We are always looking for a warm-weather escape to the ocean as soon as it starts getting cold here in Michigan. This trip started in Cabo San Lucas and from there we headed to Cabo Pulmo national park, La Paz, and Todos Santos. You can easily do this trip in one week but more time is always better! We actually stayed in Cabo the entire week we were there and did these locations as day trips. It was definitely do-able if you are up for several hours of driving a day. If you want to avoid that and stay in each of these locations along the way you can do this road trip as a big loop.
Let’s start in Cabo and get a few logistics out of the way. Parking can be found on the streets for free. Look for grey or white painted on the curb, those are the areas you can park overnight for free. Do NOT park where the curb is painted red, green, or yellow. If you head a few blocks away from the beach, away from the main tourist center you will easily find parking overnight or during the day. La Paz appears to have this same color system. Todos Santos is a smaller town and didn’t have all these colors. We easily found a place on the street to park for a few hours during the day. Look for where other cars are parked and follow suit.
Now the fun stuff to do in Cabo:
Towards the beginning of this trip, we decided to go charter fishing. Cabo seems to be a place where some type of fish is always in season and the fishing is always good. It was Mahi Mahi (Dorado) season while we were there. We booked on fishingbooker.com and went on a private charter for the morning with @bluesea_sportfishing.
We would highly recommend Johnny as your fishing captain! He is a super nice guy and we caught so many fish! We cooked fish for the majority of our meals for the rest of the week which saved us a lot of money (if you are going to fish, book accommodations with a small kitchen)! After we got back to the dock we did take one of the fish we kept across the sidewalk to La Chatita where they prepared our fish 7 different ways as well as making us a ceviche appetizer. That was way more food than we could eat for lunch but everything was very good!
If you are planning to go fishing as we did, you will almost be guaranteed to go right by the arch – so I wouldn’t spend money on a separate tour to see it! It is recommended that you book your fishing trip for the morning. The fishing is much better that time of day, you will get to see the sunrise on the water and, you will get to go past the arch before all the other tour boats are out for the day.
Taking a water taxi to Lover’s Beach (Sea of Cortez side) and then walking to Divorce Beach (on the Pacific side) is a must while in Cabo. We would highly recommend going to the beaches early in the morning. You can easily find a water taxi from anywhere in the marina or from Medano beach. The ride to Lover’s beach is very short. We negotiated and got a ride for just the two of us, we paid $30 total including our ride there and back (private). We told our driver we wanted to stay at the beach for two hours.
We arrived just before 9 am and he picked us right back up at 11 am. We had both sides of the beach to ourselves for about the first hour. Being there for two full hours gave us time to walk around and explore/take pictures on both sides of the beach. We enjoyed watching the big waves roll in on the Pacific side and then walked back to the Sea of Cortez side to swim, snorkel, and watch the Pelican’s dive-bomb the water for fish. There isn’t a reef to snorkel on right at the beach here but we did see a school of small fish and some other larger fish.
The main beach in Cabo is Medano beach. It is super long with lots of small restaurants right in the sand to relax with a drink and/or some food. As soon as you enter the beach from the marina you will see mostly locals. As you continue to walk down the beach, in front of most of the restaurants, you will see more tourists and a lot of beach vendors selling all kinds of things. We were there in November of 2020 during the COVID pandemic so there were not very many tourists in Cabo during our trip. In fact, there were probably at least 3x the number of beach vendors than tourists. Because of that, we were asked to buy things a lot!
We ended up walking past the main tourist area to an open area of beach with no restaurant directly behind it. There we saw mostly locals and could avoid some of the vendors. When we did want lunch or a drink we ate at Tobasco’s which is the last restaurant in the line and is a bit further from the main tourist area. The food was good, nothing special, it was your standard beach fare. If you want lunch, want to avoid vendors as much as possible, and don’t want to leave the beach, this is your place.
We didn’t eat out much in Cabo (since we had all our Dorado to eat) but we did go a few places:
The Outpost: Really good food and cocktails with views of the city as you eat outside on their balcony. Definitely on the pricey side, and more of a foodie restaurant than anything else we had on this trip.
