All 2 in 3 days here: ~10%
Bahía de Loreto National Park
🇲🇽 Mexico
Baja California Sur, Mexico 550 spp. recorded
Bahía de Loreto is a stretch of the Gulf of California with five desert islands in it, and the visit is a boat trip. Bottlenose dolphins are recorded on about seven trips in ten, and in late winter blue whales and humpbacks feed in the same channel.
25.860° N 111.055° W
🦜 Nature
331 Species sighted
34,008 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
Oct Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 336 more species with insufficient data
Challenges you can complete here
Recent sightings in Bahía de Loreto National Park
LIVEiNaturalistSighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
40Jan
40Feb
41Mar
36Apr
33May
28Jun
29Jul
27Aug
33Sep
46Oct
46Nov
42Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
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Loreto Bay Golf Resort and Spa
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Isla Danzante
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Isla Coronado
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
Bottlenose Dolphin~90%+50%
California Sea Lion~90%+40%
Common Side-blotched Lizard~80%+40%
Brown Pelican~80%≈
Yellow-footed Gull~70%≈
Turkey Vulture~60%-10%
Monserrat Chuckwalla~60%+30%
Red Diamond Rattlesnake~50%+40%
Race-runner~50%+30%
Humpback Whale~40%+10%
Small-scaled Lizard~40%≈
Double-crested Cormorant~40%-20%
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Rio Desembocadura
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
Common House Gecko~80%+50%
Baja California Spiny Lizard~70%+50%
Desert Iguana~70%+50%- Turkey Vulture~60%-20%
- Small-scaled Lizard~60%+20%
- Brown Pelican~60%-20%
Zebra-tailed Lizard~60%+20%
Baja California Coachwhip~60%+40%- Yellow-footed Gull~50%-20%
- Common Side-blotched Lizard~50%+10%
White-winged Dove~50%-10%- California Sea Lion~50%≈
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Puerto Escondido
Daily sight. prob.vs avg- Zebra-tailed Lizard~90%+50%
- Small-scaled Lizard~70%+30%
Black-tailed Jackrabbit~60%+30%- Turkey Vulture~60%-20%
Common Dolphin~50%+20%
Common Raccoon~50%+30%- Common Side-blotched Lizard~50%+10%
- Brown Pelican~40%-40%
- Yellow-footed Gull~40%-40%
- Bottlenose Dolphin~30%-10%
- Common House Gecko~30%+10%
White-tailed Antelope Squirrel~30%+20%
🏕️ Experience
Essentials
Climate
Temp °C Rain mm
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0.0 Good
Wallace's Line Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife? 🦜
Biodiversity
Very goodHow rich is the wildlife?
4.5
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 348
🐒 Mammals 101
🦎 Reptiles 76
🐸 Amphibians 7
🦈 Sharks & Rays 18
550 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
28 Threatened 98 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
Very goodHow likely to see animals?
3.3
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
64% 📊
Coverage (175 species at ≥5% of 550 in the inventory)
32% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (12 bird)
0% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
95 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
12 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
22 🏕️
Experience
Very goodHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
4.3
Climate Pleasant High
Entrance Paid Low
Tourism Medium Medium
Trails Moderate Medium
World Heritage Yes Bonus
What visitors say
It wasn’t long before we saw our first great whale—a gray whale in fact, more typically observed along the Pacific side of the peninsula this time of year.
The tour we did with Loreto Sea & Land Tours started with whale watching in Loreto Bay, where we saw fin and blue whales.
Down deeper, we found a sleeping horn shark and some green moray eels.
I’m a little leery, as I’ve heard stories of sea lions elsewhere being less than welcoming.
Before you go
What animals can you see in Bahía de Loreto National Park?
550 species
Bahía de Loreto National Park has 550 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are Turkey Vulture (about 80%), Brown Pelican (about 80%), Yellow-footed Gull (about 80%), House Finch (about 70%) and White-winged Dove (about 70%). Among mammals, the most-seen is California Sea Lion (about 50%); among reptiles, Common Side-blotched Lizard (about 40%); among amphibians, Red-spotted Toad (about 10%).
When is the best time to visit Bahía de Loreto National Park for wildlife?
March and October–November
In those months the park's 12 most-seen species average about 70% on a given day, against about 50% in July to September.
Can you see a Blue Whale in Bahía de Loreto National Park?
Yes
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Whale sighting in Bahía de Loreto National Park on a given day, based on 67 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is February (about 60%).
Can you see a Humpback Whale in Bahía de Loreto National Park?
Yes
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Humpback Whale sighting in Bahía de Loreto National Park on a given day, based on 69 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is February and March (about 50%).
Can you see a Bottlenose Dolphin in Bahía de Loreto National Park?
Yes
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Bottlenose Dolphin sighting in Bahía de Loreto National Park on a given day, based on 106 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is May (about 60%).
Can you see a California Sea Lion in Bahía de Loreto National Park?
Yes
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a California Sea Lion sighting in Bahía de Loreto National Park on a given day, based on 130 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is March and May (about 60%).
Where in Bahía de Loreto National Park is wildlife easiest to see?
Around Loreto Bay Golf Resort and Spa
The richest sighting zone is around Loreto Bay Golf Resort and Spa, followed by Isla Danzante and Isla Coronado, ranked by how many of the park's headline animals visitors can expect to see in each. See the zones on the map.
Is Bahía de Loreto National Park good for wildlife watching?
3.7 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Bahía de Loreto National Park rates 3.7/5: 151st of 316 parks worldwide and 10th in North America. 29 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
