January 30, 2014. Norwegian Star. Puerto Vallarta.

Arriving into Puerto Vallarta on a ship was a different experience for us today. We saw another part of the city from the sea. The mountains were still glorious and the weather perfect, both a reminder of why we live in the place during the winter months. Bandares Bay is much larger when seeing it from the ship. And the city seems smaller. There is not much of the city south, while the north stretches a long way with only small spots of undeveloped areas along the shore. And we could see our condo building as we left. Five types of whales stay in the Bay area in the winter. It is a nursery. We often see the spouts from our balcony. Today, when steaming away from Puerto Vallarta we were on the lookout for whales. We spotted several spouts in the distance but one whale and a baby came up quite close to the ship so we were able to see them surface and sink. It made for an exciting time. Tomorrow, we stay for the day at Cabo St. Lucas so with any luck we will see more whales. The Sea of Cortez is another hot spot for whales. So far, the Pacific Ocean has been calm and pleasant. The water is clean and clear…and beautiful.