25 essential Baja stops
MUST-SEE SITES AND SECRETS ALONG MEXICO’S HIGHWAY 1
DON’T LET all those miles of stark desert fool you. Whether you’re taking on the whole Baja Highway or targeting one stretch (which is more sensible), the landscape is full of revelations, many half-hidden. In fact, there’s far more along the road than you’ll find on this list, which leaves out Tijuana, Ensenada, Bahía de los Angeles, Todos Santos and most of La Paz and Los Cabos. The spots below are places I encountered first-hand and liked — local tours, trails, restaurants, historic churches, cave paintings, beaches and other attractions from the Guadalupe Valley to Cabo San Lucas. Though I only slept in one hotel, I inspected several more and included the best here.
To guide me, I hired Nathan Stuart of Legends Overlanding, which specializes in small-group and custom overlanding and camping trips to rugged Baja landscapes. Activities can include whale watching, surfing, fishing, snorkeling and hiking. All-inclusive prices (often including private chefs) typically run $5,000 to $8,000 per couple for a fiveto 10-day trip.
Our vehicle came from Topoterra, based in San Diego, which rents trucks, camper vans and camping equipment for off-grid travel in Baja and elsewhere. Daily rates for vehicles run $189 to $285. Though Baja trips make up most of his winter business, Topoterra founder Brandon Thomason told me, most travelers prefer to explore one part of Baja, not rush through the whole thing.
About the phone numbers below: To call a Mexican mobile phone or landline from a U.S. mobile phone, begin with the + key, then hit 52 (Mexico’s country code), then the area code and local phone number (which add up to 10 digits; that’s what is included here). To call Mexico from a U.S. landline, begin with 011 instead of +, then add 52, area code and local number. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has more details.
LAGUNA CHAPALA
This dry lake bed was a transportation free-for-all before the highway was completed — travelers looked at the jumble of tracks, chose a pair to follow and hoped for the best. Now the road goes around the lake, but people still love to drive on it. The Chapala store/loncheria/ museum, in this spot since 1974, has a low tin ceiling and its walls are plastered with family photos and stickers from off-roaders. A few steps away is Restaurante Nueva Chapala, open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Main dishes up to about $8. We got quesadillas for $3. The family also provides campsite for bicyclists.
Carretera Transpeninsular Km 235, Chapala, 22973 Agua León, B.C.
LAGUNA OJO DE LIEBRE (SCAMMON’S LAGOON)
This lagoon, surrounded by one of the world’s largest saltworks, attracts hundreds of gray whales each winter. In their wake come thousands of whale watchers. The lagoon, part of UNESCO’s El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, includes three primary areas for whale watching. About 20 pangas (boats) have permits to take people out. A typical tour would include 10 people on a 23-foot boat for about two hours at $58 each. Tour operators include Malarrimo Eco-tours, Mario’s Tours and TheCalifornias.mx.
Similar whale-watching tours are offered by many companies in San Ignacio Lagoon and Magdalena Bay.
● Carretera Transpeninsular, 23940 Guerrero Negro, B.C.S.; whc.unesco.org/en/list/554
PENINSULA, GUERRERO NEGRO
This seafood restaurant offers great meals in a smallish dining room with sophisticated minimalist decor. Shrimp tacos: about $3.50. Big dish of ceviche: about $10. The owners started in the Guadalupe Valley in 2014, then moved here in April 2022.
● Blvd. Domingo Carballo, De la República, 23940 Guerrero Negro, B.C.S.; (646) 116-8537
THE CALIFORNIAS MX TOURS, GUERRERO NEGRO
This custom tour company, led by Carlos Couttolenc, offers desert and coastal day trips and overnights, including whalewatching, rock-art hikes, remote beaches and a dip in the saline, magnesium-chloriderich waters of the Guerrero Negro saltworks. The company charges about $35 for a threehour tour that includes a soak and freshwater shower after.
