Baja Sur Road Trip: Todos Santos, Los Cabos and La Paz

BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO - When your Gringo visits Mexico for more than a few days, he has a hard time staying in just one place! That's why when my sister invited us for a week at their timeshare on the beach in San Jose del Cabo, I parlayed that into a Baja Sur Road Trip, with stays in Todos Santos, Los Cabos and La Paz, as well as stops at some fairly remote and amazing spots in between.

Our road trip started out fortuitously at the Fox Rental Car counter in the San Jose del Cabo airport. I was chagrined to find out that they were out of 4WD Jeep Wranglers (which we had reserved), but tickled silly when they offered to upgrade us to a much larger 4WD Jeep Liberty…at no extra cost! With Uncle G in the hatchback, we’d be able to roll both our families around Todos Santos and Cabo and take some good sidetrips where 2WD vehicles fear to leave treads.

Our Trusty Mule…a 4WD Jeep Liberty. At the cost of a Wrangler.

PART 1: TODOS SANTOS

We drove at night from the airport to Todos Santos (a government-designated “Pueblo Magico”), about 2 hours west and then north from Cabo. As somewhat of an old “Baja Hand”, your Gringo is very aware of the perils of nighttime driving in Baja. A stray cow, nasty pothole or a speeding drunk will take you out faster here than the legendarily elusive highway bandito.

The recently renovated Highway 19 and its four, well-lit lanes provided safe transport for your gringo and his entire family (including our 4 year old Wolfie and his 5 year old cousin, Siena). I was asked by a couple from Seattle on the beach if I was “scared to drive around down here”. With the proper precautions, an able vehicle and awareness of your surroundings, certainly not.

We arrived at Casa Bentley late at around 11PM after navigating Todos Santos’ dirt backstreets to find it (often asking locals on the street…or what I called “Mexican Mapquest”). Beatrice, the hotel manager, led us into the sprawling stone and orchard filled grounds of this unique hotel and to our rooms in the Fountain and Dolphin suites.

Owner Bob Bentley, a former professor of Geology at University of Colorado, moved to Todos Santos 25 years ago to “…get away from all the rules and regulations of the US”, and to begin work on Casa Bentley, designed in the style of a Portuguese castle. Both Beatrice and Bob are very much a part of the experience – Bob often joins guests for drinks – and their “Boutique Baja Hotel” is comfortable, beautiful and a very unique place to stay.

Welcome to Casa Bentley! Wolfie on the hotel’s beautiful grounds.

We stayed in the Dolphin Suite (bottom floor) at Casa Bentley.

Our first stop was the town center, where the tourist buses from Los Cabos drop off hoards of bracelet-clad day-trippers for lunch at the Tequila Sunrise Restaurant and photo ops at the Hotel California. Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT the hotel the Eagles were singing about, but terrific publicity for its owners. Some interesting shops and galleries can be found here with a variety of authentic and not-so-authentic Mexican souvenirs, tequila, clothing and artwork.

Main Street of Todos Santos.

Welcome to the Hotel California. NOT the place the Eagles were singing about!

Given that we were here for 3 nights, we explored the rest of the town in a short amount of time. Terrific cobblestoned sidewalks, rutted dirt roads, Spanish colonial architecture and a friendly locals vibe really set Todos Santos apart.

We rolled past the house a Famous Rock Star had recently purchased. We picked up fresh fish for dinner one night at the Pescadero market on the edge of the centro and grilled it with some Baja jumbo shrimp in Casa Bentley’s outdoor kitchen.

When we rolled back two weeks later through Todos Santos on our return trip, we paid a visit to the town’s old cemetery. Littered with trash – being picked through for sustenance by a litter of puppies – broken glass and other detritus, it was an eerie place even in the middle of the day, and the only day that was overcast during our entire road trip.

Ursula and Wolfie on an afternoon walk through Todos Santos.

Only a few streets are paved in Todos Santos. This is the view down Calle Pilar.

The Old Cemetery of Todos Santos off Calle Rangel.

Surfers know of the legendary breaks off the coast near Todos Santos, but as we were rolling with a couple of kindergarten-age kiddos, we were in need of a good swimming beach. The “sneaker waves” and often strong riptides off this part of the Pacific coast have been known to take swimmers out to the open sea. Beatrice from Casa Bentley pointed us in the direction of Las Palmas, a beach at the end of a winding dirt road accessed via a farmer’s open gate and a palm oasis. When we rolled in, there were only 4 or 5 other folks enjoying it. Our first nearly-deserted beach day of the trip.

