Emerald Princess - Baja Peninsula & Sea of Cortez Holiday

Where this cruise calls, day by day

6 ports and 5 sea days over 10 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Los Angeles, CA

   United StatesDepart

   Ships berth at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, under the green span of the Vincent Thomas Bridge and ringed by container cranes. This is a working port rather than a waterfront to stroll, and it is overwhelmingly a turnaround terminal for Mexican Riviera and Hawaii runs. Los Angeles proper starts about 25 miles inland, so most passengers meet a freeway before they meet a beach.

   • Tour the battleship USS Iowa, moored a short walk up the channel from the terminal
   • Point Fermin Lighthouse and the collapsed bluffs of Sunken City on the San Pedro headland
   • Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the tide pools below it
   • Griffith Observatory or the Santa Monica Pier if you are willing to spend the day in traffic

   Getting ashore

   Docks at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro; there is no walkable city here, and downtown, Hollywood or Santa Monica each mean 45-75 minutes by road.

   Best months

   Year-round (Sep-Nov clearest; May-Jun often overcast on the coast)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Cabo San Lucas

   MexicoPort

   Cabo is a tender port, and one of the better ones - the boat drops you at the marina in the middle of town rather than a mile from anywhere. The setting does the work: desert mountains falling straight into the Pacific, with the granite arch at Land's End a ten-minute panga ride from the dock. Expect timeshare pitches from the moment you step onto the boardwalk.

   • Water taxi to El Arco and Lover's Beach
   • Médano Beach, the one bay in town that is safe to swim
   • Snorkelling at Chileno Bay or Santa María
   • Grey and humpback whale watching in winter

   Getting ashore

   Tender port - about 10-15 minutes to the marina, which puts you in the centre of town; heavy Pacific swell occasionally cancels the operation.

   Best months

   Nov-May is dry and mild, with whales Dec-Apr; Aug-Oct is humid and hurricane-prone

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5

   La Paz

   MexicoPort

   La Paz is the capital of Baja California Sur and a working city rather than a resort. Ships use the Pichilingue terminal, a ferry and cargo dock about ten miles north of the malecón, with nothing at the gate. The Sea of Cortez is what you come for: sea lion colonies at Isla Espíritu Santo, whale sharks feeding in the bay through winter, and Balandra, a shallow turquoise cove that caps how many people can enter.

   • Snorkelling with sea lions at Los Islotes, off Espíritu Santo
   • Balandra Beach and its mushroom rock
   • Whale shark swims in La Paz Bay, roughly Oct-Apr
   • The malecón and its bronze sculptures

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Pichilingue, 25-30 minutes by road from central La Paz; there is nothing at the terminal itself.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr is mild and dry with whale sharks in the bay; Jul-Sep is very hot and humid

6. Day 6

   Loreto

   MexicoPort

   Loreto is a small Baja town on the Sea of Cortez with the first Spanish mission in the Californias, founded in 1697 and still standing on the main street. Ships anchor off and tender in. The setting does more work than the town, which you can see in an hour: the Sierra de la Giganta rises behind, and a marine park of bare desert islands sits offshore.

   • Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto and its museum
   • Isla Coronado's sea lions and white sand
   • Blue whale watching in the Gulf of California
   • Panga trips in Bahía de Loreto National Park

   Getting ashore

   Tender port - ships anchor off Loreto and tender to the town waterfront, roughly 10-15 minutes.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr is mild, with blue whales roughly Jan-Mar; summer is brutally hot

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Puerto Vallarta

   MexicoPort

   The Terminal Marítima is at the north end of the bay, next to the marina and a cruise-oriented shopping mall, so Vallarta proper - the Malecón, the Zona Romántica, the tiled church dome - is a 10 to 15 minute taxi away. Banderas Bay is deep and calm, humpbacks winter in it, and the town behind the seafront is a real one with an art scene and a long-established gay quarter.

   • The Malecón sculpture walk and the Zona Romántica
   • Playa Los Muertos
   • A boat to Yelapa or the Marietas Islands
   • Humpback whale watching, December to March

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Terminal Marítima; downtown is 10-15 minutes by taxi, and timeshare touts work the terminal exit hard.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr is dry and warm; Jul-Sep is hot, humid and the heart of the rainy season

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    Los Angeles, CA

    United StatesArrive

    Ships berth at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, under the green span of the Vincent Thomas Bridge and ringed by container cranes. This is a working port rather than a waterfront to stroll, and it is overwhelmingly a turnaround terminal for Mexican Riviera and Hawaii runs. Los Angeles proper starts about 25 miles inland, so most passengers meet a freeway before they meet a beach.

    • Tour the battleship USS Iowa, moored a short walk up the channel from the terminal
    • Point Fermin Lighthouse and the collapsed bluffs of Sunken City on the San Pedro headland
    • Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the tide pools below it
    • Griffith Observatory or the Santa Monica Pier if you are willing to spend the day in traffic

    Getting ashore

    Docks at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro; there is no walkable city here, and downtown, Hollywood or Santa Monica each mean 45-75 minutes by road.

    Best months

    Year-round (Sep-Nov clearest; May-Jun often overcast on the coast)