@thecalif.mx PLAZA, SAN IGNACIO
The oasis town of San Ignacio has a tree-shaded plaza that’s
SANTA ROSALÍA
good for a respite anytime. At one end stands an 18th century church, Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán. Around the periphery are El Rancho Grande Restaurante (pleasant patio, basic food, English spoken) and the Neveria Danya, which has a bright pink façade and sells slices of fig pie. You’ll also find the offices of Kuyima, a local tour company whose offerings include cabins at the San Ignacio Lagoon.
Plaza, 23930 San Ignacio, B.C.S.
LA HUERTA HOTEL
This is a solid road-trip hotel, with a restaurant on-site and the town plaza a short walk away. Twenty rooms, $52 to $60.
Profesor Valdivia 34, 23930 San Ignacio, B.C.S.; (615) 1540116; m.facebook.com/people /Hotel-La-Huerta /100069527396231
IGLESIA DE SANTA BÁRBARA
This is a metal church (with stained glass) that’s attributed to Gustave Eiffel, he of the Parisian tower. Apparently Eiffel designed it as a prefab project for export to Africa. Instead, a French company mining for copper in Santa Rosalía bought and shipped it here in the late 19th century. About two blocks west on the main street, Alvaro Obregon, you can grab a snack to go (no tables) at El Boleo bakery, which goes back to 1901. There’s coffee across the street at Tokio Café.
● 20 Álvaro Obregón, Santa Rosalía, 23920, B.C.S.; facebook.com/SantaBarbaraenVIVO
HOTEL FRANCES
Built in 1886 with wooden floors, walls and ceilings, this hillside hotel has 16 rooms, priced at $60 nightly. It’s not on the water, but there’s a modest pool in the courtyard — precious in the warmer months, when Santa Rosalía gets very hot.
Jean M. Cousteau 15, Mesa Francia, 23920 Santa Rosalía, B.C.S.; (615) 152-2052
PLAYA BUENAVENTURA, CONCEPCIÓN BAY
Playa Buenaventura is a place: a small, pebbly beach at Km 94 on Bahía Concepción, about 25 miles south of Mulegé. It’s also a business that feels like home for a lot of American expats. At the
Buenaventura restaurant and Argghh bar, pirates are a recurring theme and campers from any nearby beach can get a hot shower for 50 pesos (about $2.50). Buenaventura also has a boat ramp, Wi-Fi, pool table and plenty of English spoken. You can pay to camp off-grid there and rent beach gear. Neighboring beaches with camping (and often smoother sand) include Playa Santispac, El Burro and Coyote to the north and the especially scenic Playa el Requeson about a mile southeast.
Carretera Transpeninsular Km. 94, 42 Km. south of Heroica Mulegé, B.C.S.; playabuena ventura.com
LORETO MISSION
This was the first Catholic mission in the Californias, founded by Spanish Jesuits in 1697, starting point for the colonization of California. It was founded 72 years before the Franciscans started their first Alta California mission in San Diego. The current building was completed in 1744. In front of the church runs the tree-shaded pedestrian promenade Salvatierra, full of restaurants, shops and hotels. Loreto’s population is about 20,000 and it faces the sheltered waters of the Gulf of California.
And. Juan María de Salvatierra 14, Centro, 23880 Loreto, B.C.S.; visitloreto.info /mission-nuestra-senora
SAN JAVIER MISSION AND OLIVE TREE
The mission and town of San Javier (population: about 40 families) are about 25 miles southeast of Loreto at the end of a paved and well-signed but twisty mountain road. San Javier, far smaller and slower than Loreto, gets perhaps 60 visitors a day, many arriving in tour vans. Visitors admire the inside of a church that’s younger than the Loreto Mission (this one was built 1744-58) but retains more original architecture. Its formal name: Misión San Francisco Javier de ViggéBiaundó.
Check out the 300-year-old olive tree nearby and notice the crops. The mission at Loreto ultimately closed, in part because water was so scarce there. But the agricultural community of San Javier, one of the first in the Californias, has endured.
If you’re hungry, there are two restaurants across the street from the church. We ordered machaca burritos (about $1.60 each) from Betty’s Kitchen, and tasty micheladas.