La Taquiza: Good tacos overall and inexpensive. After our meal, the restaurant owner or someone affiliated with the restaurant came over and gave us his whole speech about the activities he can help book. We took the brochures to be nice, knowing we weren’t booking anything else we hadn’t already. Well, it didn’t end there, he also wanted to show us a new resort that he said was cheaper per night than our Airbnb condo (not true). He tried to convince us to come the next day for a free breakfast and to see the resort so maybe next time we would stay there (it sounded like a timeshare pitch). We realize that Cabo is a touristy area and these people make most of their money from American tourists but this just left a bad taste in our mouth. We expect that once we decide to sit down and have a meal in a restaurant, we won’t be bothered by people trying to sell us on things. If this hadn’t happened we may have stopped in here for tacos again during our trip but instead, we would recommend not eating here.
Crazy Lobster: We ate here the last night, wanting some seafood that wasn’t fish (after several days of Dorado) They had pretty good prices for lobster tails compared to eating lobster at a restaurant in the states. We enjoyed the grilled lobster tail and the Chile Rellenos.
Now on to the road trip! If you are day tripping from Cabo or any of these destinations you could visit them in any order. For a week-long road trip, we are going to move from Cabo up the Pacific Coast and end with Cabo Pulmo national park as our last stop. There is not much in Cabo Pulmo. We aren’t sure about accommodations in/near the park. So after visiting it might be best to drive to Cabo or La Paz to stay the night.
Cerritos Beach:
From Cabo, this beach will be just before the town of Todos Santos as you head north up the Pacific coast. This is a surfers beach. As soon as we parked, Juan, who seems to run this beach came up to talk with us about the surf. You can rent boards from him, rent an umbrella, and/or take a surf lesson. He was super nice, helpful but not pushy. He explained everything, let us go find a spot on the beach and decide from there what we wanted.
Ryan rented a board for a fee of $20. The rental was not on a time limit. Juan simply said surf until you are tired. There are some beach vendors here but not nearly as many as in Cabo. We were offered items from maybe 5 vendors at this beach in total.
After our time surfing, relaxing, and walking the beach we walked to the Barracuda Cantina for lunch. This place was awesome! It just had good vibes. Everyone was relaxed and having a good time here. You sit with your toes in the sand just a short walk from the beach. They have a food trunk that makes some really good tacos. And the bar is lined with fresh herbs and fruits with bartenders making fantastic cocktails! We loved this place! It is a must stop!
We did try to make one more beach stop in the area at Punta Lobos beach. We drove there only to find it was closed due to COVID. We got out of the car and took a quick look around. There were several local fisherman fishing from the rocks, it is a pretty small beach but the cliffs along the far edge are beautiful. I did smell very fishy while we were there, maybe because it was closed and the only people there were fishing? It is probably a much more enjoyable experience when it is actually open for visitors in non-COVID times.
Todos Santos:
From Cerritos beach, it is only about a 10-minute drive to the small Pueblo Magico of Todos Santos. This is an artsy little town full of local artists and studios as well as beautiful buildings. We spent a morning here wandering the streets, stopping for coffee and a pastry and finding some local art to buy. We stopped into a small stall where the artist explained to process for how they make their art. They use bark from the trees that grow in the area. Once the bark is dried out they dye it and manipulate it into these different pieces. We decided on a small piece to bring home with us. The artist explained that he could have it placed on a painted wooden block to add a background color. He offered various colored blocks and gave us plenty of time and space to decide what option we liked best.
There is also a Hotel California in the town of Todos Santos. We did look it up and found that the song was not written with this hotel in mind but still people come to see it and take photos. It is a pretty red/orange building with a shop and restaurant inside. We just walked by and didn’t stop in at all.
Instead, we found a small coffee shop with seating along the sidewalk called Aline local café and bistro. The coffee here was okay but its a great place to sit and take in the town!
La Paz:
Unfortunately, our whale shark tour took most of the day instead of the three hours we thought it would so our time exploring La Paz was limited. The area along the water is beautiful. There are plenty of restaurants and shops along the boardwalk. As you round the corner near the marina there is another line of restaurants. We ate at Estrella Del Mar on the corner and enjoyed a great view of the water and the marina. There were a ton of sailboats anchored out while we were there. This town seems like a cruiser’s paradise. We also really enjoyed coffee from the KM0 coffee shop and bar.
Swimming with the whale sharks was the reason we drove to La Paz. We booked a morning tour that was supposed to be 3 hours long. We figured after our tour we could get lunch and spend some time walking around or driving the coast nearby to explore more. But that isn’t what happened.
