The humpback whales that visit Sayulita each year, for many, are part of the true magic of the area. Each winter, usually in mid-November, the large and charismatic North Pacific humpback whales are spotted swimming down the Sayulita coast, announcing their presence by their signature blows or breaching as they travel, and assembling in large numbers to breed and calve. By the end of December to around the start of February, the number of whales that you may encounter on a boat trip from Sayulita can be astounding. However, in the latest U.S. Government’s NOAA global review of the species’ status in 2016, the population of Mexican humpback whales was classified as “threatened”, and for those that swim through Nayarit waters and continue on down to Central America were labeled as “endangered”.