Rocas Alijos

The Rocas Alijos (also known as Escollos Alijos ) are an uninhabited island group of rock pinnacles in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 km from the Mexican mainland. Politically they belong to the community Comondú the Mexican state of Baja California Sur (South Lower California).

The group consists of three major rock islands and numerous small and very small rocks which protrude steeply from the Pacific. The largest rock, Roca Sur (South Skirt), reaches a height of almost 40 meters and a diameter of about 14 m. The rocks are volcanic in origin and are the result solidified Lavakamine that could break through at this point the sea surface.

The Rocas Alijos were probably already discovered in the mid-16th century by Spanish sailors, a map of 1598 records the rocks already under its present name. A first detailed description of the rocks was made by the pirate John Clipperton in 1704. The first scientific study of rocks and the precise determination of their position succeeded in 1990 as part of the Cordell Expedition led by Robert W. Schmieder; while the Roca Sur has also climbed for the first time.

The rocks are breeding ground of numerous seabirds.