#black la paz pebbles

[demasiadasmalasideas]

San Francisco Contemporary Landscape Image of a medium-sized, drought-tolerant, partially sunny front yard with concrete pavers.

[lovatobostinha]

Concrete Pavers Landscape in San Francisco Inspiration for a medium-sized, drought-tolerant, contemporary concrete paver garden path in the side yard in the winter.

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Concrete Pavers Front Yard This is an illustration of a medium-sized, drought-tolerant, full-sun front yard with concrete pavers.

[chriscoleman]

BCS Mexico Trip Report

Baja California Sur, Mexico

Vacation Trip Report

November 2023

Julia and I traveled to Mexico for a bucket list adventure. Swimming with whale sharks!

Thursday November 23rd (Thanksgiving) we flew into Cabo San Lucas - on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. The 1247 kilometer peninsula is separated from mainland Mexico by the Sea of Cortez. 

Our Uber driver gave us a tour of his friends/family homes along New Holly on the way to the airport - it was a cute start to a Thanksgiving holiday travel day. The flight was 4 hours direct from Seattle. Upon arrival - Hertz failed to deliver our reserved vehicle - but the Avis salesman called us over and saved the day. Quickly on the road to Cabo by 4pm. After circling the block 3 times we finally found our Airbnb in the Pedregal neighborhood of Cabo hills. 

Only 1 quick night in Cabo. We ate a classic Mexican dinner at Mi Casa restaurant, a short walk from our condo. Mariachi band and fortune telling birds were special attractions of the meal. Best lobster enchiladas ever! Next morning we had chilaquiles at Solomon's Landing in the Cabo Marina - watching the captains wash and prep for the daily excursions. 

Snorkel at Playa Santa Maria was an impromptu adventure. Google provided positive notes and we adjusted the schedule to make it happen. Massive construction project on the hills above the beach was incredible to watch as we walked in. Pebble beach greeted my soft tender feet, but once we were in the water it was silky smooth sand. Black puffer fish with white spots were my highlight of the snorkel. A quick hour look and back to the car for our main mission - drive to La Paz. 

Todos Santos is halfway between Cabo and La Paz. A cute surf town in the middle of the desert. We stopped quickly for frozen drinks, fish tacos, and a stretch of legs. I got tricked into spending $25 on a magnet - which I blame on my misunderstanding of the currency exchange rate, that I slowly got better at over the next 6 days.  

1 hour later we hit La Paz. La Paz is the capital of Baja California Sur, with a population of 250,000. It sits on the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula, not the Pacific Ocean. It’s a friendly beach community with many tourist activities available. 

Our condo was basically an expat retirement community. Gated with a pool and common lounge area. Super safe and well maintained property. Our unit had 3 air conditioning units that kept the place below Julia’s comfort level - too cold for a beach vacation she complained!

Dinner on Friday was a massive mistake at Estrella del Mar. The funny kind of mistake. We ordered 6 ceviche's. 6. 6 orders. Six. Another currency misunderstanding. I saw 65 peso’s for 1 order and automatically thought it would be a very small bit of food. Like sushi style - 2 bites and done. I wanted lots of ceviche - so we got 3 each. It took a while to prepare - so we each got an order of shrimp (Julia got diablo and I got coconut) as we were impatient. Then they carted out SIX plates FULL of ceviche. The chef must have been cutting fish/shrimp/octopus forever to make this much food. It was ridiculous what they sold for 65 pesos ($3 USD). 1 order was enough for 2 people. We got S I X orders! No clue why our waiter allowed this to happen - but I’m sure the language barrier didn’t help. HAHAHAHAHA. Still laughing about this one!

Saturday the 25th started with, you guessed it… ceviche for breakfast. Then onto the most famous beach of La Paz - Balandra. Balandra is a protected area - with regulated control of entry times/numbers. They offer 2 windows of access 8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm for 400 people max per session. We chose the early window - which forced us out of bed at 6:30am to get in line by 7:30am. Totally worth it! The crescent beach is very shallow - at high tide it was only waist deep. By the time we left (low tide) the water had receded drastically and you could walk far out and only get knee deep. 

