The southern tip of the Baja California peninsula should be high on every sun-seeking, water-loving, adventurous traveler’s bucket list.
Reliable thermals for wind sports, turquoise waters, wide beaches that extend for miles, impressive pelagic sea life for divers and snorkelers, natural hot springs to soak in, and canyon oases with incredibly beautiful swimming holes. And of course, ubiquitous tacos and margaritas!
It’s really quite incredible how many fun things there are to do in such a small area. This cartoon map shows just a few of the highlights.
San Jose del Cabo
We spent our first few days in the town of San Jose del Cabo. The downtown area is known for its historic art district, and we stayed in a hacienda-style Airbnb located right on the main town square.
The art district is full of restaurants, handicraft stores and art galleries, and the streets are just impossibly pretty! Every building in this area is decorated with very colorful and eclectic artwork, you just want to photograph everything!
A weekly art walk happens on Thursdays. We were wowed by this artist and his depiction of San Jose del Cabo. He created this painting in just a few minutes right in front of us. Using just his fingers!
Cabo San Lucas
We try to avoid touristy areas (Cabo being a prime example), but we did stop by one of the mega-resorts to try out flyboarding.
The only other thing we did in Cabo was attempt to get to the famous El Arco by walking along the rocky headland. We didn’t make it all the way, but it was fun to explore.
La Paz
We spent a couple nights in La Paz – our stay here was primarily because the boat trips to see whale sharks and sea lions start from here. We really enjoyed our time in La Paz – the town has a beautiful oceanfront promenade, and has great sunset views, despite being located on the ‘east coast’ of the Baja peninsula.
Our Airbnb was just a couple blocks from the promenade, and had a little terrace area – perfect for our morning coffees and evening margaritas!
Whale sharks from the Pacific Ocean come to the shallow waters of the La Paz bay during the winter months. A short boat ride takes you from La Paz to the feeding grounds where they can be found.
Whale sharks feed either by floating vertically, or by moving horizontally. The whale shark we sighted was on the move, so when we got in the water, we had to swim pretty much as fast as we could, to even keep up with it.
A small rock outcrop off the island of Espiritu Santo is host to a colony of over 500 sea lions. Super curious and playful, these sea lions put on a real show for us, and sometimes got a little too close for comfort!
The blue-footed boobies and various other seabirds inhabiting the area turn the rocky coastline into a sea of white poop. Interestingly, the poop washes into the ocean, providing nutrition for the sea life.
Seriously, even the cacti aren’t spared.
Just down the street from our Airbnb, there was a restaurant being run out of the owner’s home, where we had incredible seafood empanadas. The crust was light and crispy as against the bready empanadas we are used to.
La Ventana
Our next stop was La Ventana, a popular spot for wind sports due to the famed thermal winds known as ‘El Norte’. We stayed at a hotel overlooking the bay.
The winds don’t get going until noon, so we didn’t have to – allowing us to enjoy lazy, extended morning coffee sessions with gorgeous views.
The calm mornings also let us enjoy some swim sessions and strolls on the beach.
And when the winds kick in, the action begins.
It was cool to see all three styles of riders sharing the same spot – kiters, windsurfers and wingfoilers.
Next to one of the kite beaches is probably the most unique natural hot springs we have ever seen. On a rocky section of the beach, piping hot spring water surfaces near the ocean, and you can form little pools with the rocks to collect the hot water.
We soaked for hours, alternating with refreshing dips in the cool waters of the sea. Our very satisfying session was ended when the tide came in, and started cooling off our pool.
Cañons of Sierra La Laguna
Nestled in the Sierra La Laguna mountains are a series of incredibly beautiful canyon oases. We fell hard for this part of Baja – the striking granite boulders, the lush palm trees, the insanely clear, cool, inviting water – and the solitude to enjoy it all.
We went exploring the canyons and came across numerous picturesque spots. This one was especially pretty with its cascading waterfall.
We just couldn’t get enough!
What we really enjoyed about the canyons was that you can just go wandering and keep discovering spots with something special – maybe a little waterfall, or rocks to jump from, or tiny sandy beaches – and have it all to yourself.
This was another of our favorite locations that we lingered at.
As if all of this weren’t enough, some of the canyons even have hot spring pools!
The crystal clear water, and the peaceful setting amongst the palm trees and granite boulders made this one of the dreamiest hot spring pools we’ve been to.
