In April of 2009, I joined my parents for a cruise off Baja California. Seeing whales and dolphins was the primary objective and the trip was timed to visit the gray whale calving areas on the Pacific coast. The trip was a great success as we had wonderful encounters with blues, fins, sperms, humpbacks, countless dolphins and some friendly gray whales calves. We also spent at least part of each day ashore, exploring the many small islands in the Gulf of California and some beautiful dunes on the Pacific coast.