Small-group wildlife expeditions and freediving courses led by marine biologists. Ethical encounters with mobulas, dolphins, whales, and marlins — in one of the most biodiverse seas on the planet.
6 days across Baja’s three most incredible locations. Train with a certified instructor, earn your AIDA 1 if you’ve never dived before, and encounter marlins, sea lions, dolphins and more — all in one expedition. Normally you’d need three trips. Here, it’s one.
No certification needed — beginners welcome. AIDA 1 included during the expedition.
Some experiences change you forever. Mine all happened underwater — and I’ve spent the last decade taking people there.
This is what I live for. To connect humans with the ocean — and with themselves.
I’m Valentina. Born in Argentina, raised in the Mexican Caribbean — I grew up discovering cenotes and fell completely in love with freediving. By 19 I was a certified instructor and in 2017 I moved to La Paz to make my dream come true: study marine biology.
In 2019 I broke two Argentine national records in freediving. But what really changed me wasn’t the competition — it was watching a guest cry after diving with dolphins for the first time. That’s what I do this for. Connecting people with the ocean, wildlife and with themselves.
Freefall Academy is built on that. Small groups, real encounters, no shortcuts.
Marine biologistAIDA master instructorArgentine national record holderFounded 2019
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A Great Day with Freefall Academy!
I am usually looking for scuba diving but I only had a few days in La Paz and didn't want to bring an extra bag of scuba gear so I asked my local dive shop if they could recommend a snorkel trip in La Paz. They highly recommended Freefall Academy and urged me to sign up for the Mobula Ray Safari. I traveled with some family so I signed everyone up for a Monday safari. There was great communication with Valentina and Sara with detailed instructions and contact information if there were any questions. We were picked up from our hotel at 6:00 AM by Jose who was prompt and accommodating for our drive to La Ventana to meet the boat and our guide, Imelda.
When we arrived we meet up with another group of 3 people and the boat was ready to go at 7:00 AM. We were lucky to have such a great guide, Imelda took the time to ask everyone what they would like to see the most and explained that we would try to find what we would like to see but we would be flexible on what sea life we would encounter and what the ocean would provide for the day. We set out to see if we could find Mobula Rays, we came across a few but they were mating and not approachable. Off we went in another direction and didn't see much for awhile and then it got busy, we saw so much - blue whales, a school of amber jacks, dolphins, a snorkel with what seemed like a hundred puffer fish, and then an amazing snorkel with a Giant Manta Ray that was very close to the surface, followed by a snorkel close to sunning sea lions. We took a slow boat ride back and enjoyed some very good ceviche and fresh fruit for lunch. Imelda also took some great video on a GoPro and Airdropped the videos to everyone. It was so awesome to be able to take the video home on our phones!
I cant think of many places in the world where you can encounter as much as we did on a snorkel safari that lasted about 6 hours.
I would absolutely go on another trip with Freefall Academy, it was a great experience for everyone, and the snorkel with the Manta Ray was bucket list stuff!
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Gabriela Brana
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Hermoso safari de mar donde respetan la fauna e informan a los turistas desde el punto de vista de una bióloga marina. Nos encantó el tour y lo recomendamos!!
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Meredith Maclay
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It was an action packed 6 hours, we saw a fin whale, sea turtles, sea lions teens floating on their backs, tons of birds, snorkeled with puffer fish who swim right up to you and say hello, we fed pelicans and of course saw many fling mobula rays. For lunch they fed us the most delicious ceviche I’ve ever had. Our guide was a marine biologist and knew a lot. Our captain was the nicest guy with a great sense of taste and a great sense for the game and the way he handled it was so much more than just a little bit of a a little bit more than a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit a little humor. Great day
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Marnie Cadden
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I can’t say enough positive things about this company. Starting off, the communication between the company was outstanding. Sara was beyond helpful in all questions and information that I had and responded promptly. The company was in clear communication throughout my entire four days of tour. One of the reasons that I chose to go with the company was because they followed a lot of ethical procedures when encountering the marine life. Imelda was my guide for all of my tours and I can’t speak highly enough! She is a marine biologist and was so fun and knowledgeable about all the things we encountered, and made sure that everybody was treating the ocean with respect. The captains were extremely knowledgeable about the area and knew exactly where to go for the animals that we were looking for. The tour itself included photos as well as a delicious lunch. We saw so much marine life. He had such an enjoyable time that I signed up for more days. Thank you so much to the entire Freefall Academy crew, I had such a wonderful time on my trip!
