Ocean Atlas · Americas
Mexico
A windy Sea of Cortez bay known for large mobula ray gatherings in May.
Ethics pass, with care. We found a way to visit this country that meets our animal-welfare standard, as long as we work with the right local operator. Checked by Ocean Calling on 26 Sep 2026. Sources: Mexico country profile, IWC Whale Watching Handbook; Mexico bans dolphin shows in historic win for animal welfare, World Animal Protection, 2025; Guadalupe shark-dive ban made permanent, Divernet, 2023.
🧭 Travel advice, checked 30 Sep 2026. The UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of Mexico, including some states such as Baja California, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Guerrero and Chiapas, and asks visitors to read its advice before travelling. Sources: UK FCDO travel advice, Mexico Advice differs by passport: check your own government before you plan.
Why Mexico
La Ventana is a windy bay in the Sea of Cortez, known for large seasonal gatherings of mobula rays in mid-May. Turtles and reef fish are there too, and sea lions, dolphins and whales may be seen from the boat. Wind can cancel boat days. Guadalupe Island, far off Baja California, is a famous white shark place, but it has been closed to visitors since 2023, so we only share its science.
Conservation-led. Ocean Calling guests never chase, touch or bait animals.
When to go
May. Timing changes by place and by animal, so check each place below.
You can travel here with Ocean Calling now.
Can we travel here ethically?
Ethics pass, with care
Good with the right operator. Here is how we choose.
Mexico has a national whale watching rule with permits, distances and a limit on boats, and in 2025 it banned dolphin shows and captive breeding. It also closed Guadalupe Island to shark cage diving, partly because of bait use. Still, some captive dolphins remain and busy bays can get crowded. We watch whales and dolphins from the boat, keep ray days calm and never visit captive dolphins.
Checked 26 Sep 2026. Places change, so we look again every year.
Trips in Mexico
La Ventana
Travel with usA windy Sea of Cortez bay known for large seasonal gatherings of mobula rays in May.
🤿 In the water: Mobula rays (seasonal), Turtles, Reef fish
⛵ From the boat or shore, never in the water: Sea lions, Bottlenose dolphins (regular, from the boat), Common dolphins (regular, from the boat), Risso's dolphins (occasional), Whales
When: May. Mid-May is the time for mobula ray gatherings. Wind can cancel boat days.
More of Mexico’s ocean
Short notes from our research. Wildlife is never guaranteed.
Guadalupe Island
ExploringA far Pacific island known for white sharks and fur seals. It has been closed to visitors and to shark cage diving since 2023.
When: Closed to visitors. Mexico closed this biosphere reserve to tourist visits in January 2023, so Ocean Calling only shares its story. White sharks are there mostly from July to January, most of all September to December.
Animals recorded in Mexico
Tap an animal to learn how it lives, where it travels and how to meet it respectfully.
California sea lionZalophus californianusSeen in 6 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Munk's devil rayMobula munkianaSeen in 4 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Sperm whalePhyseter macrocephalusSeen in 114 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Risso's dolphinGrampus griseusSeen in 56 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Kemp's ridley turtleLepidochelys kempiiSeen in 8 countries in the AtlasCritically Endangered
Loggerhead turtleCaretta carettaSeen in 89 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Blue whaleBalaenoptera musculusSeen in 29 countries in the AtlasEndangered
Green turtleChelonia mydasSeen in 103 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Spinetail devil rayMobula mobularSeen in 18 countries in the AtlasCritically Endangered
Bull sharkCarcharhinus leucasSeen in 30 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Blacktip sharkCarcharhinus limbatusSeen in 49 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Galápagos sharkCarcharhinus galapagensisSeen in 15 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Atlantic nurse sharkGinglymostoma cirratumSeen in 38 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Whitespotted eagle rayAetobatus narinariSeen in 58 countries in the AtlasEndangered
Southern stingrayHypanus americanusSeen in 33 countries in the AtlasNear Threatened
Lionfish (red and common lionfish)Pterois volitans and Pterois milesSeen in 80 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Smooth hammerheadSphyrna zygaenaSeen in 26 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Caribbean reef sharkCarcharhinus pereziSeen in 19 countries in the AtlasEndangered
Antillean manateeTrichechus manatus manatusSeen in 14 countries in the AtlasEndangered
Atlantic manta rayMobula yaraeSeen in 5 countries in the AtlasNot Evaluated
Silky sharkCarcharhinus falciformisSeen in 48 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Silvertip sharkCarcharhinus albimarginatusSeen in 28 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Queen conchAliger gigasSeen in 32 countries in the AtlasNear Threatened
