Friday, January 17th, we were cruising slowly up the coast of Mexico and then saw a beautiful mountain range in the distance. We’ve never been to Cabo, so we went up to top deck as we entered the harbor. Suddenly the majestic rock formation that Cabo San Lucas is known for – El Arco (the Arch) and Lover’s Beach. We anchored in the harbor where we could see the rock formation on port side and the town on starboard side. Hehee, did you catch that? It’s like we live on a ship – port, starboard, forward, aft. Easy way to remember ‘port’ side, ‘port’ and ‘left’ both have 4 letters.

Legend says that, in 1587, buccaneer Thomas Cavendish captured the famed Spanish ship, the Santa Ana, off the waters of Cabo San Lucas, loaded with 450 tons of treasure. Cavendish took all that he could, then burned the galleon and sent the remaining booty to the bottom of the harbor. Although this legendary loot has never been discovered (the next ‘Oak Island’…hehee) there are undisputed treasures to be found in Cabo, the sparkling jewel in the Mexican Riviera crown.

Bob and I took the water shuttle to shore and met our tour guide. There are 8 people from our ship that hired a 50 ft Luxury Sailboat for a half day tour. We boarded a beautiful sailboat where 3 people eagerly greeted us and showed us where we could ride on the front. Our guide warned us to watch the pulley’s as we walked barefoot. Bob immediately stubbed his toe, yes, on the pulley.

We sailed over to El Arco (200-foot granite formation) and saw a rock covered with sea lions and then started sailing north to Santa Maria Beach. The day could not have been more beautiful. The sky was clear, the water was blue, the temperature was 80 with a lovely sea breeze. We sat on the front of the sailboat and I looked at Bob and said, do you believe we’re doing this?! Each day is a dream better than the last.

We arrived at Santa Maria Beach where we dropped anchor. I asked the captain if he would teach me to paddle board, so he gave me a quick lesson and off I went. I was fine paddling from the standing knee position, but when I went to standup in choppy water, I fell in. I crawled back up and tried again, boom, in the water, not twice but three times. I decided to paddle around on my knees and then came in for lunch. I’m determined to conquer this paddle board, but need to try in calm water on my next try.

The crew made us a lovely lunch with homemade salsa, guacamole, chips, shrimp, salad, fruit and rolls. The fresh salsa is delicious. It was nice to visit and talk with the crew and others from our ship.

We started to sail back to the harbor and were able to see the lovely resort areas of Cabo and some beautiful homes. We didn’t go into the town to explore but understand there are many brand new, high-end resorts being built. This area is also known for big-game fishing. Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Phil Harris and Desi Arnaz built a hotel in Cabo in the late 1940’s. The traditions of A-list stars continues today.

As we sailed, the sun was slowly sinking towards the horizon and we spotted a whale. The captain sailed us closer and we were able to watch for 40 minutes as this adult and juvenile gray whales seemed to be playing. They would splash their tails, dive and come back up, roll on their side and wave to us (hehee) with their fin. What a perfect way to end the day! We said farewell to the whales and headed back. Wait – this is the perfect way to end the day – the sun was setting right behind the beautiful arch. Seriously, it was breathtaking.

Did you know – from mid to late fall, gray whales complete a 6,000-mile journey from their summer homes in the Bering Sea to the warmer winter waters of Baja California and the Sea of Cortez. Guess what, that’s why Bob and Karen are here too (to escape the winters of Apalachin, NY)!