BACo. Baja Adventures Co. — Local services in Baja California Sur

We had the most incredible day with Mariel and the captain whose name I regretfully don't remember. Traveling with two kids (2 and 5 years, respectively) we opted for the extended private tour, as you just don't know how things will go combining wild animals and children. In the end, it went amazingly.

Our youngest was never realistically going to swim with the whale sharks, but his five year old sister is a very keen swimmer and adventurous at heart. That said, jumping off a boat into pretty cold water, snorkeling for your first time, and expecting to see huge sharks is no small feat when you're five. Mariel did an amazing job of building rapport with our daughter on the boat ride out there, and so by the time we were jumping in, that confidence was there, allowing Mariel to guide her (and us, the parents) right up to the sharks. We came in and out of the water multiple times, as we searched for various sharks, and each time was a success.

After a blast across the water, we next jumped in to get close to the sea lions by the lighthouse. This was definitely worthwhile, but maybe not as impactful or memorable an experience as swimming alongside the whale sharks, not least because there were multiple boats and big groups all in the water at once, whereas with the whale sharks the area is much bigger and the number of boats highly limited.

We finished at Balandra Beach, which really was amazing. We dropped anchor just off shore, close enough to wade to the beach, and spent an hour or more there, eating, splashing, snorkeling, in just beautiful crystal clear water.

There are clearly lots of options of companies offering these sorts of tours, and I haven't tried any others to compare. But I can say that I saw much bigger groups on smaller more basic boats, and I was really glad to have the dedicated and very personal service that Mariel and our captain provided. Sure, maybe it's simply a "you get what you pay for" situation, and there are clearly cheaper options, but since this is something you maybe only do once in your life, I think that if you can afford the private option with BACo., it really does give you so much freedom to enjoy the day how you want, and with staff who are very knowledgeable, personable, attentive, and on modern, comfortable and...

Simply Amazing . Positively Breathtaking . An entire day of life changing experience . We opted to book a day with BACo as they had been recommended to us many times . They are easy to find online and in person at the very modern - Costabaja Marina. Patrick listened, advised and ultimately tailored a day trip to meet our requests. His English was excellent and his manner professional.

First up - we went out for a morning to swim with the Whale Sharks. We were not disappointed .. the trip from the marina was no more than 20 minutes and for the preservation of the whale sharks these trips are all 'permitted' with the La Paz authorities. We had no problems whatsoever and Jorge (our guide for the day) was super friendly, uber knowledgeable and once again his english was excellent. We had a good 3 hours and all passengers on the boat got to go in with 3 different whale sharks ... Jorge even swam with (and ultimately propelled) the weaker swimmers alongside the whale sharks so you had a long time viewing these incredible fish ! (Soft drinks and snacks were offered throughout the morning, as were high quality, very new Masks, Snorkels, Fins and Buoyancy aids)

In the afternoon we headed out to Espiritu Santo island with Patrick and Leo . Here we stopped numerous times and were told about the different types of marine life and birds we encountered on our way to the northern part of the island .. to see the sea lions in their natural habitat. Here we were guided on the most incredible snorkel tour .. with the inquisitive sea lions swimming right up to us and interacting. Patrick and Leo were responsible for my young children (3 and 8) who were impeccably cared for while in the water (and indeed on the boat.) We then headed back to a less crowded, very remote part of the magnificent Balandra (enroute ... we witnessed pods of dolphins breaching the water, a huge school of manta rays leaping, a turtle !) Once at Balandra, we dropped anchor and had food on this top rated, deserted beach . Tables and chairs were put for us and the food consisted of the most super tasty Cerviche and further refreshments. We finally headed home back to the marina, blessed by the most memorable sunset.

Thankyou Patrick (and Jorge and Leo) for a day we will...

Where to begin… After reading the reviews and looking at the website, we assumed the higher cost would be commensurate with a higher quality experience. This was not the case. After leaving the marina, we asked the guide about the snorkeling gear we were promised over the phone and in an e-mail as well as the fishing licenses that we prepaid for. The guide knew nothing about it. As there were two people really wanting to snorkel if the fishing was poor, we turned back and had to pick up the gear. As for the fishing licenses, the guide just said that if we get stopped, we would call the front desk and have them work it out. I doubt they even purchased licenses. Then we drive to Espíritu Santo to pick up bait, where we had to wait for quite some time and then pay local fisherman in cash. In my opinion, all of this could be sorted ahead of time. An hour and 30 minutes passed before we even started fishing. I am a fisherman and have fished all over the world, but the couple we were with are new to the sport and were looking for some guidance. Despite our guide knowing English and actually refusing to respond in Spanish, was not helpful in this respect. The rods we were using were short trolling rods with guideless bait casting reels that kept getting jammed and full of bird nests while trying to “cast” them. It was infuriating. There were moments when all of us were untangling our reels while the guide fished or just stood there. My friends asked if this was normal and I had to say no. My friends even commented that the guide seemed grumpy. For a while we chased birds looking for migratory fish. We finally hooked into a dorado, but my friend was struggling with the reel as it kept jamming. Luckily we got it into the boat. Then it was time for lunch. We had preordered a few vegetarian sandwiches, but all of the sandwiches had meat between two pieces of white bread and sliced tomato. It would have been better if we just packed our own food. They sell these trips as top notch “customized” adventures, but our experience was far from it. Two years ago, I went with a local fishing service for a fraction of the cost and had a much better time, with better guides and...