Guest Blog on Gogobot

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Baja Session

In December, at the end of a relatively travel-free year, we were dying for a holiday, but didn’t want to go too far. And we were craving some beach time, but wanted lots of activities, too. As a fair-skinned Celtic lass, I have a love-hate relationship with the beach. I’m always worried about sunburn, and I get bored sitting around on the sand, but I love the coast and swimming in the sea. My husband is much the same way. We decided on Todos Santos, a surfing and artists’ community on the Pacific coast of Baja, about an hour north of Cabo San Lucas. There’s enough to do here to satisfy even the antsiest travelers – we tried something new almost every day.

 

Our hosts for the trip were Sergio and Bryan, a husband-and-wife team who offer a range of activities around the peninsula through their company, Todos Santos Eco Adventures. They also own Los Colibris, a handful of charming casitas with fantastic views of the coast and the palm oasis. We spent hours watching hummingbirds on our rooftop patio, accompanied by the hotel’s friendly menagerie of dogs and cats. Los Colibris is a steep, ten-minute drive from the center of Todos Santos, but they were kind enough to loan us one of their cars during our visit (when they weren’t driving us to activities themselves). We tried surfing for the first time – fairly successful, considering we are balance-challenged – went kayaking on turquoise-blue Balandra Bay, and took a cooking class with colorful local chef Iker Algorri. We also took a nature hike in the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve, a lush microclimate with a huge diversity of plant and animal life. But the highlight was definitely the day we went snorkeling with whale sharks and sea lion pups in the Sea of Cortez. 

The whale sharks were still juveniles, so relatively small (10-12 feet) but still very impressive when they loom at you in the murky water. It’s very safe, but an adventure nonetheless. From there, it was about an hour’s boat ride along a shoreline of dramatic rock formations to Los Islotes, a sea lion colony at the northern edge of the Bay of La Paz. The adult sea lions take no notice of you, unless you get too close, but the year-old pups are very curious and playful. Our guides began diving and spinning in the water, with the pups copying them. I tried it myself, and soon had my own doe-eyed playmate. Lots of fun, even if you only watch the pups and don’t actually swim with them. The snorkeling is great too – there’s a small reef near the rocks that attracts a variety of tropical fish.

Todos Santos has a number of great restaurants, though there isn’t much nightlife to speak of. (We were there at a fairly quiet time, between the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, so it may be livelier at other times.) Our best meals were at El Zaguán, a sidewalk restaurant famous for its seafood (Calle Juárez at Topete); La Casita, an atmospheric, thatched-roof place serving tapas, sushi and Argentine steaks (corner of Degollado and Colegio Miltar); and Michael’s at the Gallery, a beautiful, modern outdoor café owned by a local artist and his Japanese wife, serving sophisticated Asian-fusion dishes. (Calle Juárez at Topete. They’re only opened Thu-Sat so reservations are essential.) Be warned that many restaurants charge American-style prices – if you don’t feel like splashing out, try the tacos al pastor and huge range of salsas at El Pastorcito, or the Baja-style fish or shrimp tacos at Taco George’s (both on Colegio Militar). For breakfast, try Café Todos Santos, a garden-like, open-air space hung with large paintings (Calle Legaspi).