My Travel Guide to the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico

The youngest states of Mexico lie on the west coast and form one of the world’s largest peninsulas and is one of the most sparsely populated places in the world. This is Mexico’s Wild West desert and it has some of the most off the path experiences in the country. Whale watching, horse trekking and beach relaxing are some examples of what you may find on your trip here. It really is something beyond the generic idea of spring breaking misbehaving tourists that generally comes to mind.

General Info
If you’ve ever looked on a map and seen that giant piece of land jutting out into the pacific from Mexico, that is the Baja peninsula. It runs from Cabo San Lucas in the south to Tijuana in the north and is a mostly dry and arid desert climate with many beaches as it is surrounded on 3 sides by water. It is composed of two states: Baja California and Baja California Sur and they are among the least populated of Mexico. It is like the American Wild West but in this century and with more beaches and wine.

What to See?
As I’ve already mentioned people go here for beaches and desert landscape of endless cacti. The best reason to actually come here is for the possibility of adventure tourism with kayaking, horse trekking and whale watching. Blue whales, gray whales and whale sharks are all a and unit around the peninsula through the year but reach a high point in February and March. Like much of Mexico it all has good food that comes from the rest of the country as people move here to work in the lucrative tourist industry. Whether your backpacking or roadtripping there is an adventure for everyone in Baja California.

Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in San José del Cabo
Arrive in the airport and get the comfortable and frequent bus to your destination. I used the rest of the day to relax in San José del Cabo which has budget accommodation and better food.
Day 2: Los Cabos
There are two different cities that make up “Los Cabos”: San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. San José del Cabo is my preferred city since it has something resembling a local culture and old town whereas San Lucas is a bunch of drunk Americans, sunburned spring-breaking frat guys and the infrastructure needed to support them. However I would have to say that it still has the best attraction which is the Cabo arch. This is a sea arch that is featured on many wallpapers; to get there I opted a paddle boarding experience but other people prefer a small cruise boat. Local buses frequently run between the two cities picking up and dropping off resort workers.

Day 3: Todos Santos
Get a bus to the small artist outpost in the desert of Todos Santos. It feels a lot like a movie set from old westerns or Mexican cinema. It’s a small town with many galleries and very atmospheric.
Day 4: La Paz
The superior alternative to Cabo San Lucas’s in every way including beaches and culture is the capital of Baja California Sur. Take a trip to Playa Balandra or go whale shark watching without the headaches from the average type of tourists in Cabo San Lucas. Day 5: Loreto
The first city founded in any part of the Californias is this beachside city. It has the best old town in Baja California with a nice mission church and malecón. During whale watching season I would recommend a trip to see blue whales, the largest animals to ever exist.

Optional 2 Day Detour
A lot of people further extend their trip here by doing a multi day kayaking trip and camping on the nearby islands which unfortunately I didn’t have time for. I talked to people who said that this was a highlight of their trip though.
Day 6: San Ignacio
this little town is a perfect place to break up the long distance between Loreto and the next destination. It is a tiny town of over 500 people with a huge church and charming old plaza.
Optional 3 Day Detour
Now, I mostly stopped in San Ignacio because of a trip I set up with the local outfitter Kuyima (not sponsored). I set up a trip where for 3 days me and a few older travelers would go horseback riding and hiking to see millennia-old petroglyphs in the Santa Teresa Canyon. This was the highlight of my trip and you could read about it further here: Visiting the Prehistoric Cave Paintings of Sierra San Francisco.

Day 7: Guerrero Negro
If you haven’t done one of the optional detours I’ve laid out so far, this is probably going to be the highlight. A pretty boring town but like anywhere in Mexico with good food but people flock here for a natural phenomena in the nearby bay. The iconic gray whales of the area without any coaxing actually approach people and desire to be pet. At least when I went I was expecting this to happen maybe once or twice but I did not expect to be surrounded by 8 whales at a time practically lining up for human interaction. A seriously underrated phenomena that is a must see in Baja California.

Day 8: Ensenada
Ensenada is a huge cruise port but I visited it just for its reputation of food. The birthplace of fish tacos and the home of the legendary Sabina La Guerrerense restaurant and street food carts which have really upgraded the street food experience into something much more luxurious with high quality seafood ingredients. I can go on and on about the food in this city but it also has great beaches and is a nice medium sized Mexican city that unfortunately also hosts a cruise port which tries its best to spoil the experience.

Day 9 - 10: Tijuana
The infamous border town and counterpart to San Diego. A bit seedy? Sure. But it has great food and every corner of this city has something begging for your attention. It seems like the world in miniature is here as people await immigration into the US. I would recommend sticking to the main areas because of the crime rate but I never saw any trouble and there is a huge police presence to protect the tourists who visit from north of the border. Medical tourism is huge here and street performers are abundant which adds to the atmosphere of this place. It is defined by being a border town, in fact it is probably THE border town as it has the most trafficked border crossing in the world.
Day 11: Depart Tijuana
Either cross the border on foot to continue on north to the state of California or fly out from the city’s airport.

Accommodation
Not too many hostels—if any—exist outside of Tijuana, La Paz and San José del Cabo so Baja is not the most budget friendly part of Mexico unlike Oaxaca and the Yucatán. Some guesthouses exist and Airbnbs but for the most part not for the same prices as in backpacking destinations but still cheap when compared to Europe and the USA.

Safety
Tijuana and Los Cabos have had severe safety issues in the past and Tijuana still is dealing with those issues and this can be seen with the huge security presence in the city. There are checkpoints along the highway as this is a large drug smuggling route. This means exiting the bus and having all your baggage investigated by the Mexican army. Common sense here will do you well. If you don’t want trouble in Mexico don’t go looking for it and you’ll be fine. Most violent crime doesn’t concern tourists and is mostly cartel based.

Transportation
The buses here come with high price point due to the distances you’ll travel in them but they are a luxury service when compared to most places in the world. You can book online or at the station on the day of. If you do buy beforehand be sure to check in and get your ticket printed though. They make stops for snacks at stations along the route and usually have movie screens and are quite spacious.

Currency
Mexico uses the peso and when I visited it was relatively strong (16 pesos to the dollar) but typically it is a little less than 20 Mexican pesos to the USD. ATMs are readily available and it is easy to find places that accept card payment anyways.