The whale shark is very protected in this area, which is a good thing. What the tour websites don’t tell you is that once you are on the boat, there is another boat anchored out in the bay that you must check-in with. Only 14 boats are allowed in the whale shark area at a time. By the time our group got to the check-in boat, there were already 14 boats in the area so we had to wait.
We were the first boat on the waiting list so as soon as any of the boats left the area we got to enter. What we didn’t account for was that the wait time was almost three hours. We waiting anchored out in the bay. Snacks were provided and we did see several dolphins that came up close to the boat, providing entertainment for a little while. Having to sit and relax on a boat, on a warm, sunny morning isn’t the worst thing but it did cut into our La Paz time so we were a little frustrated.
Once you are in the whale shark area you have three hours in total. That means in that time your boat needs to find the whale sharks and swim with them. Once you do find them, the boat can only be with the whale shark for 30 minutes total. We had a group of 7 people plus our guide and no more than 5 people total can be in the water with the whale shark at a time. That meant we had to swim in two groups. In total, each group jumped in twice and got a total of 10-15 minutes of swimming with the whale shark.
Swimming with the whale sharks was truly an amazing experience! We are very happy that we did it and would definitely recommend it to anyone coming to the area. We did book with the cheapest company we could find which was Espirtu Tours- http://www.espiritubaja.com.mx/index.php.
They were not bad, our guide was very knowledgeable but we did get out there after the other companies which lead to us having to wait. Also while we were out in the whale shark area the boat engine died several times. Our captain was able to quickly get it started again. But it was a bit frustrating that after all the hours of waiting we then had to stop multiple times to address boat issues before we could keep going to find the whale shark. If you are on a budget this company is a good option, if we went back and did this experience again, we would book with someone else. We also learned that to be a tour company that can operate in the area you need special licenses/permissions so any company you chose should be very knowledgeable and able to answer questions you might have about the whale sharks.
Cabo Pulmo National Park:
We read online before driving out to the park that the best snorkeling is on El Arbolito beach so that is where we headed. To stay on paved roads as much of the trip as possible we entered from just north of the small town of Cabo Pulmo. The town isn’t really a town so much as a small collection of houses, a few restaurants and a dive shop you can rent dive gear from. El Arbolito is a few miles south of town.
We headed down the windy dirt/sand roads until we found the sign for the beach. There was someone at the entrance and we did have to pay a small fee $2.5 USD or 50 pesos per person to park for the day. We came with our own snorkel gear but they do have everything you need available for rent. It’s required to wear lifejackets if you are getting in the water, renting them was another $2.50 or 50 pesos per person.
The snorkeling is just steps off the shore. You can see the coral and rocks in the water from the beach so you will know where to go. We were told the best snorkeling was on the right edge of the beach and further right (if you are looking at the water). We snorkeled there and on the left edge of the beach and found both spots to be good. The center is mostly sand bottom. We saw lot of fish, a turtle and an eel. All in all a great snorkel spot. It did seen to be mostly rocks with some coral growth vs lots of coral as we have seen in other places.
After our snorkel, we decided to walk along the beach. To the right (again if you are looking at the water) we walked along the rocks a short distance and then it does become pretty rocky and difficult to walk. We decided to go left and were able to walk much further.
The beach was was honestly just good, if not better than the snorkeling. You will have to climb over some rocks, but if you do, you can follow the beach for quite a distance and you will probably have it all to yourself! Nobody else was on the beach once we left the main El Arbolito area. We saw lots of crabs crawling along the rocks and in one area of the beach saw several small hermit crabs running along the sand. It is a stunning beach with turquoise water on one side, the sand you are walking on, and high, rocky cliffs to your other side. There are cactus plants growing on the cliffs, giant vultures, and ospreys flying overhead. It is truly where the desert meets the sea.
After our time on the beach, we headed back into the small town area for lunch at Tito’s place. The food was good, we had fajitas and sopa de Azteca. It was a nice place to sit outside for a meal before heading out.
Again as we said, there really isn’t much in Cabo Pulmo. We weren’t looking for accommodations as we had planned to stay in Cabo and day trip each day but we certainly didn’t see any hotels or hostels in the area as we drove. If you do want to stay here it would be worth looking into. Especially if you love to snorkel and/or scuba dive this would be a great place to spend more than one afternoon.
That was the end of this week-long road trip for us, of course, there are plenty of other beaches and great destinations in Baja Sur. We will definitely be back! What did we miss, leave us a comment below!