Playa Las Palmas, Todos Santos.

PART 2: LOS CABOS
(San Jose del Cabo & Cabo San Lucas)

If you’ve been following your Gringo up to this point, you know that when it comes to Mexican travel, he’s not much of a “resortist”. However, my sister and brother-in-law’s timeshare, the Coral Baja – with a room overlooking the bottom part of the Sea of Cortez, a swimming pool for the kiddos and full facilities – seemed like a fine place to be and a great base for ventures all around Los Cabos. We had one final lunch in Todos Santos and then loaded up the rental cars for the drive to San Jose del Cabo.

The view from our patio at the Coral Baja Resort, San Jose del Cabo.

Cabo was about the beaches. We spent a day at Playa Medano in Cabo San Lucas, the most populated beach on the corridor. Since we were there during the off-season, it was bustling for sure, but not overcrowded and obnoxious. For $15 bucks, we rented a couple of beach umbrellas.

One of the umbrella attendees volunteered to run into town for us to score some cold Tecates. Returning with beer and a couple of bags of ice, he emptied the 12 pack into one of the plastic store bags, then opened and dumped the ice in on top of it. Baja Cooler.

Playa Medano, Cabo San Lucas, looking out at Land’s End.

Our favorite beach was Playa Chileno, on a small bay about midway down the corridor. Uncrowded – except when the snorkeling tour boats roll in – Playa Chileno is accessible via a wooden walkway through a palm grove to the beach. The water here is clear and warm and there’s excellent snorkeling and fish-watching at both ends of the bay. The views are dramatic, rocky and colorful. It looks like there may be some development happening on the southern ridge, so the bay may not be so private down the road.

Playa Chileno, Los Cabos Corridor

Playa Chileno, Los Cabos Corridor

My brother-in-law was craving adventure, so we booked an ATV tour to the Sierra Laguna foothills and the small village of Candelaria. Although there were about 8 fellow riders on the shuttle van (a nice convenience for those without a car), I was pleasantly surprised when Greg and I were separated from the group and given our very own guide (the rest of the folks were taking the Migrino Beach ATV tour, which they seemed to love when we spoke after). Our guide Baltazar was fun, informative, helpful, friendly, very fluent in English and a great guy to spend the day with.

The tour took us through an arroyo and then led up into some fairly steep dirt climbs into the mountains toward Candelaria. Although we saw some folks with young children riding with their parents on the way out, I would not recommend this tour for the youngsters! These kids were clinging to their parents back for dear life and did not look like they were having much fun.

Once we arrived in Candelaria, Baltazar gave us a thorough history of the indigenous Pericu who used to inhabit this area, as well as the status of the secluded village now. It was nice to get off the beaten Cabo path and experience a little history. The ride down and back ended on Migrino Beach. A beautiful place to end a perfect day.

Uncle G rolls through the Arroyo on our ATV tour.

The small village of Candelaria, Baja Sur, a former Pericu Indian habitation.

El Gringo with ATV, Playa Migrino, Los Cabos

We split off from the pack and Ursula, Wolfie and I spent a morning hiking through the San Jose del Cabo Estuary, a huge area of saltwater marsh that is home to thousands of native plant and animal species. Ranchers had cows grazing amongst the palm trees on one side of the path for a while, which did not escape the ironic eye of your former Midwestern Gringo. This was a beautiful spot, but is possibly stated for development. We saw perhaps 6 other people enjoying the park while we were there so it’s uncertain if our species at least will miss it.

The San Jose del Cabo Estuary.

Right up the road from the Estuary is the San Jose del Cabo Centro – a bustling combination of restaurants, jewelry shops, tequila tasting parlors, historic buildings (such as the Government Palace and Mission), tourists, locals and ex-pats living the high life, I found the town to be authentic, friendly and beautiful in spots.

A couple of the secondary roads were being dug up for the installation of additional sewage and water lines. Ever persistent, shop keepers placed boards over the open trenches to their doors, urging you to sample their wares. I peeked into the Encanto Inn while wandering the Arts district. It’s an historic hacienda that has been turned into a very nice B&B. Would consider staying there sometime for an in-town experience.