SailfishIstiophorus platypterusSeen in 31 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Brown pelicanPelecanus occidentalisSeen in 48 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Guadalupe fur sealArctocephalus townsendiSeen in 2 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Spotted garden eelHeteroconger hassiSeen in 19 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Ocean sunfish (mola)Mola molaSeen in 29 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Bronze whaler (copper shark)Carcharhinus brachyurusSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Common minke whale (North Atlantic)Balaenoptera acutorostrataSeen in 30 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Juan Fernández fur sealArctocephalus philippiiSeen in 3 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Sicklefin devil ray (Chilean devil ray)Mobula tarapacanaSeen in 9 countries in the AtlasEndangered
Striped dolphinStenella coeruleoalbaSeen in 43 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernDwarf minke whaleBalaenoptera acutorostrata (dwarf form)Seen in 30 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Cuvier's beaked whaleZiphius cavirostrisSeen in 42 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Rough-toothed dolphinSteno bredanensisSeen in 36 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Pygmy killer whaleFeresa attenuataSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Dwarf sperm whaleKogia simaSeen in 22 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Sandbar sharkCarcharhinus plumbeusSeen in 19 countries in the AtlasEndangered
Portuguese man o' warPhysalia physalisSeen in 36 countries in the AtlasNot Evaluated
Southern elephant sealMirounga leoninaSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Pygmy sperm whaleKogia brevicepsSeen in 23 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Longsnout seahorseHippocampus reidiSeen in 25 countries in the AtlasNear Threatened
Spiny dogfishSqualus acanthiasSeen in 47 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Red-tailed tropicbirdPhaethon rubricaudaSeen in 28 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Mauve stinger jellyfishPelagia noctilucaSeen in 20 countries in the AtlasNot Evaluated
Brown boobySula leucogasterSeen in 104 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Atlantic bluefin tunaThunnus thynnusSeen in 39 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Red-footed boobySula sulaSeen in 91 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Giant sea bassStereolepis gigasSeen in 3 countries in the AtlasCritically Endangered
Broadnose sevengill sharkNotorynchus cepedianusSeen in 8 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
GaribaldiHypsypops rubicundusSeen in 2 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
California sheepheadSemicossyphus pulcherSeen in 3 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Bat rayMyliobatis californicaSeen in 2 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Atlantic tarponMegalops atlanticusSeen in 24 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Blacknose sharkCarcharhinus acronotusSeen in 6 countries in the AtlasEndangered
American crocodileCrocodylus acutusSeen in 17 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
American flamingoPhoenicopterus ruberSeen in 47 countries in the AtlasLives on landLeast Concern
Caribbean spiny lobsterPanulirus argusSeen in 30 countries in the AtlasData Deficient
Great frigatebirdFregata minorSeen in 44 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Wilson's storm-petrelOceanites oceanicusSeen in 41 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Northern gannetMorus bassanusSeen in 38 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Leach's storm-petrelHydrobates leucorhousSeen in 35 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Manx shearwaterPuffinus puffinusSeen in 34 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Neotropic cormorantNannopterum brasilianumSeen in 29 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Sargasso shearwater (Audubon's shearwater)Puffinus lherminieriSeen in 27 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Tope shark (school shark)Galeorhinus galeusSeen in 25 countries in the AtlasCritically Endangered
Anhinga (American darter)Anhinga anhingaSeen in 24 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Short-tailed shearwaterArdenna tenuirostrisSeen in 24 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Northern fulmarFulmarus glacialisSeen in 19 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Swinhoe's storm-petrelHydrobates monorhisSeen in 16 countries in the AtlasNear Threatened
Tahiti petrelPseudobulweria rostrataSeen in 15 countries in the AtlasNear Threatened
Double-crested cormorantPhalacrocorax auritusSeen in 14 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Spinner sharkCarcharhinus brevipinnaSeen in 14 countries in the AtlasVulnerableSmooth butterfly rayGymnura micruraSeen in 13 countries in the AtlasNear ThreatenedBigeye thresherAlopias superciliosusSeen in 13 countries in the AtlasVulnerable
Nazca boobySula grantiSeen in 12 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Dusky sharkCarcharhinus obscurusSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasEndangered
Bignose sharkCarcharhinus altimusSeen in 11 countries in the AtlasNear Threatened
Yellow stingrayUrobatis jamaicensisSeen in 10 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Pelagic cormorantUrile pelagicusSeen in 8 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern
Baird's beaked whaleBerardius bairdiiSeen in 4 countries in the AtlasLeast ConcernRead before you go
Tell Rocío what you would love to see
Ask about dates, or about a private small-group trip.
Based in Mexico?
We are always happy to hear from exceptional local operators, accommodation, conservation organisations and destination experts in Mexico. If your work fits responsible, small-group ocean travel, we would love to learn more.
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