In shortDress in three layers you can shed: a T-shirt, long sleeves or fleece, and a windproof shell. Mean air temperature at the cape runs 20.9 C in February and 22.1 C in December, with wind at 10 metres averaging 3.9 m/s from the north-northwest. Add closed shoes with grip, a hat with a cord, sunglasses on a strap, sunscreen and a dry bag for your phone.
20.9 CFebruary mean air temperature
3.9 m/smean wind, December to February
2.5 hourstypical time on an open deck
17:37sunset on 15 December
What to wear whale watching in winter at the cape
Dress for a boat that leaves cool and warms up inside the first hour. Pack to the mean figures for the month you are travelling: 20.9 C in February, 21.2 C in January, 21.5 C in March, 22.1 C in December and 22.2 C in April, which the official tourism board renders as around a comfortable 75 F from December to February and the low 80s in March and April. Those numbers are whole-day means, which is the part people miss when they pack. A departure that leaves close to sunrise spends its first half in air that has not caught up with the day yet, and the passengers in shorts and a vest are the ones hunched behind the console by the second whale.
The breeze is the reason for the outer layer. December, January and February all average 3.9 m/s at 10 metres, rising to 4.1 m/s in March and 4.3 m/s in April, out of the north-northwest, and winter peaks reach roughly 10 to 12 m/s. Add the boat's own speed between sightings and one cotton layer stops doing anything. A thin windproof shell earns its space in the bag, preferably one that sheds water too.
Spray is part of the format on a small boat, and it arrives sideways rather than from above. Quick-drying trousers or shorts beat denim, which stays cold and damp for the rest of the trip once it is wet. On your feet, closed shoes with a rubber sole that grips: deck boards and inflatable tubes get wet in the first minutes and stay wet, and you will be standing and shifting your weight while the hull works at under 5 knots inside the observation area. Smooth soles and flip-flops stay at the hotel, along with anything you would mind losing.
The practical version of what to wear whale watching here: base layer, a fleece or long-sleeve shirt you can tie round your waist, a windproof shell, trousers that dry, shoes with grip. Everything else in your bag is sun cover, water and a way to keep your phone dry.
| Month | Mean air temperature | Mean wind at 10 m | Mean wind direction |
|---|
| December | 22.1 C | 3.9 m/s | 341 degrees |
|---|
| January | 21.2 C | 3.9 m/s | 340 degrees |
|---|
| February | 20.9 C | 3.9 m/s | 329 degrees |
|---|
| March | 21.5 C | 4.1 m/s | 315 degrees |
|---|
| April | 22.2 C | 4.3 m/s | 306 degrees |
|---|
Morning departures: what goes in the bag
Take the morning slot. Calmer seas and softer light early on are what the official tourism board itself recommends, and the consequence for your packing is this: a permitted boat holds 60 to 80 metres off the animal depending on its size, so much of the 2 or 2.5 hours is spent standing still and reading the surface for a blow, cooling down rather than moving around. Pack for an early start in cool air and for full sun by the time you are back at the dock. The shell goes on first and comes off somewhere around the second sighting.
Keep the bag small and soft. You carry it along the marina to check-in, then it lives at your feet or under a bench, and a rigid case is awkward on a boat that is turning and holding position. One dry bag or a waterproof phone sleeve with a lanyard solves the only real problem, which is salt water and electronics.
- T-shirt, plus a fleece or long-sleeve shirt for the first hour
- Windproof shell, ideally water-resistant
- Closed shoes with a grippy rubber sole
- Hat with a chin cord or a strap you can tighten
- Sunglasses with a retainer cord
- Sunscreen, reef-safe formula, applied before you board
- Dry bag or waterproof sleeve for phone, keys and cards
- Refillable water bottle, filled before you leave
- Light snacks you can eat with one hand
- A motion-sickness plan sorted before departure: the CDC advises a visual horizon reference, avoiding the bow and the areas of most motion, keeping head movements and reading to a minimum, fresh air on the face, and no alcohol or smoking, which both make it worse
Water is on board
Bottled water and marine park fees are included on this 2.5-hour humpback trip with a marine biologist aboard, so what you carry to the Tesoro Hotel office near dock M-O comes down to layers, sun cover and a dry bag; from $99, rated 4.9 ★ (1065 reviews).
★ 4.9/5 · 1,065 reviews
Late-afternoon and sunset departures
Pack one more layer than you think you need for the late slot. The air cools as the light goes and there is nowhere to step inside and warm up. Sunset falls at 17:37 on 15 December with civil twilight ending at 18:02; on 15 January the sun is down at 17:56; by 15 February sunset is 18:16 with twilight to 18:39, and on 15 April it is 18:40 with twilight to 19:03. In December the late trip finishes in near darkness.
