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The invention of PWCs is usually credited to Clayton Jacobsen II of Arizona, originally a motocross enthusiast. The public was introduced to such vehicles with the mass marketing of Kawasaki's Jet Ski®, the Bombardier Sea-Doo® or the Yamaha WaveRunner®. By the early 1990s, further improvements in technology, from cockpit and hull design to engine and exhaust efficiency, had made sit-down personal watercraft quite easy to use. Their popularity skyrocketed to the point that the Sea-Doo®, a sit-down PWC made by Bombardier, Inc., became the largest-selling boat in the world. Baja Xplorer Expeditions offer WaveRunner® expeditions based out of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San José del Cabo. The guided tour is two and a half hours long and takes you down the coastline to Chileno Bay for excellent reef snorkeling with a long loop back in the open ocean to their base at the hotel.
Depending on the time of year, you may see whales, rays, and dolphins. The tour includes a life jacket, snorkeling equipment, bottled water, a dry bag for your stuff and a guide or two depending on the group size. After an on-shore safety and conduct orientation, and signing of a no liability waiver, its time to head out. Once you have broken through the surf with one of the guides piloting the Wave Runner®, the group is organized into a Vee formation and away you go down the coastline. Much of the time is spent riding the waves on top of your powerful machine as it takes about half an hour just to get to Chileno Bay. Along the way, you will pass the golf courses and hotels that line the Tourist Corridor. From the water, the Sierra de La Laguna range in the far distance looks fantastic. In fact, looking back at the shore from the Sea of Cortés gave me an interesting new perspective.
Snorkeling or swimming at Chileno Bay is always a treat and even more so after arriving in a group of Wave Runners®. The trip back took us a couple of miles out into the Sea of Cortés flying along at about 25 mph depending on the motion of the wind and the waves. My experience the day I went out was a good one. The other riders were easy to be with, and although you are in a group, it’s a relatively “solo” activity. We didn’t see any dolphins, and the whales were still on the move south from the Arctic, but the natural aquarium at Chileno Reef more than made up for anything I missed seeing topside. Baja Xplorer, 2.5-hour expedition, $140 U.S. per WaveRunner -1 to 2 people. (624) 142-4082.—Bradley Fraser.
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