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Santiago Valverde
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Increíble experiencia de Ocean Safari en la Ventana. Super recomendado
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Anthony Orkiolla
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Great tour from Imelda. We saw bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins, swam near sea lions, saw a mobula and a mako shark!
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Shorty Hubbard
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The people are kind and nothing is guaranteed, but the interactions with the wildlife are amazing
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Andrea Valencia
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Muy lindo el tour vimos muchos delfines, nadamos con lobos marinos y alcanzamos a ver un tiburón ! Imelda súper buena guía pasamos un muy buen rato con ella ❤️
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Alejandra Badillo
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Increible experiencia! Jitka fue increibleee hizo que disfrutaramos mil la experiencia! Gracias por todo!
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Giving back
Adventure with purpose.
For us, tourism comes with real responsibility. From how we hire to how we enter the water — everything is designed to give back.
Dive for Change
For every 3 courses sold, we gift a free course to a local coastal community.
Local first
We hire local — captains (former fishermen), boats and businesses — so your trip’s impact stays in the community.
Wildlife on their terms
Respectful and ethical encounters. We enter their home with silence and respect.
Citizen science
You don’t just observe — you contribute. We work with researchers to collect real data for conservation.
10% for the whales
10% of our Gray Whale Watching tour profits go directly to saving whales in the Mexican Pacific.
This is what we mean by responsible tourism. Not a checkbox — a way of doing things.
Free guide — instant download
Hold your breath for 2 minutes in 2 weeks.
No equipment, no experience, no pool required. Just a step-by-step plan designed by a freediving instructor — and the mental tools to actually get there.
The science of breath-holds explained simply
Day-by-day 2-week training program
Mental techniques used by real freedivers
Troubleshooting guide for common challenges
What to do after you hit 2 minutes
No spam. Just ocean stories and freediving tips. Unsubscribe anytime.
You need to be able to comfortably snorkel in open water. Wildlife expeditions and day tours are open to everyone — no freediving certification required. We’ll give you a full briefing before every water entry.
Baja is active year-round — that’s one of the things that makes it so special. Mobula rays: April to June. Striped marlins and sardine run: October to December. Gray whales: January to March. Humpback whales: December to April. Dolphins and sea lions: all year. We have a full wildlife calendar on our website so you can plan around the species you most want to see.
Very small — and we mean it. Day tours: max 8 guests. Freediving courses: max 4 students per instructor. Multi-day expeditions in Mexico: max 6 guests. Bimini wild dolphins: max 7 guests. Small groups mean more personal attention, more authentic wildlife moments, and a completely different experience from mass tourism.
A few things: every tour and expedition is led by a marine biologist. You will learn so much from your guide — it’s an educational experience too. We prioritize animal welfare over photo ops — always. We work exclusively with local captains and boats. And we keep groups small so every encounter feels personal. We actively engage in citizen science activities and have our own conservation efforts. We’re not a tour company that does this as a side business — the ocean is our whole life, and it shows.
Orcas are present in the waters of La Ventana and the Gulf of California — and when they show up, it’s one of the most extraordinary things you’ll ever witness. Swimming with orcas in Mexico is now legal under specific ethical guidelines. We don’t offer a dedicated orca expedition because sightings can’t be guaranteed, but during certain expeditions and day tours they might appear. We’ve written two honest guides about this — Swimming with orcas in Mexico is now legal and The honest truth about orca encounters in La Ventana.
Freediving is very safe when practiced correctly and with proper supervision — which is exactly what we provide. All our instructors are AIDA certified and trained in rescue and safety. If you’ve never freedived before, our courses start from absolute zero. Most students are amazed at how quickly they relax and how much farther they can go than they expected.
Our courses are based in La Paz, Baja California Sur — but we move around. Depending on the experience, we operate in different locations across Baja: Ocean Safari and Mobula Safari in La Ventana, Gray Whale Watching on the Pacific side in Puerto Chale, and the Marlin Expedition out of Magdalena Bay. The closest airports are La Paz (LAP, just 20 minutes away) or Los Cabos International (SJD, about 2 hours away). We offer airport transfers for all multi-day expeditions. La Paz itself is a relaxed, beautiful city on the Sea of Cortez — famously called “the aquarium of the world” by Jacques Cousteau. Most guests fly into SJD and we take care of everything from there.
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