Sunglasses still matter for the first part of a late departure, when the sun sits low and comes straight off the water, and they come off well before you dock. A thin beanie or a buff is worth carrying from December through February, and it weighs nothing. If photographs are the point, set the camera while you are still tied up: Shutter Priority at 1/1000 second with ISO on Auto for moving wildlife, a high burst rate, and the sun kept behind you. Fiddling with menus on a moving deck costs you the frames you came for.
- An extra mid-layer, warmer than the one you would take in the morning
- Windproof shell, zipped for the run back
- Thin beanie or buff for December through February
- Sunglasses for the first half of the trip only
- Phone in a sleeve, since low light means you will be holding it out more
- Camera settings sorted while you are still at the dock
Sun protection for whale watching in Cabo
Plan sun cover that survives 2 to 2.5 hours with no shade and some spray. Reapply once during the trip instead of trusting one layer put on at the hotel, and use a reef-safe formula: you are inside the Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Cabo San Lucas, 3,996.04 hectares, 3,787.99 of them marine. A long-sleeve sun shirt covers your arms and does not wash off.
Midday is the hard part. Solar noon is 12:29 on 15 January and 12:34 on 15 February, so a mid-morning or late-morning departure puts the sun high and bouncing off the water for most of the time you spend scanning. Sunglasses are the item most often lost overboard, so put a cord on them before you leave your room. Pick a hat that stays on in a 3.9 m/s breeze with the boat under way: a cap with a strap, or a brimmed hat with a chin cord. Wide brims with nothing holding them end up in the water, usually on the run back.
Lips and the back of your neck are the two spots people miss, and both face the sun while you lean on the rail watching for a bushy blow 10 to 16 feet high. Put a stick balm in your pocket.
What to leave at the hotel
Loose items are a problem on an inflatable or a small open boat. Hats without straps, unsecured lens caps, scarves, plastic bags and anything balanced on a seat go over the side the first time the hull turns. If it does not clip, zip or hang from your neck, leave it.
Drones stay in the room. In the authorised zones Mexican rules prohibit observing whales from ultralights, helicopters, jet skis, kayaks and submersibles, and a working deck is no place to be launching or recovering anything while the boat holds its distance, with a four-boat limit around the same whale and a 30-minute cap on the group. Sonar and echo sounders may not be used to find whales either, so the crew's eyes are the only locating equipment on board.
Anything that cannot get wet should not come: paper documents, a leather bag, a camera without a rain cover, a laptop. Swimsuits and towels are no use either, since swimming and diving are prohibited during whale observation, so you stay on deck and dressed for the whole departure. Big luggage is a nuisance in the marina and on the boat, and one small soft bag per couple is plenty.
- Hats, glasses or cameras with nothing securing them
- Drones and anything that needs launching from the deck
- Paper tickets, leather bags, laptops, non-waterproofed cameras
- Flip-flops, sandals and smooth-soled shoes
- Swimsuit and towel, since there is no swimming during observation
- Suitcases or hard cases that cannot sit under a bench
Questions people ask
Do I need a swimsuit or wetsuit for whale watching in Cabo?
No. Swimming and diving are prohibited during whale observation under Mexican rules, so you stay on deck in the clothes you boarded in. Dress for wind and spray, and keep a dry layer in your bag for the ride back. Water temperature off the cape swings between years anyway: 23.5 C on 15 February 2026 against 19.9 C on the same date in 2025.
Will I actually be cold in February?
February is the coolest month of the authorised season at the cape, with a mean air temperature of 20.9 C and mean wind at 10 metres of 3.9 m/s from the north-northwest. On an open deck, under way, that feels cooler than the number reads for the first hour. A long-sleeve layer plus a windproof shell handles it, and by mid-morning you will be carrying both rather than wearing them. The sun does most of the warming once it is up.
Can I wear sandals on the boat?
Wear closed shoes with a rubber sole that grips. Decks and inflatable tubes get wet in the first few minutes and stay wet, and you will be standing while the boat works at under 5 knots inside the observation area. Sandals and flip-flops slide and come off, and so do smooth leather soles. Trainers are fine.
Are binoculars worth bringing?
Binoculars are optional and often more trouble than help. A permitted boat closes to roughly 60 to 80 metres depending on its size, near enough to watch with the naked eye, and the CDC notes that visual scanning makes motion sickness worse. If you want reach, put it on a camera with a strap round your neck rather than something you have to hold with both hands while the deck moves under you. Most people leave the binoculars in the bag for the second half.
How should children be dressed for the trip?
Same layering as adults, scaled down: T-shirt, a fleece they can take off, a windproof shell, closed shoes with grip, and a hat with a cord. Children get cold faster once they are damp, so a spare dry top is worth the space. Put sunscreen on before boarding, because doing it on a child on a moving boat is harder than it sounds.
Read also
