Places to vacation in baja california
Balandra
Tell someone you’ve visited Baja California Sur and — if they have, too — they’re bound to ask if you made it to the bay of Balandra. Overlooking the Sea of Cortez, it is a phenomenon, almost circular and surrounded by dunes. As a result, the sea is even calmer here than it is in the Cortez gulf beyond.
The brilliant blue water is never really more than waist-deep, making crossing from one side to the other — some considerable distance — no effort. On the seabed lurk manta rays, which swim off harmlessly as you splash ahead, kicking up sand.
Todos Santos
Todos Santos may be just a small node on the Pacific coast but it is a cultural landmark. Hence its Pueblo Mágico status, awarded officially by the government to recognise a magical town.
Founded by early 18th-century missionaries, it has a burgeoning agricultural industry and, in recent years, it has begun to attract creatives who have settled, opening up craft shops and art galleries. Within easy reach of some gorgeous Pacific beaches, now-buzzy Todos Santos is fast becoming one of the most visited towns in Baja.
La Ventana
Kite surfers are emblematic of La Ventana, a fishing village beside a beautiful bay south of La Paz, buffeted by strong winter winds. But it’s not the only activity. Across the water is Isla Cerralvo, known officially since 2009 as Jacques Cousteau Island, in recognition of the world-famous French oceanographer.
Opposition across Mexico to the renaming was perhaps understandable, although Cousteau had strong connections with the place, making regular visits in his lifetime. He dubbed the Sea of Cortez “the world’s aquarium” for its extraordinary wealth and diversity of marine life. So, while you’re in La Ventana, don’t pass up the opportunity to kayak, snorkel or scuba-dive.
Wine route in the Valle de Guadalupe
Baja California produces the lion’s share of wine in Mexico — in particular, the municipality of Ensenada. The Valle de Guadalupe was established, like so many places on the peninsula, by missionaries. During the conquest, Spanish colonists arrived bearing vines, which took to the local soil with unexpected success.
Although, unsurprisingly, the Spanish crown soon banned production outright, fortunately sufficient numbers of those missionaries persevered. Viniculture thrives to this day in the valley and surrounding areas, where a clutch of wineries open their doors to visitors for tasting sessions.
La Bufadora
On the southern side of the Punta Banda peninsula, just south of Ensenada, the Pacific swells enter a wedge-shaped crevice in the rocks. This narrows as it goes, funnelling the immense energy of the waves into a single point. Here the water has nowhere left to go but straight up, exploding into a geyser-like plume that soars 100ft (30m) into the air. Find the terrace overlooking the rocks for a bird’s-eye view of the action but get too close and be warned: you will get soaked.
Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco
The most striking rock-art pictographs along the Baja California peninsula are in the San Francisco mountain range, in the municipality of Mulegé — make for the El Vizcaino bioreserve, home to around 250 caves. The drawings date back more than a millennium; according to carbon-dating, some were created more than 7,000 years ago. Attributed to the indigenous Cochimí people, the silhouetted red (and sometimes black) images of animals, tools, humans and rituals are captivating insights into a mysterious past.
Isla Espíritu Santo
Isla Espíritu Santo, which translates as Holy Spirit Island, is one of the many outcrops in the Sea of Cortez to have been named Unesco World Heritage Biosphere Reserves. Those who know them agree: the most beautiful, hands down, is this one, a biosphere surrounded by clear, fathomless waters that teem with sea lions and shoals of tropical fish. It’s possible to swim, to explore by boat or kayak, or simply wander along its numerous untouched beaches, marvelling at the empty wonder of the place.
Sierra de San Pedro Mártir
© Jürgen Bochynek / Alamy Stock Photo
This mountain range, in the north of the peninsula, is very evocative of the peaks that rise up around California’s Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park. Which makes sense because not only do they share the same formative geography (think sculptural granite domes), the same plant and animal life proliferates in both areas, too. Hardy cypress and aromatic pinyon-pine forests cloak the slopes. Squint and you might glimpse bobcats, California condor, and bighorn sheep.
