We were only planning on spending a couple of weeks surfing Baja, but its mystery and magic lured us in for almost two months.

What was so great about it? I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, here are our twenty favorite moments in Baja as seen through our lens.

#20: The Tides of Punta Banda

Allowing your time to be dictated by nature’s breath instead of a clock. ‘Nough said. But if you want to know more about it, you can check out the story of how we thought we were pregnant for a few days.

#19: Pelicans at Shipwreck

They lined themselves up on the rocky shore every morning for sunrise. A social ritual of sorts, where they groomed themselves,yawned, and mostly stayed completely silent while tolerating the presence of a few stray Cormorants crashing the party.

#18: Random Finds in the Desert

There’s a lot of desert, and a lot of failed or abandoned projects. You’ll never know what you’ll run into. Elaborate motorway altars, dead cows seemingly months into their decomposition, and the occasional, completely abandoned structure with a mysterious history.

#17: Bonfires Under Scorpion Bay’s Full Moon

The swell lit up almost as clear as in the day, the surfboard taking a temporary rest, the cow skull decoration, the Mexican blankets for a midnight yoga session. Sure burning driftwood is technically carcinogenic, but from time to time, it’s just necessary.

#16: Scorpion Bay’s Endless Waves

Scorpion bay lives up to its legend. The locals complained because a recent hurricane has swept out the sand bottom and left holes in the wave, and sure, it was tricky, but if what we saw was a “bad day” at Scorpion Bay, we can only imagine….

#15: Sharing the Beaches Only With Birds

It’s hard to deny that one of Baja’s major draws is its complete solitude. How many beaches did we drift into where our only neighbors were birds? So many we can’t recall. This specific moment was captured at Punta Conejo. The surf was no good while we were there, but the swirling gull flocks made us feel like wizards

#14: The Ever-Changing Landscape

Always changing and somehow always the same, the longer you stay here the more your perception gets acquainted to the subtleties that make Baja California such an incredible place to witness.

#13: Hunting for Shooting Stars

The most incredible skies I’ve seen personally out of the New Mexico altiplane, when you look at a nighttime satellite image of the region you realize there’s just no light pollution, and rain here is infrequent. The conditions in Baja are perfect for stargazing, well, almost every single night.

#12: The Incredible Sunsets

We’re used to sunrises, but when you’re on the West Coast, you have to go with the flow and start admiring the sunsets over the ocean instead. Baja’s intricate weather patterns never fail to disappoint with its cloud formations and colors. Just wow.

#11: The Bird Refuge of Guererro Negro

Most people come here for whale watching, and the town itself might be the least interesting of all of Baja, but if you look a little deeper, and away from the salt flats, you’ll find one of the most refreshing landscapes in all of Baja in Guererro Negro, the bird refuge and its hectares of unspoiled grassy marshes. We could have spent months just here observing all the bird species going about their daily lives in this unusually wet part of the peninsula.

#10: The Golden Beach of Punta Banda

The only people who seem to know about this beach are the gringos who’ve claimed the land to line up their mansions along the shore like birds on a wire. But the homes remain vacant most of the year, leaving this beach with unusually warm waters due to thermal springs and its shimmery golden sand completely deserted for the enjoyment of anyone smart enough to steer clear of Papas & Beer and venture south a bit.

 #9: The Flaming Sunrises

While the sunsets on the west coast drop into the ocean, the sunrises come up over the jagged hills and highlight intricate details in depth and intense shades of crimson. We can’t get enough of them.

#8: The Shipwreck in the Lineup

Not only is the wave here particularly good for anyone looking for a chill long wave, but how awesome is it to have this unique sculpture right in the lineup? You’ll find no services here at Shipwreck, but it’s all the better for it.

#7: Golden Birds with Funny Beaks

They’re called Long-Billed Curlews and they fly in graceful flocks. When the sun is behind them, the light glows golden through their intricate wings. They have the cutest chirps and are as agile with their beaks as a kungfu master with chop sticks. We’re in love.

#6: The Shallow Bay of Balandra

Tourists are brought here in bus loads to go gawk at an upside downstone that fell over a while back and was propped back up with some rebar and concrete. We’re sure it was impressive once, but what we loved about Balandra Bay was, get this, the bay itself. Noseeums make this place impossible to bear past sunset, but during the day, you can just walk across the bay in the waist-deep waters. Do shuffle your feet and keep you eyes peeled for stingrays hiding under the sand.

 #5: The Magnificent Drives

There was a time when driving Baja was an expedition, and while you still need to be well prepared, the mostly well-kept highway one which spans the length of the peninsula includes some of the most beautiful drives we’ve experienced so far.

 #4: The Untamed and Unafraid Wildlife

A lot of the animals in Baja have never experienced our destructive force. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to come so close to animals so wild and exotic in nature one would normally have to hike for days to find in other parts of the world. How Majestic is this Northern Crested Caracara?

#3: Nine Palms’ Perfect Swell

The whole west coast has perfect surf, just not necessarily when you decide to pull up to it. Well, we got to Nine Palms in East Cape at just the right time. The waves were a long, peeling, almost head high lovelies that we just couldn’t stop riding. Stoked to have experienced this magnificent wave at such a perfect time.

#2: Swimming with Sea Lions

Bahia de Los Angeles was really special to us. The bay is full of wildlife, and my personal favorite part of the time we spent there was paddling out on my longboard and sitting really still while Sea Lions went about catching their dinner all around me. I mean literally ALL around me. Once in a lifetime.

#1: Whale Watching in San Ignacio

It’s the stuff legends are made of. With our terrible track record as a species, who knows how long we’ll be able to keep San Ignacio a refuge for these incredible creatures, but whale watching here is incredible, responsible, and absolutely worth every penny. Hundreds of whales reside in these waters, and some just love to come right up to your boat to say Hi! Don’t miss it for any reason in the world.