Snorkeling the Reefs of Cabo San Lucas

While the bays around Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, Mexico are currently welcoming spectacular humpback whales for their annual winter visits, the coral reefs in the area have a colorful array of tropical fish in residence year-round. Two reefs easy to reach either from nearby beaches or by a short boat ride from Cabo's harbor are Santa Maria Cove and Chileno Bay. I chose the latter means of transport to visit these Sea of Cortez gems, taking a fast Zodiac boat tour organized by my cruise ship's tour desk.

Each site has calm, shallow waters and most importantly vibrant and healthy coral reefs. With less than an hour at each reef, I wasn't expecting to see the abundant and vast array of fish I witnessed. Having learned to identify a number of individual species in Maui, I was excited to see some new and unique specimens in the same families. And thanks to that experience, I was able to distinguish surgeonfish from filefish, and to find a first triggerfish outside of Hawaii. At the same time it was fun to see some Pacific Ocean species that call both areas of the sea home like the spotted boxfish and Moorish idol.

Seeing the variety of new and beautiful angelfish was a breathtaking discovery. But my favorite first time encounter was with a large parrotfish that seemed to enjoy scraping for food in the shallower, rocky areas of Santa Maria Cove. Easily the size of a fat cocker spaniel, he was as bright and colorful as all the other fish in that family. But this individual species had a prominent, bulbous forehead. The best identification I can make is that he was some type of humphead parrotfish, with a Latin name scarus perrico and a Spanish name loro jorobado,

I didn't think I would see a more impressive sea creature on that day's excursion until I was amazed a short time later during the Zodiac ride back to port. But you'll have to read my next blog installment to hear about that surprise encounter!