23893 San Javier, B.C.S.; visit loreto.info/san-javier-mission
TATANKA
This upscale seafood-and-steak restaurant is tucked away behind a La Paz parking lot on Revolución between Bravo and Ocampo streets. But the dining room and tree-shaded courtyard are elegant and the cuisine has won many prizes. The bone marrow taco is a good bet to liven up your Instagram feed. Main dishes $15 to $48.
● Revolución s/n between Bravo and Ocampo streets, Col. Central, La Paz 23000, B.C.S.; (612) 122-1999; facebook.com/Tatanka Baja
CABO PULMO MARINE NATIONAL PARK
The East Cape’s unique setting near the end of Baja — with more than 800 species of sea life — can make for brilliant snorkeling and scuba diving at Cabo Pulmo. The area has been protected as a national park since 2005; snorkelers in the protected area are limited to 30 minutes per dive, life jackets required (so you can’t dive below the surface).
Our panga captain and guide from Cabo Pulmo Adventures took us snorkeling at Los Frailes Bay (inside the protected area) and El Bledito (farther south and outside it). For about $70 each, the company provided a boat, guide, wetsuit, snorkel and mask.
The village of Cabo Pulmo is small and rustic; lodgings have limited electricity.
● Camino Cabo Este, 23574 Cabo Pulmo, B.C.S.; cabopulmo park.com
RANCHO ECOLÓGICO SOL DE MAYO
Zorra Canyon is the highlight of this reserve, which lies near the town of Santiago in the Sierra La Laguna mountains above Los Cabos. The reserve includes a waterfall, natural pool, hiking trail, restaurant, cabins and tours up the canyon beyond the falls. Open daily 8 a.m.-6 p.m. We paid about $8 each for access to the trail and falls. The six cabins cost about $90 nightly each (via Airbnb).
Domicilio Conocido, 23500 Santiago, B.C.S.; (612) 152-1872; ranchoecologicosoldemayo.com
LA REVOLUCIÓN, SAN JOSE DEL CABO
This upscale restaurant is in the heart of San Jose’s 23400 District, which gets lively on weekend nights. Don’t be put off if you hear loud music coming from the nightclub upstairs. Once you’re inside La Revolución, it all calms down and the food is excellent. Menu includes Mexican favorites and European influences, including abalone soup and lamb and pesto pasta. Most main courses: $17-$30.
● Alvaro Obregon #1732, Centro, 23400 San José del Cabo, B.C.S.; (624) 688-6915; larevolucion comedor.com
HYATT PLACE SAN JOSE DEL CABO
This is a reliable midlevel hotel, about 600 feet from the beach, at the San Jose end of the 20mile-long Los Cabos resort corridor. (For a good casual meal outside the hotel, try the chain taqueria Claro Fish Jr. on Paseo Malecón.) Standard rates on weekends in spring begin at about $195.
● Paseo Malecón San Jose 128, Zona Hotelera, 23406 San José del Cabo, B.C.S.; (624) 123-1234; hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/mexico /hyatt-place-los-cabos/sjdzs
LAND’S END, CABO SAN LUCAS
These are the rocks that mark the end (or start) of the Baja peninsula, including one in the shape of an arch. Many tour companies will take visitors out to the nearby waters. Depending on price, surf and time, some will drop you for a while on nearby Lover’s Beach, some won’t. (Be sure to ask.)
We used Enva Tours, which has an office in the marina at Cabo San Lucas and runs boats out just about every hour at $29 to $39 per person. The boats are made of translucent plexiglass, which gives better views of the fish below and rocks around. (The hostess and captain said they work for tips only.) Don’t expect solitude, especially near sunset, when two dozen or more boats jostle for position.
If you pay more, you can do this by catamaran, yacht or glass-bottom kayak. However you do it, the sight is remarkable. If nature hadn’t put a dramatic arch at the tip of Baja, the tourism industry would have had to do it.
● Cabo San Lucas, B.C.S., 23450