Socially Distant in Baja

When the first wave of Covid lockdowns was easing in October 2020, we decided to take a trip to Baja California Sur in Mexico to take a break from our busy work schedules. We booked a flight to San Jose del Cabo with the goal of spending five days relaxing, exploring and diving.

We settled on staying in the small town of Todos Santos, around an hour north of Cabo on the Pacific side of the peninsula. We decided on this town due to its laid-back and artsy vibe, its proximity to many of the attractions that Baja has to offer, and to avoid the touristy crowds. Picking up the rental car at SJC was not as easy as in the US, but after a 30-minute wait and several negotiations on coverages, we were on our way (or so we thought). While driving off, we looked down only to find a ¼ tank of gas on the gauge – not wanting to turn back, we called the office who informed us that this is typical and that a full tank is not required upon return. We took a picture of the meter and set a goal of returning it with not an extra drop of fuel.

Once we made it past the resorts of Cabo, the setting became more rural and we were treated to awesome views of the Pacific on our left and desert landscape on the right. Since it was past lunchtime, we stopped at a little roadside cafe called La Playa, hopeful that they would have some vegetarian/pescatarian options. Brittany used her rusty Spanish skills to ask whether any items were “sin carne” but we were disappointed by the shaking heads of the women behind the counter. Luckily, one of them offered to make veggie quesadillas complete with a side of beans and homemade salsa, and we picked up some cold Pacificos at the market next door. As we were eating, a local that had lived in the US overheard us and asked, “What are you doing in the real Mexico?“, indicating that tourists didn’t frequent the café. He worked at a nearby off-roading outfit geared to tourists and had a quick lunch break. We chatted for a bit about our itinerary, and he happily gave us some recommendations for local spots in Todos Santos and La Paz to check out.

Once we got to Todos Santos, the directions to our place took us across a dirt road to the side of a hill overlooking a lagoon and the ocean. We decided to stay at Villas la Mar because they featured airy, modern rooms inclusive of kitchen and got great reviews. We were not disappointed. From the villas, town is a quick 15-minute drive, so we picked up food for breakfast and a healthy supply of Pacifico. Dinner the first night was at a surprisingly authentic and tasty Italian restaurant, Il Giardino, which offered outdoor dining on a quaint patio with a laid-back atmosphere.

The next day required an early wake up time to drive about two hours across the Baja peninsula for a day of diving. In the early morning hours, we were a bit surprised to spot a huge tarantula crossing the road! We picked La Paz on the Sea of Cortez for diving since it offers more dive variety than the Pacific side, as well as warmer water temperatures (85 F in the fall!) as a nice break from cold water California diving. We signed up for a three-tank dive day and set off in the boat joined by others from the US, Spain and Mexico. The first site was El Bajo, which was a sea mount roughly 8 miles offshore requiring a choppy 3-hour crossing, but took us cruising between steep desert islands. Unsurprisingly in the middle of the sea, there was a strong surface current which didn’t leave any time for buoyancy checks in the high salinity conditions and required a quick descent down the anchor line. On the way down, one diver had to abort the dive due to losing a weight and returned to the boat. On the sea mount, the marine life was abundant and colorful, more reminiscent of the tropics rather than the north pacific locales that we’re used to in California. We didn’t spend nearly long enough on the sea mount before the guide took us out into the blue, drifting along while (unsuccessfully) looking for hammerheads.

Upon ascent to the surface, we realized that the boat was quite far away and didn’t immediately see us. After several minutes (or so it seemed), mild concern set in when the boat was still not headed in our direction. It was clear they had not located us, and we were unable to make any progress towards it in the current. We all inflated and waved our surface marker buoys (SMB) and attempted using our whistles to get their attention. Eventually they located us after having started a search pattern and seeing our SMBs. After a bit of chaos getting safely back into the boat, everyone was visibly relieved and recounted the experience from the boat’s and divers’ point of views. Apparently when pulling in the other diver who had lost his weights, the captain had lost track of our bubbles, which we were told is the common way for tracking divers. This was definitely a close call and highlights the importance of discussing contingency plans and carrying proper safety equipment when diving – you never know when you’re going to need them.

