Cabo San Lucas, as seen from the Veendam in early morning, before our excursion.

A quick breakfast and we made or way to the Wajang Theater to await our tender boarding call. At the marina, we were led to a large (65-foot) catamaran that would take us to Chileno Bay, wherever that was. The excursion was not at capacity, even though the cat included passengers from both the Veendam and the Zuiderdam, so there was plenty of room to sit or move about the deck. Upon leaving the marina, we motored out to the rocks, getting a glimpse of the arch and Lover's Beach and a rock full of sea lions before heading away from the cruise ships.

The southermost tip of the Baja Peninsula, as seen from the catamaran.

A picture of me as we sail past Lover's Beach, on the Sea of Cortez side. The beach continues through the cleft to the Pacific side, where it's called Widow's Beach.

A zoomed-out view of the arch and the outcroppings that are now surrounded by water as the peninsula reaches its rocky end.

We rode east past most of the developed area and around a point to our bay, a trip that took about 45 minutes. The bay includes a nice (but apparently steep) beach, plus some rocks offshore. We prepared for our swim, donning flippers, snorkel masks and whatnot (for those that were snorkeling; me, I decided just to swim since I usually have problems with the snorkel mask). When our boat driver cut the engine, he announced the water was a "pleasant" 72 degrees. Not the upper 70s they had promised at the marina. But what they hey, when in Rome.

A great shot of Dad looking out to sea as we sail to Chileno beach.

Chileno Beach. We didn't actually go on the beach, but spent the time being wet, watching myriad fishes swim in the clear water. While we were moored there, however, people started showing up on the beach, having driven there on the road that's only a few hundred yards from the water.

Most of the passengers went into the water. It felt a tad cool when first getting in, but wasn't so bad that one couldn't spend 30 minutes or more in the water before becoming chilled. Even without flippers and mask, I was able to swim over toward the rocks and marvel at the hundreds of fishes that played through the waters. Even Mom got in the water, although she didn't stay off the boat for long. I relaxed in the water for a while, searching for the warm eddies, eventually paddling my way leisurely back to the cat, getting out, rinsing off, and having a beer. Most of the swimmers and snorkelers followed soon after. Jill was one of the last ones to get back aboard the boat.

From there we sailed back toward the marina, enjoying the open bar and munchies, and the sound system playing 50s standards.

Sailing back to Cabo, the passengers enjoy beer and snacks after the swim.

I'd guess from this shot that Mom and Dad had more fun on this excursion than any other.

Before returning to the dock, we motored past the other side of the outcropping, where we took pictures of huge waves crashing against the rocks, and lots and lots of tourist boats plying the surging waters. It was a good thing for picture-taking that we had sailed by in the morning when there were no other boats present.

Waves crash against the rocks of the peninsula from the Pacific side.

This is it: the very end of Baja. Note the small boats and kayakers rounding the tip.

Mom poses as we sail in front of a stretch of beach that's been developed into a resort.

The replica of an 18th century pirate ship sails out to the Pacific. This was the excursion we originally picked for Cabo, but it was cancelled due to the fact that we were the only ones who signed up for it. The sailing shown here was later in the day, and its return would have conflicted with the Veendam's departure schedule. I think the Chileno Beach sail turned out to be more fun.

We pass a Veendam tender as we head for the dock. The ride back to the ship was our last tender of the trip.

We disembarked the cat, with Dad and me heading back to the Veendam tender and Mom and Jill heading to the mercado. We showered and changed and went up to lunch. A famished Mom and Jill arrived at the Lido just as we finished, so we stayed around a bit to chit chat, then headed down for a much needed (and much deserved) nap. I woke up freezing, and sat out on the veranda a bit, updating journals and watching the comings and goings of twelve tenders and uncounted jet-skis droning around the bay. Woke Jill just before 4:30 so we could attend the sail away party. But as we pulled around the rocky outcropping and into the Pacific proper, the wind picked up several knots and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. Any plans for a sail-away party were quickly gone with the wind. We forced our way along the sports deck to the shelter of the Crow's Nest, where it was much calmer, if not necessarily warmer. Found father there, and soon came upon a large pod of dolphins off the starboard side. They came close enough to the ship that we could even see them underwater. After relaxing there for a while, it was time to go below and prep for dinner. Jill and I had an invitation to dine at the table of the Hotel Manager, Nicholaas Berger. Another perk of the suites, apparently.

We changed into formal wear for the evening and headed to the Explorer's Lounge -- the meeting location for dinner. We were first to arrive. Shortly before 8 p.m., the Guest Relations Manager, Axel Kuch, arrived to let us know that the Hotel Manager was in isolation (his wife was sick) so Axel was filling in for the evening. The dinner party consisted of four couples, Axel and another member of the staff, Ramona, who it turns out was on the excursion with us earlier that day, and whose birthday was that day. Spent some time enjoying cocktails before heading into dinner. Was a very late dinner due to the cocktails and following protocol at dinner (all ladies served first, etc.). It was close to 9 p.m. before we had any food. They arranged us at the table so the couples were sitting across from each other and therefore required everyone to converse with others. But it was an interesting group of people and the dinner was enjoyable, if a bit stiff at times. Finished dinner (finally!) about 10:15 or so and headed to the Piano Bar. Mom and Dad knew we'd be late and as it was a sing-a-long and not a NTT, we didn't mind missing it. Stayed as usual through both sets, and, as usual, the second set was mainly chatting. Then up to bed.