FAQ

National Marine Park?

Born from the diligent efforts of the Loreto community, The Bay of Loreto National Park was created by a Presidential Decree and approved by the Mexican Federal Congress on July 19, 1996. The Marine Park covers 2,065 square kilometers in the Sea of Cortez ranging from Isla Coronado in the north to Isla Catalana in the south. On July 14, 2005, the Park was inscribed to the United Nation’s list of protected World Heritage Sites. With over 800 species of marine life inhabiting the Sea of Cortez and many of them currently endangered, the need for protection of these delicate ecosystems is great.

The Sea of Cortes?

The coast along the Sea of Cortez is generally more tranquil than the Pacific side. The desert of the Baja Peninsula is known as the Gulf Coast Desert, an extension of the Sonora Desert. There are nearly 100 islands in the Sea of Cortez, 53 of them protected as a special biosphere reserve since 1978. Only a handful of the islands have official names. The largest, at 1,000 square kilometers (620 square miles), is Isla Tiburon (Shark Island). The islands were formed primarily by submergence of the surrounding territory, though some, like Isla Coronado, were created by volcanic activity.

What about rain?

The islands receive only 1 inch of rainfall per year, yet they boast 3,500 species of plants, many of them found nowhere else on the planet. Half of the 120 cacti on the islands are endemic. The islands support a menagerie of animals as well, including rattlesnakes, the chuckwalla (a 2-foot-long lizard), and Cimarron goats.

What I can see there?

There are large colonies of seabirds. Over 95 percent of the world's Elegant Terns and Herman's Gulls breed on Rasa Island near Bahia de los Angeles in Baja California. Other colonies include Blue-footed and Brown Boobies as well and the endangered Brown Pelican. This warm sea may be the richest body of water in the world, with more than 800 species of marine vertebrates. The Sea receives more sunlight than any other in the world and the gigantic tides churn over the nutrient-rich water from the bottom. Among the larger visitors to the Sea are the Blue Whales, the world's largest animals.