Julia learned how to ‘farm puffer fish’ in the shallow water. If you shuffle your feet - which is recommended to avoid stepping on a stingray - the puffer fish come and check you out. They like to swim through the clouds of sand (to eat we think). She had 4 puffers circling her feet at one point!

Tecolote beach is next door to Balandra. A whole different experience from the tranquil no-commercial-activity allowed nature preserve. On Tecolote we hired an umbrella with beach chairs next to Palapa Azul beach bar. Baja style fish/shrimp tacos were delicious. Then swimming into the late afternoon. A day full of watching long Instagram photo shoots and seagulls begging for chips. Local super burrito shop for dinner with a black cat for company. 

Sunday the 26th we began our first boat tour. It was complicated by a slow start to the whale shark season. The animals are highly protected in Mexico. The wildlife biologists that track the whales counted only 10 whales in the area. Normally there would be 25+ by November. The regulators said only 8 boats were allowed to tour - and a lottery system was implemented to decide who got access. Luckily our guide secured a 1p-3pm window. We chilled along the ‘Malecon’ (beach boardwalk through La Paz town) and found the remaining Sears company - which is 100% Mexican now - until tour time. 

The whale shark tour started at the marina across from our condo. We walked over with our snorkel gear and wetsuit tops. The water is chilly this time of year - plus the regulators require some form of flotation so that swimmers don’t dive down into the whale shark zone. On the boat with 2 other couples (a mother and daughter from Colorado and a couple from New York) we met our captain (Eddy) and guide (Katrin). Eddy zoomed us to the ‘check in’ spot about 10 minutes from the marina. He completed the required radio check with the wildlife authority - to verify we were allowed into the whale shark area with the expected number of customers. 10 minutes later we found the whale zone (other boats were leaving as we arrived, as their window was over). 

The whale sharks were feeding on plankton. They don’t eat anything else - so we were in no danger ourselves. The first one we found was vertical in the water. Scooping up plankton with giant gulps while spinning 360 degrees. We quickly got our fins and masks on and jumped in with Katrin. Julia and I were face to face with this 20 foot beast. We simply swam around it while it put on a show. So easy and exciting!

5 minutes in the water, then Eddy swung around and dropped the very sturdy ladder. The next group did their swim as we watched from the boat. Multiple whale sharks in the area, plus dolphins and pelicans. 10 minutes later we were back in for jump 2. Repeated for a total of 5 jumps with 6 different whale sharks. Sometimes we would swim slowly alongside as the whale trolled for food. Other times it would be stand-still, just tread water and look. One point we were sandwiched between 2 whale sharks (they are not social animals, so this was special). Eddy would yell ‘Katrin!!!’ as dolphins or a second whale shark came close - he was the spotter from the boat and Katrin in the water - a solid team. Insane how accessible and rare the snorkeling experience was. Totally life list material right here!

Chocolate clams (unique to the eastern Pacific Ocean) for dinner at a rooftop restaurant. Then home to watch the Seattle Sounders play LAFC in the playoffs semi-finals. A loss at home was disappointing - but we were on a beach vacation - so it stung a tiny bit less. 

Monday the 27th was another boat tour. Up at 6am for a 7am sendoff. This ‘Combo’ trip with VIP Tours included 3 hours with the whales, a swim session with sea lions, and secluded island lunch. Ángel was our guide and Fernando our captain. We suited up and left the marina on time with a group of 7 (old couple who just finished a week long dive trip aboard a sailboat, young unprepared couple, and a solo woman who did the sea lion trip the day before). Same check-in with the authority, then into ‘the area’ for whale sharks right at 8am opening. This time was different - being the first tour of the day - we had to find the whale sharks ourselves. ‘The area’ (aka El Mogote) is ~30K long and ~5K wide. The whales can be anywhere. We trolled along at the max speed of 8 knots - silence on the boat as everyone looked for signs of whale activity. A dark shadow or an occasional dorsal fin is all we had to look for. Waves and intermittent clouds made it HARD. Luckily Fernando is awesome & experienced at his job and found us a big whale shark after 30ish minutes. 