The next dive was the famous Los Islotes sea lion colony. The dive site is sheltered from the current by an island and visited by many snorkeling tours, making our chance of getting lost at sea substantially lower. The sea lions were extremely playful, diving down to mess with our fins, closed fists and even showing a keen interest in the camera strobes. It was definitely a cool experience being in the water with dozens of wild sea lions. The last dive was at Caleta El Candelero which was relaxing with minimal current, letting us explore the reef at a leisurely pace. The sun started setting on our way back to shore, and the crew surprised us with some Dos Equis to enjoy as we cruised past the great scenery of Isla Espiritu Santo. We had dinner at the restaurant adjacent to the dive shop and didn’t get back to Todos Santos until close to midnight.

With the unexpected 18-hour day and exhausting “adventures” from diving the day before, we decided that a more restful itinerary was in order. We had a relaxing morning making breakfast and exploring the local beach which was a short hike down the somewhat steep and rocky hill near our villa. While we flew the drone and took pictures, we only put our feet/ankles in the water as the current can be quite strong, so swimming is not recommended. For lunch, we decided to venture to Barracuda Cantina in a nearby town, about a 20-minute drive away. We discovered the restaurant from a Netlix show all about tacos and put it on our list of things to try to check out. The food did not disappoint – the fish tacos are some of (if not the) best we’ve had. The beers, along with the laid-back atmosphere, also hit the spot and we easily downed 4 each while chilling in the shade near the food truck. We then strolled down the street to Cerritos beach, a spot popular with surfers and beachgoers. With its low, rolling waves, this beach was also great for swimming, so we spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between swimming and relaxing on the sand. We headed back to our local, nearly deserted beach to catch an awesome sunset. Dinner, per recommendation of our acquaintance at the roadside café, was at a restaurant in the main town area of Todos Santos called La Palapa. The shrimp chile relleno and fish Veracruz, combined with the friendly service, was just what we needed to finish the relaxing day.

On our last full day, a less adventurous agenda again won out over another 18-hour dive excursion. For lunch, we headed to the Green Room, a restaurant on the beach about 30 minutes outside of town. We trusted the GPS on our phone to get us to the right place through the winding, unsigned and deeply cratered roads that eventually lead to a parking lot with some signage through a small, forested path. We were happy to find a laid-back setting with chairs directly on the sand and the crashing waves as our soundtrack. We enjoyed fish tostadas and a shrimp starter while washing it all down with some Green Room specialty cocktails.

In the afternoon, we spent a few hours in the town of Todos Santos. It features a cute downtown area with nice architecture, several galleries given the significant artist population, local breweries, and many high-end eclectic and local shops. We purchased a nice handwoven blanket from a tough-negotiating youngster – unbeknownst to us at the time, hiding inside was a centipede that gave us a nice surprise in our bed later that night! For dinner, we made reservations at Benno Restaurant in the fancy San Cristobal hotel nearby. We had yummy house starters, fococcia bread with eggplant dip, ceviche tostada, hibiscus margaritas, flautas and linguine. It was a fun way to spend an evening and see the lovely hotel.

After a stressful night and morning following the US election, we took another stroll down to the beach before heading to the airport on our last day. In the distance, we spotted what turned out to be humpback whales migrating down the coast. We spent over an hour waiting in wonder for where and when their spouts of water would appear next. Prior to heading too far out of town, we picked another taco stand along the highway for lunch. The fish tacos were on par with those at Barracuda Cantina, albeit quite different as they came deconstructed with a healthy portion of fresh toppings and salsas that allowed us to make them our own.

We thoroughly enjoyed our quick trip to Baja California Sur! The food was incredible, the coastal and desert scenery amazing, the locals were friendly, and all this was only a 2-hour flight from LA. The Sea of Cortez had not been on our radar, but we’re already thinking about a trip to check out the other marine treasures it has to offer. There are diving liveaboards that regularly run from Cabo or Puerta Princessa in the north, the marine protected area Cabo Pulmo south of La Paz, and various other options along the peninsula to dive with mobula rays and whale watching. We got some sweet views of the jagged and arid ridges rising out of the deep blue waters on our flight back to whet our appetite.