Mexico Vacation:
Discovering Baja California Wildlife And Nature

I squealed through the scuba diving regulator in my mouth the first time I saw a Mobula ray glide by. A few seconds later, I saw another. Then another. From the corner of my eye, the water darkened like a storm cloud. When I turned towards it, I was met with a school of hundreds of Mobula rays swimming above me in a synchronized aggregation. My dive guide and I held our position. Soon, we were surrounded by a vortex of dark gray and white rays swirling around us.

The sea surrounding Baja California Sur is an underwater world home to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Mobula rays. These harmless rays are also called Munk's devil rays thanks to their protruding frontal lobes that resemble horns. The rays off Baja California are the smallest of the Mobula ray species, but what they lack in size, they make up for in acrobatics. The rays are often seen leaping out of the water, somersaulting and jumping in physics-defying flights. Underwater, prepare to be mesmerized by their grace as they glide and twirl weightlessly through the blue. They're undoubtedly one of the most unique Mexican animals to see.

The best time to scuba dive with Mobula rays is from mid-April to July and from November to January, when currents enrich the waters with plankton that makes for a smorgasbord of good eating for the filter-feeding rays. Baja Expeditions offers half-day snorkel and sightseeing tours from Los Cabos and La Paz. Scuba divers can blow bubbles with the rays with Dive Cabo from Cabo San Lucas.

Exactly what animals live in Mexico? Mexican bobcats, kit foxes, spiny-tailed iguanas, rock lizards, jackrabbits and multiple bat species also call the varied terrain of Baja California home. Baja California has hefty credentials when it comes to its abundance of marine life, though there are plenty of creatures worth admiring on terra firma, too. The peninsula landscape changes from the snow-capped peaks at Sierra de San Pedro Mártir to stretches of sun-soaked desert of Cabo Pulmo National Park. If you tread quietly, you might spot rare and unique animals like the pronghorn, a mammal that looks like an antelope — yet are actually a part of the Antilocapridae family — and runs nearly as fast as a cheetah.

Hiking through Fox Canyon near Cabo San Lucas is one of the best things to do in Baja California for wildlife lovers. Tour operators like High Tide Los Cabos will send a naturalist as your guide to point out the plants, insects and timid critters who might be lurking in the brush. Waterfalls with swimming holes await along the trail, offering a prime place to relax and wait for creatures to come close.

Over on Baja California's northern end, Ensenada is also an ideal starting point for exploring inland. Look closely at the treetops as you zip line over the canopy at Las Canadas adventure park. Or, trek over the fairy tale rock formations at El Salto Canyon and get misted by the giant waterfall in its interior. Birds, small mammals and bats have all found a place for themselves within the canyon.