{"id":15427,"date":"2014-07-01T10:54:13","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T15:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=15427"},"modified":"2016-07-18T10:10:09","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T15:10:09","slug":"whale-watching-season-colombia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/07\/whale-watching-season-colombia\/","title":{"rendered":"Whale-Watching Season in Colombia&#8217;s Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the first day of July, and that means one thing (well, it means lots of things, but for our purposes just one!): <strong>it&#8217;s officially the beginning of humpback whale season here in Colombia<\/strong>. The first whales were spotted from the coast of Colombia&#8217;s Pacific region a couple of weeks ago, but it&#8217;s <strong>July when they begin arriving in numbers<\/strong> and their breeding season properly begins. Visiting El Choco to whale-watch is <strong>one of Colombia&#8217;s great natural spectacles<\/strong>, and a must-do trip for anyone with an interest in wildlife. My trip there was a highlight of my time in Colombia (you can read about it <a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/05\/vive-pazifico-travel-in-colombia-off-the-beaten-track-in-el-choco-from-the-archives\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>), and it would be among <strong>my Top 5 must-see sights in all of Colombia<\/strong>. If you&#8217;re keen to visit the Pacific and observe these incredible animals for yourself, <strong>here are the best places to visit:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9228\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9228\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/seven-more-crazy-sights-you-never-knew-you%c2%b4d-find-in-colombia\/gorgona-island-3\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9228\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9228\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/gorgona-island-3.jpg\" alt=\"gorgona island, Colombian Pacific\" width=\"640\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/gorgona-island-3.jpg 640w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/gorgona-island-3-300x215.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9228\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The beaches and waters of Gorgona Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gorgona National Park<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The grand-daddy of Colombian whale-watching locations, Gorgona is <strong>an island located off the Pacific coast where a large number of whales come to breed<\/strong>. You can combine a visit with scuba-diving, and a stay on this former prison-island. Gorgona can be visited by <strong>flying from Cali, taking a live-aboard dive-boat from Buenaventura, or a high-speed boat from Guapi.\u00a0<\/strong>[NB. &#8211; as of this summer Gorgona is\u00a0closed to the public. Hopefully this will come to an end sooner rather than later]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14845\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14845\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/05\/diversity-of-colombia-photos\/playa-guachalito-el-choco\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14845\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14845\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Playa-Guachalito-El-Choco.jpg\" alt=\"Playa Guachalito El Choco\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Playa-Guachalito-El-Choco.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Playa-Guachalito-El-Choco-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14845\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Playa Guachalito, El Choco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nuqui (and Playa Guachalito)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The little town of Nuqui is accessible by light-aircraft flight from Medellin. From here you can take a boat along the coast to <strong>Playa Guachalito, a long stretch of tropical beach<\/strong>, with several hotels, ranging from budget to upscale ecolodge. From here you can organize whale-watching excursions and enjoy the <strong>privileged sight of humpbacks and their young<\/strong> leaping from the water in complete isolation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/09\/10-reasons-why-you-have-to-visit-the-choco\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>&#8217;10 Reasons Why You Have To Visit El Choco&#8217;<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3574\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3574\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/04\/top-5-natural-spectacles-in-colombia\/new_1_383\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3574\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3574\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/New_1_383-e1341519244545.jpg\" alt=\"Humpback whale in the Choc\u00f3\" width=\"700\" height=\"464\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3574\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A humpback whale in the Choco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bahia Solano &amp; El Valle<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This town, and the many nearby beaches, has <strong>excellent infrastructure for whale-watching<\/strong>, with several hotels that can provide the service. It is also the access point to Utria National Park, which is <strong>one of Colombia&#8217;s most bio-diverse sites<\/strong>, and an excellent place to experience the whale-watching season. Access is by plane from Medellin, Quibdo and Bogota, or 12-hr speedboat from Buenaventura. Less than an hour south by road from the Bahia Solano airport is El Valle, a small beach-side town with equally good access to the National Park, as well as the region&#8217;s best hostel, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.humpbackturtle.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Humpback Turtle<\/a>, who can arrange <strong>whale-watching trips, canoe excursions up the Tunde River, and surfing lessons.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/08\/colombia-photos-el-valle-and-utria-national-park-el-choco\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>&#8216;See more stunning images of El Valle and PNN Utria here&#8217;<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3941\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3941\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/05\/vive-pazifico-travel-in-colombia-off-the-beaten-track-in-el-choco\/new_1_830\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3941\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3941\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/New_1_830-e1341519808450.jpg\" alt=\"El Choco from the air...\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3941\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Choc\u00f3 seen from the air<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bahia Malaga<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This bay in the <strong>Uramba National park contains a high breeding population of humpbacks<\/strong>, and can be accessed by flights from nearby airports or a direct boat from Buenaventura. You can stay in the town of Lladrilleros, and take excursions to watch the whales from there. The bay itself has <strong>a breeding population of over 700 humpback whales<\/strong>, making sighting practically guaranteed during the season.<\/p>\n<p>If you have <strong>any more questions about whale-watching in Colombia<\/strong> please get in touch, we&#8217;re happy to help.<\/p>\n<p>Chris<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; It&#8217;s the first day of July, and that means one thing (well, it means lots of things, but for our purposes just one!): it&#8217;s officially the beginning of humpback whale season here in Colombia. The first whales were spotted from the coast of Colombia&#8217;s Pacific region a couple of weeks ago, but it&#8217;s July [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[116,4,2313,107,1],"tags":[2909,2887,2875,2777,2901,2917,2918,781],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.4 (Yoast SEO v18.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Whale-Watching Season in Colombia&#039;s Pacific - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/07\/whale-watching-season-colombia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whale-Watching Season in Colombia&#039;s Pacific\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; It&#8217;s the first day of July, and that means one thing (well, it means lots of things, but for our purposes just one!): it&#8217;s officially the beginning of humpback whale season here in Colombia. 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