Whale Watching in Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta is well known for being one of the best eco-tourism destinations in Mexico, with a wide range of activities surrounded by nature. Whale watching is one of the most interesting. Banderas Bay is the ideal place to enjoy the beauty of these incredible mammals swimming feet from you.

The species of whale visiting Puerto Vallarta is the Humpback whale. Banderas Bay is a protected area and you will only be allowed to observe the whales between Dec 15th and March 31st. As their gestation period is around 50 weeks, you can watch some whales mating and others with their calves. The babies weight around 3,300 pounds and can measure up to 13 feet long. They grow up very fast, drinking around 75 gallons of milk a day from their mother. The adult female is around 18 meters long and weights up to 53 tons. The male is slightly smaller, with a size of 15 meters.

During the season, you will see and hear plenty of males singing, see them breaching and fighting for females. The mating is definitely one of the most spectacular actions you can witness in Banderas Bay. A female leads a group which typically consists of 2 to more than 15 males fighting. They will push themselves, hitting each other with their fins or tails and even with their head.

There are plenty of tours agencies offering whale watching in Puerto Vallarta, and many are not legally operating companies. Whales are protected and there are strict rules to observe in order to not disturb the animals. You will not be able to observe the same whale for more than 30 minutes, and depending from the boat used, you will be at 100 or 200 feet from it.

Before buying the tour, check that the boat that you will use has a small red flag with a number in it. These are the only ones allowed to offer whale watching, as they help the preservation of the ecosystem and finance many studies about the Humpback whales.