Baja California

Graced with tantalizing desert landscapes, lush oases and rich marine life, Baja California is one of the most compelling and popular destinations in Mexico. Its human history is no less enticing, with a legacy of remote cave paintings, crumbling Spanish missions, top-notch beach resorts and fabulous seafood. Yet even today, Baja maintains a palpable air of isolation from the rest of Mexico. Much of this remoteness can be attributed to geographical factors: the peninsula lies over 1300 kilometres west of Mexico City, and the sheer distances involved in traversing its length – it’s over 1700 kilometres long – are not conducive to quick exploration.

Baja was virtually ignored by the Spanish until 1697, when Jesuit missionaries under Juan María de Salvatierra began the painstaking process of establishing isolated churches across the peninsula. By 1840, the indigenous population was virtually extinct thanks to disease, and Baja remained a desolate place well into the twentieth century. Popularized by American adventurers in the 1940s (author John Steinbeck among them), Baja underwent sluggish development until the completion of the Transpeninsular Highway (Hwy-1) in 1973, the first paved road connecting the north and south. Since then development in its two states –and Baja California Sur – has largely been restricted to the areas that lie within easy reach of southern California and to Los Cabos, but you need to explore the interior to experience the peninsula at its most captivating.

Between December and April, visitors flock to the peninsula’s west coast, near Guerrero Negro, to witness hordes of whales congregating to calve. Further south, you’ll find turquoise waters and white-sand beaches; most coastal towns in Baja California Sur offer fantastic opportunities for diving, fishing and kayaking, but Loreto, La Paz and the remote settlements on the East Cape are the standouts among them. Right at the end of the peninsula, a booming resort industry in Los Cabos attracts crowds that fly in for week-long stays at self-contained hotels.

If you’re entering Mexico from California with the intention of heading to the rest of the country, there’s a straightforward choice of routes: down from Tijuana through the Baja peninsula on Hwy-1 and onwards by ferry from La Paz or Santa Rosalía; or sticking to the mainland via Hwy-2 and Hwy-15. If travelling by car, Baja’s Hwy-1 is generally safer and less busy, and the narrow strip of land that it traverses ranks as one of Mexico’s most beautiful drives.

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