Driving the Baja Peninsula

We crossed the border at Mexicali, as the border waits are normally significantly less than those is Tijuana. We started early and crossed the border at 8am and started the long drive south. Many people recommended not stopping for a little while after crossing the border, as apparently it can be quite dangerous. About an hours from San Felipe, we found these epic sand dunes on the side of the road, and it was a nice break from driving. After that we drove to San Felipe, our first stop of the trip.

We camped at Kiki’s Campground and RV park, a beautiful ocean front campground, with little decks on each site to enjoy the view. We did this entire trip living out of and camping in the back of a pick up truck, and the views from our campsite waking up in the morning were so so lovely.

We hit the road early again, as today is the longest stretch of driving of the trip. We drove form San Felipe down to Bahia Conception, were we could camp at the beach for the equivalent of around $15USD

Bahia Conception is so beautiful, its worth spending at least a day there swimming, exploring, and enjoying the beach.

From the beautiful Bahia Conception, drive to La Paz, with a stop to check out Laredo, a beautiful little town with incredible landscapes and views.

La Paz is known for incredible whale watching tours. This is the one thing we didn’t do that I really regret missing out on, so I’m adding this to the itinerary so that you don’t have the same regret.

There are so many stunning white sand beaches north of La Paz. Playa Balandra is one of the most beautiful white sand beaches. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos :(

We drove down to La Ventana, a beautiful beach town based around kiteboarding. From just in front of Baja Joe’s, a great little restaurant on the beach, you can watch the kiteboarders on a windy day. There are sometimes hundreds of them out on the water.

It wouldn’t be a trip to Mexico without tacos of course. This restaurant was my favourite.

One of our professional kiteboarder friends was living down here for the start of the season, and was kind enough to let us camp out in the truck in his driveway, but there are plenty of incredible air bnb options in La Ventana to check out.

We took a little day trip out to Bahia Los Muertes, a beautiful bay with clear blue water and great snorkelling and paddleboarding.

There is a restaurant with an incredible patio view that was great to enjoy a drink and a snack looking out over the bay. We asked if we could sleep overnight in the parking lot and they said yes!

From Bahia Los Muertes, we drove down to Cabo Pulmo National Park. We went snorkelling at Playa Arbolito and saw some of the most incredible diversity of fishes, and even a massive sting ray. You can camp right at the beach.

From Cabo Pulmo National park, drive along the sometimes paved sometimes dirt road to San Jose del Cabo. This bustling city is popular amongst tourists and has a beautiful waterfront and main street lined with cafes and shops, as well as a town square with plenty of vendors and shops.

There are also plenty of beautiful beaches just outside of San Jose Del Cabo. We spent the afternoon at Playa Santa Maria.

Just west of San Jose del Cabo is the tourist city of Cabo San Lucas. From the Marina, you can easily hire a boat tour out to the famous Cabo Arch, and get them to drop you off at any of the beaches along the way that are only accessible by boat. We spent the day hanging out at Pelican Beach, where you can swim, snorkel, suntan, what the sealions sunbathing, and even jump off the small cliff on Pelican Rock.

There’s rows of restaurants all the way along the Marina which was perfect after getting off the boat and being hungry from the day.

We stayed with our friends that live in Cabo, but there are plenty of great options from budget hostel to villas that cost thousands of dollars a night.

From Cabo San Lucas, its just an hour drive up the coast to Cerrritos, the main surf spot on the Baja Peninsula. You can rent boards right at the beach, and there is even a little restaurant you can grab a drink at after surfing. They also have a beach volleyball court set up, and enough people on the beach that are down to play and get a pick up game going.

You can camp directly in the sandy beach parking lot at Cerritos.

We loved surfing here so much, we spent an extra day enjoying all that Cerritos has to offer and surfing until our arms were dead.

Just up from the beach in Cerritos is this restaurant called Shaka’a with a great vibe.

Just up the road from Cerritos is the town of Todos Santos. It’s a cute town that we loved walking around and exploring, getting street tacos and enjoying the vibe of the town.

We stayed at the Todos Santos hostel, a cute little hostel with great vibes and welcoming people.

An early start to the day brings you back to Bahia Conception on the drive home.

Another long day of driving brings you back to Kiki’s beachfront campground.

The final stretch will bring you back up to the border crossing at Mexicali.