San Jose del Cabo Centro street scene.

San Jose del Cabo Mission.

Encanto Inn, San Jose del Cabo Centro

We enjoyed some fantastic seafood during this leg of the trip. Particularly at Herraderas near the Centro and Tacos Claros in San Jose del Cabo. Tacos Claros offers a variety of seafood tacos, including scallops, shrimp, oysters, pulpo and just about anything else that swims in the sea and tastes good. There is a clean, well-maintained playground as well so we could enjoy our lunch and Pacificos while the kiddos played happily with some of the local kids.

Scallop, fish and grilled pulpo tacos (sans garnish) at Tacos Claros, San Jose del Cabo

Huachinango Frita (Fried Red Snapper) at Herradera’s, San Jose del Cabo.

PART 3: HIGHWAY 1 TO LA PAZ

Parting ways with Jen, Greg and Siena who were headed back to San Diego after 9 days, we loaded up the trusty Jeep Liberty with our luggage and pointed north to the Baja Sur state capital of La Paz, where we would spend another week before heading home ourselves.

We chose to drive the winding Carretarra Route 1 up the east coast and around the eastern foothills of the Sierra Laguna range. The drive is amazing and naturally beautiful with palm groves, jagged rocky peaks and a multitude of cactii on our left, and the sparkling blue glimmer of the Sea of Cortez to our right.

The Sierra Laguna range from Highway 1, Baja Sur.

Los Compadres, North of San Jose del Cabo on Highway 1.

Just before we reached La Paz, we stopped at the small town of El Triunfo (population 300-ish). Once the largest city in Baja Sur, El Triunfo became a rich center for gold mining of 10,000 in the mid 1800’s and a quaint, working Spanish Colonial town grew up around the industry. There’s a large, very tall brick smelting chimney stack on the back edge of the town that was designed by Gustav Eiffel.

I chatted briefly with an American ex-pat on the sidewalk who seemed to be involved in a hacienda-restaurant restoration. He indicated that one of the Walton family (of Wal-Mart fame) had just moved into town, along with two other billionaire developers and that the town was going to be transformed. Once again, we felt as if we were seeing something at the end of it’s lifespan as an authentic piece of Mexican history, though time, as always, will tell the tale south of the border.

Street Scene, El Triunfo, Baja Sur, Mexico.

Gustav Eiffel-designed smelting smokestack, El Triunfo.

PART 4: LA PAZ

When we first rolled into La Paz, there was a bit of a shock, admittedly. We had just spent a week and a half in the very quiet town of Todos Santos and the resort-style laid-back ambience of Los Cabos. La Paz (or “The Peace”) seemed anything but peaceful. There were car horns, traffic lights, shouts down the street and more of a police and military presence than we’d seen up to this point.

The city also has a frustrating lack of street signs in its Centro and is best navigated like a local, looking at but rolling through stop signs and moving with the overall ebb and flow of the local drivers. Ursula called La Paz “…like Tecate, but on the Sea of Cortez“. But by the end of the trip, though, we were all charmed by La Paz and it’s people, sites, seafood and gorgeous beaches.

La Paz Street Scene with the very blue Sea of Cortez at the end.

Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz, established 1720.

Wolfie and Ursula on the Malecon, La Paz, Baja Sur.

The Hotel Marina, a twenty-minute walk to the center of the malecon by the Palmira Marina, helped make our transition easier as it is in a very quiet, unpopulated area and provided respite from the business of town. Although we had booked a Junior Suite, the hotel manager suggested we upgrade to a Master Suite for only $20US additional per night. Although fairly undecorated, our rooms had high ceilings and three separate balconies, all overlooking the marina.

Wolfie checks out the view from our room at the Hotel Marina, La Paz.

Hotel Marina, La Paz, Baja Sur.

Another perfect sunset at the Palmira Marina, La Paz

La Paz is two worlds, both relatively untouristed (at least for now): 1) A bustling Mexican city of approximately 300,000 Paceños replete with historic center, old Spanish mission and amazing architecture and shops, and 2) A city within a short drive of some AMAZING natural wonders, such as the beaches (we visited Playas Balandra and Tecolote) and nearby islands (Espirtu Santo being the largest).

Pichilingue Traffic Jam, Baja Sur.