This experience was much different than Sunday. The whale was on the move! Swimming at what I can only assume was a slow pace for it - and a sprint pace for humans. They don’t call it swimming with whale sharks because you get to watch them from the boat!! Into the water and sprint snorkeling we go!!!

The first jump we kept up for about 45 seconds. Jump in, Angel yells “heads down”, Fernando yells “swim”, and you snorkel like your life depends on it. You try to keep up for as long as your legs/lungs allow - and then retreat to the boat. Next group goes while you catch your breath in the boat. Repeat. 

Jumps 2 and 3 we kept up a bit better. The whale slowed down a bit as we entered shallow water. Angel stayed on the whale the entire time - probably swimming 5k over our time with the whale. Fernando would also keep track of the whale - dropping us just in front of its path each time (then yelling SWIM - because everyone always hesitated too long for his liking).  

Regulations restrict how long 1 group can follow / harass the whale. We let it go after 3 jumps each. Lucky we got that much action - as 2 other boats never found a whale at all. Wild how different day 1 and 2 were for our whale adventure. 

Out of the protected whale area - at full speed ahead - it took 2.5 hours to reach the northern tip of Isla Espiritu Santo. A cold and bumpy ride. This small island is home to 500+ sea lions and their pups. It’s a protected nursery area, a very popular snorkel spot from La Paz. It’s not restricted exactly like the whales - but only 3 other boats were there when we arrived (1 of which was a dive group). Life vests were required - to protect the animals. 

They were so playful! Swimming circles around us like water dogs. One nibbled on my hand and pulled at my jacket sleeve. They zoomed around each other too. A pair were super curious about a gopro selfie stick. A tennis ball on the end of a shiny stick would have been heaven for these sea lions (next time I’m making a toy). Another unique experience I never knew existed. Fun!

Late lunch on a sandy beach was well deserved. Ceviche (a normal amount), burritos, fruit, and sodas were perfect. We soaked up the sun in camp chairs Angel/Fernando carried over. Then a short boat ride back to the marina, stopping at ‘the mask’ rock formation and a frigatebirds colony, finally finishing at sunset. 

El Paisa taqueria for dinner was close, quick, delicious, cheap, and filling. Impossible combination to beat. The fresh tortillas were perfect and the salsa bar was stacked with toppings. Still ordered too much food - but slowly getting better at ordering the proper amount of food for 1 human. 

Tuesday the 28th was our final and most relaxed day. No boat tours or long drives. Baja Beans coffee shop was quickly becoming our go-to spot. We even had time for laundry. Then a walk on the Malecon boardwalk. The farmers market was smaller than expected, but had some unique jewelry and artwork. The Dock Cafe served up a fancy brunch alongside the marina. Then more Baja Beans drinks. 

La Paz area doesn’t have a wide variety of beaches. A few really good ones, then some farther out. We chose Tecolote again for its convenience. Beach loungers at the big red barn from ‘big red nose’ guy. So chill. Sit in the shade and have drinks brought out constantly. Life is good! We swam, talked, watched Instagrammer’s, laughed at jet skiers, and relaxed until 4:30pm. Julia didn’t want to leave. The dogs did want us to leave so they could pillage our leftover snacks - a dog snatched our bag of tortillas the second we left. Score!

Wednesday the 29th we left La Paz. Cerritos beach was halfway to the airport - so we made a pit stop. It’s a surfer's beach. Waves of all sizes with a convenient shore break. No surfers when we stopped - but brunch food was delicious (Mexican pancakes!) at Sunset restaurant. Hour later we arrived at the airport. Fueled up the rental car, dropped it off, and traversed the newly renovated Cabo airport. 

Home in Seattle by 8pm. 40F and wet. Ready for ski season to start!

Overall a fantastic trip that required very little planning for a not-crazy-expensive beach vacation. Not as super cheap as we expected, but safer and easier to navigate than I worried about. The language barrier was not a problem and we had zero run-ins with the police/bribes. I’d visit BCS again any time and look forward to exploring more areas of Baja in the future. Gracias!