Guadalupe Island (Spanish: Isla Guadalupe) is located approximately 250 kilometers off the western coast of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. Guadalupe Island sits amidst the Pacific Ocean. Currently, its various volcanoes are both extinct or dormant. Here, a wide variety of extraordinary white sharks accumulate annually from August to October, mating and preying on neighborhood pinnipeds such as sea lions inhabiting the island. Patrolling the waters, the first-rate whites watch for the sea lions' ventures from the beaches into the sea.
Guadalupe Island is inhabited totally by scientists, military personnel working weather stations, and a small group of seasonal fishermen. Most of the island is arid, with surface water being scarce.
Guadalupe Island Map
| Name | Guadalupe Island (Spanish: Isla Guadalupe) |
| Country | Mexico |
| State | Baja California |
| Coordinates | 29°1′51″N 118°16′48″W |
| Area | 243.988 km2 (94.204 sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 |
| Population | 150 |
| Airport | N/A |
The History of Guadalupe Island
In 1602, a Spanish day trip led by Sebastián Vizcaíno sailed past Guadalupe Island without a touchdown. During the late 18th and nineteenth centuries, hunters of sea otters, fur seals, and elephant seals frequently visited the island. Goats were likely added in the early 1800s by seal hunters, their numbers rapidly growing and almost decimating the local plant life.
Guadalupe Island served as a haven for explorers and pirates who used it as a pit for water and meat during long voyages. It has become an essential whaling vicinity, with whalers putting everlasting camps in place to make the most of the abundant seals and sea lions inside the area. Today, remnants of vacationers and settlers can nevertheless be visible on the island, with Aleutian Indian architectural stays on the jap coast, brought by Russian vessels for the exploitation of marine mammals. Similarly, a rock on the island bears inscriptions of captains and touring ships.
Due to its geographical vicinity, the island has a chilly climate, with the winter wet season bringing plants to life within the narrow areas left by means of rocks. Some forests host precise species just like the Guadalupe juniper, with the remaining specimen dying in 1983. In the late 18th century, whaling ships of different nationalities launched a herd of goats on Guadalupe Island to provide clean meat for future visits.
With no herbal predators and favorable conditions, goat numbers soared, surpassing what this type of small territory may want to sustain. Their fast increase led to the lack of 1/2 of the island's herbaceous species, and like all plant life on the island, the woodland could not break out the goats' voracity. By the end of the ultimate century, its vicinity was 10,000 hectares; these days, it's far less than 393 hectares, which means less than four of the unique wooded area region stays.
Guadalupe Island Shark Diving
In the past, encountering loads of superb white sharks in the waters around Guadalupe Island has been considered one of the finest diving reports in the world. This is ordinarily due to the especially excessive numbers of shark populations residing right here, allowing divers to interact with them intently and effortlessly. The waters near the island typically boast excellent visibility, with encounters with shark organizations in waters with visibility of over 30 meters being pretty commonplace.
For non-diving passengers, oxygen-supplied structures offer the possibility to enter cages and revel in face-to-face encounters with high-quality white sharks, growing thrilling and heart-pounding scenes. Some dive cruises feature smaller cage diving setups, permitting qualified divers and dive courses to descend to depths of around 10 meters for cage diving. These cages provide passengers the risk to respect super white sharks from numerous angles, providing a 360-degree view.
The amusement cage diving enterprise on the island has grown from one boat in 2005 to as many as eight through 2019, bringing lots of shark fans to the island.
However, on January 10, 2023, the Mexican authorities completely banned cage diving with remarkable white sharks at Guadalupe Island. This prohibition covers all tourism sports in the blanketed vicinity, including film production and boat-based diving.
Guadalupe Island Climate
Guadalupe Island studies a totally arid and warm climate, with month-to-month ordinary temperatures ranging from 15.5 to 20.3 °C (59.9 to 68.5 °F), and maximum precipitation occurs during the winter season.
During the choicest diving periods every year, rainfall on Guadalupe Island is minimal, and the average temperatures are pleasantly warm. Sea situations tend to be surprisingly calm, although occasional ocean currents from the Pacific can affect water temperatures, which typically range between 18 to 21 degrees Celsius.
How to Get to Guadalupe Island, Mexico
Guadalupe Island is positioned near the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico, in a faraway place. There are two departure factors for Guadalupe liveaboard diving trips: Ensenada in Mexico and San Diego in California. The sailing time from each location levels from 18 to 22 hours, with most journeys lasting three to five days.
If your liveaboard departs from Mexico, you will fly to Tijuana Airport. It takes about three hours and forty minutes to fly from Mexico City to Tijuana. From there, it's approximately one and a half hours' power to Port of Ensenada, where you may board the liveaboard.
If you go away from California, you may fly without delay to San Diego, as the departure port for liveaboards is throughout from San Diego Airport. Liveaboards departing from San Diego should clear Mexican customs en path.
The airport on Guadalupe Island is a private runway measuring 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) in length. However, due to its uneven surface, several aircraft have crashed near the runway. For safety reasons, it's not advisable to travel to the island by plane.