About the beaches…BEAUTIFUL. The clearest, most Caribbean-like water I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Perfect white sand beaches with lazy bays that seem to go on forever toward the Sea of Cortez. There’s abundant and friendly sea life awaiting exploration. And, at least during the week, an uncrowded experience where you have your pick of palapa.

Our favorite was Balandra Beach. Balandra is a gorgeous, aqua green, blue bay that is actually a system of bays. The water goes out for 50-100 yards without ever getting deeper than your waist. We were warned to watch for stingrays under the sand here and did the “stingray shuffle”, but only encountered colorful fish and the occasional skittering crab. Wolfie and I hiked over to the next bay and found Mushroom Rock, a strange formation that is shaped like a mushroom.

Balandra seems to be slated for some type of development, but nothing seems to be being built…yet. This may be a “remember when…” story at some point in the future, but Balandra is an amazing beauty now.

Balandra Beach, La Paz, Baja Sur.

Balandra Beach, La Paz, Baja Sur.

Mushroom Rock, Balandra Beach, La Paz, Baja Sur.

I took off on my own one day to tour Isla Espiritu and swim with a sea lion colony with Isla Espritu & Baja Tours. I knew it would be an experience when the panga rolled up to the beach off the malecon to pick me up, with the other passengers already aboard. At this point, I was glad that I hadn’t brought four-year old Wolfie with me! Captain Carlos and our tour guide Eduardo had the biggest smiles on their faces all day long…loving their jobs! Eduardo was very informative and you could tell he enjoyed both educating and listening to the experiences of his guests.

Our most excellent guide and cap’n, Eduardo & Carlos of Espiritu & Baja Tours.

We rolled out to Las Isolotes to swim with the sea lion colony. An excellent experience. The water is buoyant so even those in mid-level shape can experience this adventure. The pups like to come right up to you and like to nibble on your hand like a puppy. A little disconcerting at first, but I got into it very quickly and enjoyed the interaction on their home turf.

Las Isolotes Islands, La Paz. The last of the islands off Isla Espiritu Santo.

The Sea Lion Colony at Las Isolotes, Isla Espiritu Santo.

On the way back, we rolled into Bahia Ensenada Grande for lunch. A beautiful spot…deserted white sand beach, high sea cliffs, cacti, crystal clear water…an idyllic setting for Carlos’ ceviche he’d just made that morning with some tigerfish he’d caught that morning.

Rolling into Bahia Ensenada Grande, Isla Partida.

Bahia Ensenada Grande, Isla Partida. It doesn’t get any better than this.

The trip down the Western shore of Ispiritu Santo Island was interpretive and Eduardo explained the history of the island and the indigenous Pericu who used to inhabit it very well in both English and Spanish. It was a great way to wind down a perfect day.

Frigate Bird Colony, Isla Espiritu Santo.

Masca de Espiritu Santo. Cortez’s soldiers believed this spirit held dominion between heaven and hell.

Another reason we’d come to La Paz was for the affordable and VERY fresh seafood. We ate at the popular Bismarkcito on the malecon the first night, but by far, our favorite restaurant for awesome seafood and great times was at Mariscos El Molinito toward the end of the malecon.

We feasted on meals of live chocolate clams (they squirm when you squeeze lime on them), freshly-caught tuna, corvina, red snapper, broiled octopus and abalone.

We returned to El Molinito three of the six nights we were in La Paz, it was that good. Our last night in town, we went there for Ursula’s birthday. Our friendly waiter Carlos treated us both to a shot of tequila, delivered down our gullets with a towel under our mouths to catch the excess.

Mariscos El Molinito, La Paz, Baja Sur. YUM!

The friendly staff at El Molinito, La Paz, Baja Sur.

Chocolate Clams, El Molinito.

Huachinango Zarandeado at El Molinito.

On our last morning, we wrapped up the trip by driving back to the airport from La Paz with stops in Todos Santos for lunch and downtown San Jose del Cabo for snacks before having to return the rental and fly back to Tijuana (which closed as we were en route due to fog…we had to spend the night at the Hermisillo airport and fly back the next morning). For nature, culture, relaxation, interaction with a friendly population and adventure, you can’t go wrong with a Baja Sur road trip. We WILL be back!

Your Gringo in Mexico,
Scott