whale watching. The weather was very nice, warm with no wind. As soon as we entered the area, we saw a few spouts as if the whales were waiting for us to arrive. There was only one other boat in the area that left soon after and so we had the whole area to ourselves.

We came upon a mother and baby pair that we recognized immediately as it was the same duo that we had seen some time back. Their behavior was amazing as if they had recognized us too. They approached us right away and came straight to touch us. Both mom and baby were extremely friendly, everyone touched them both numerous times and most of the passengers even got to give them kisses. They were enjoying and loving every moment as we were too. The baby – a little male was opening its mouth repeatedly as if smiling at us. This went on for about 90 minutes.

The southwest wind had arrived by now and we found some pairs socializing with babies playing together for a while. We again found the same pair but the wind kept blowing us away from them every time. After a moment we saw some pairs that were spy hopping. 

When we went back for our break, everybody had a smile on their faces, happy at being so close to the massive animals.  

2:45 – Once again we left for the observation area. By now the southwestern wind was blowing, it was a good ride but we rode slowly to make it more pleasant since we were facing the wind.

As we entered the area, we saw 3 pairs of mothers and babies of which one of them kept passing under the boat a few times, getting close but not enough for physical contact. We kept searching the area and quite a few pairs were hanging out. There were some boats around and so we decided to keep our distance from them so as not to overcrowd the area. Soon, we got a call from them that they were leaving and that they were currently interacting with a mother and baby pair.

We headed that way and as soon as we arrived, the mom and her baby headed straight to the boat and started playing with us. It was an incredible experience, one that left us in awe and excitement.  They were extremely friendly and I had never expected to see such a scene even in my wildest dreams. The mom was pushing the baby towards the boat and the baby was loving every minute of it, opening his mouth, and giving us one of the most awesome times that we have had this season. This went on for about 30 to 40 minutes until that area was closing so we headed back to camp with a boat full of happy whale watchers.

When you are bonding with the vast seas and seeing whales up close, it is not a routine or dull affair but one that throws up many surprises. On one of our excursions to the observation area, we found a baby swimming very close to the surface. It approached the boat slowly but very gracefully and came right under the boat, surfacing behind us. It took a while for it to realize that we would not harm it in any way and within a few minutes, it had mustered up enough courage to come within our handshaking distance.

All of us were very enthralled by this baby swimming alone. We put a hand on his nose and gave him a little pet and then he started coming for more and everyone on board got to touch it. Soon Mom decided that we had had enough fun at the expense of her baby and that it was time to go.

But it was not over yet. We saw some pairs socializing in the distance and when we got close, we realized suddenly that it was the same baby that had come back for some more petting and loving. But here was a catch! We found that the baby was alone and was lost in the vast ocean and the mother was not to be seen. But since the baby was following us, we went to find the mom so that they could be reunited.

However, by now, it was time for our break and we had to go back to the beach. All of us kept praying and wishing that Nature in all its kindness would ensure that Mom and her baby would be together again very soon.

For everybody on this trip, it has been an ethereal experience. By no stretch of the imagination could we have ever hoped to be so close to nature and bond with the animals of the deep seas.

Here is a compilation of what other guests have to say.

• Absolutely incredible experience, everyone was outstanding, but I want to especially highlight Ranulfo, Idris, and Lolis for their brilliant work. I hope we can return soon!! – Pieter Kaufman
• Excellent Service, Great Experience, Nice Naturalist program, it is great to walk around the beach. Hopefully, have more time to enjoy the beach. – Jack Chang
• We had lots of fun today. This morning was mostly a play dale for lots of baby whales, we got to see a beautiful white whale. This afternoon was a bit more close-up with them. Andria was able to kiss a baby whale, and I was able to kiss the mother and baby!! Our guide was great and did a great job getting us near to the whales. – Doug and Adria Childs
• Another great day!! I kissed a whale and it was so playful and fun to be with. They have such personalities. The guides helped us to see as much as we can and we saw a ton of whales. Everyone is respectful of the wildlife and the Lagoon. The camp is very comfortable. I want to return next year!! – Judith
• Couldn’t have asked for better !! This whole camp, all the staff, meals, everything, was top notch!! We loved it!! You guys are incredible. – Marty And Troy Errthum.

Our experience of whale watching has been out of this world. It is hard to imagine that these massive creatures lurking below the surface of the blue seas can be so incredibly gentle and loving. The babies interacted with us humans as if we were one of their own. Most of us have decided to come back next year.

And by the way, we did see some massive sea turtles and octopuses floating past us within eye contact distance!