Beach camping at Cerritos Beach near Todos Santos, Baja, Mexico

He's gonna take me into the real waves, not just the whitewash. I don't know how I feel about that. Hi, we're Mel and Jay. Together with our cat Benny, we're traveling the Baja Peninsula all the way to Cabo and back. This is the story where I fall, fall, stand, and fall again while learning to surf. We cook with Jay and we whale watch from shore. So we found a spot and Mel's putting in the leveling blocks. It's pretty tight in here, but I think we came in a good time. A couple people have just left. After two months, we finally arrived at a surf beach. So now we have to dig out the surfboard, which is way the heck back in here. Oh no, I'm caught. Ready to surf? Let's surf. Oh, now this is caught. Got it. All right, this is very exciting, folks. Mel is going for her first Baja surf and Hannah is joining us for a surf too. Hi! We are reunited. The first challenge is just getting the surfboards to the water. Okay, so this is your board, right? Yeah. So you're in, you've got your proud peanut, but you paddle, paddle, paddle, in Baja with this strange phenomenon called rain. I don't know what's going on, but it's giving us the opportunity to collect some water to rinse our surf stuff in, so that's kind of nice. But otherwise, it's just kind of cold and wet. It's very unpleasant. I can hear the sound of like many tiny violins. I hope you all don't feel too sorry for us. I'm sure it'll clear up and it'll be sunny It's mainly a parking lot at the beach. Here's our trailer. You just kind of pick a spot wherever you want. People are parked pretty close to each other because, well, you gotta. There's a restaurant over here. The beach, like I said, is right there. We can go surfing. There are a couple surf schools here. You can rent boogie boards, you can rent surfboards, you can rent wetsuits, and you can take lessons. There are bathrooms at the other end over here, and there is garbage cans, drop-off garbage, and that's camp. Welcome to Cooking with Jay. Mel couldn't cook today because she is too tired and sore from surfing. But she bought cactus. I've cut it up. I'm going to fry it in a pan, throw it in a tortilla, maybe put some cheese in there and some sauce, and that'll be it. Thanks for joining Cooking with Jay. Hey Google, how long do you cook prickly pear cactus when they're slightly brown in color and tender to the touch? Uh, I don't know. This might be a mistake, but I'm going for it because, yeah. Why? What's the matter? I'm already just sore everywhere. I have a blood blister on my foot. My wrists hurt, my hips hurt, my hands hurt, just like everything. The whole body hurts. Sounds like fun. Let's do more. Yeah. That looks a little small. This one doesn't. Another traveler suggested that whales come in very close near a beach called Playa La Cachora, so we went to check it out. I managed to find a whale nearby, but he started swimming a bit deeper before I could reach him. We then tried another spot called Punta Lobos that had absolutely beautiful views with lots of whales traveling by. All week I'd been trying to get some drone shots of the whales that come in close to the surfers in Cerritos without any luck. They're not always easy to film. Finally, I was able to locate a few. It's our last day here at Cerritos Beach, and Mel has gathered up just enough steam for a final surfing lesson. Yes, I figured after three-ish days of lots of falling and bruising myself, I thought maybe it's a good idea to take another lesson and get some more pointers. And an added bonus with this lesson is that you get a lounge chair, so it's pretty sweet for me. With an umbrella. Here, look, when you get this position, sometimes what you can do is get your knee a little more closer, angle lower. He's gonna take me into the real waves, not just the whitewash. I don't know how I feel about that. So, how was the lesson? It was hard. I really need to work on my arms, upper body strength, and for paddling. And getting into the proper position is also a challenge. It's being able to get out there that I'm struggling with the most, and so my upper body strength is just not enough right now. I need to do more push-ups, he said. Did you find the lesson helped? Um, it helped to remind me of the basics and technique that I need to focus on. So, that, yeah. Are you gonna surf a bit more today? Uh, I don't know. I'm just so tired. All right, I had so much fun surfing here on Cerritos Beach and checking out Todos Santos. And I loved seeing the whales go by. In fact, I could see one just now, right beyond the surfers. Next week, we are heading to Loreto. So, stay tuned for that. In fact, I could see one just now on the beach. Not on the beach. Make sure you don't miss the next video by liking, subscribing, and turning on notifications. Oh, and don't forget to check out our website and sign up for our weekly email blast. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you in the next one.