You may have noticed that we’ve been absent over the past weeks, getting much needed R&R from another crazy, wild & wonderful year.
In our constant pursuit of living a more nature oriented & balanced lifestyle, we follow the birds south to the warm waters of Baja in winter. This very special journey brings our year closure & consummates the season. It tunes us in with seasonal cycles & nature’s circadian rhythm. This “hibernation” of sorts helps us look inward & reflect on our struggles, achievements, lessons learned & overall company direction.
Much of our blessings, intentions & prayers for the new season start here & boy have we conjured up some audacious goals for 2023. More on that soon.
This 2,000+ mile journey begins in our Baja headquarters in San Felipe. As the “gateway to Baja,” San Felipe is a destination on its own. The culinary scene is next to none with attractions including; beaches & bays, hot springs, ancient cactus forests, desert trails & more.
We cover a long distance on the first leg of the journey, making our way to Mulege. This is an 8 hour drive that takes a good part of a day. There are plenty of spectacular beaches along this route to break up the drive including; Gonzaga Bay, Bay of LA, Guerrero Negro & San Ignacio Lagoon. Each could take days to explore. We personally prefer to power through on day 1 & get far south as we can.
Mulege & Bahia Concepcion is a treasure trove for nature lovers with turquoise clear waters, marine life islands & pristine beaches. This is a totally remote, rustic & off the beaten path destination, with lots of history, character & off the grid appeal. Our days are spent camping on the beach, snorkeling, spearfishing, paddle boarding & island hopping.
Next we head south for about 6 hours to the capitol of Baja Sur - La Paz. This bustling city has maintained its small town Mexican charm & quaintness despite its size. We usually rent an Airbnb to be near the Malecon & gorge out on food/drinks, while enjoying the local art scene & night vibe. It's a nice change of setting before we head further south for more camping at our absolutely favorite place - Cabo Pulmo, which we'll get into in our next post.
Following up on our last post, we make our way down to Cabo Pulmo from La Paz. This is about anther 2-3 hour drive south, as we reach the tip of Baja California where the Mar de Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean.
This place is a national park and teeming with marine bio-diversity and coral reefs. It is a United Nations world heritage site and a Mecca for snorkelers and divers. The abundance of marine life, reefs and pelagic species brings people from all over the world to explore these waters.
We usually camp at Playa Arbolito where you can snorkel out right from the shore. We’ve seen turtles, sharks, dolphins and huge schools of fish and even whales just off the shore on our many trips there.
You can also spend a day diving by boat to some of the many unique dive sites in the area. Cabo Pulmo is primarily a diving village with many reputable diving companies to choose from.
The town is very small, rustic and with limited amenities. There are a few great restaurants to choose from, as well as a visitor center with some beautiful artwork and displays.
Much of our time here is spent in the water and the water temperature is usually in the 80’s. The water here is much warmer even in December and the visibility is superb.
From Cabo Pulmo, we slowly make our way back north and stopping by some of the favorite places we missed on the drive down. This leg of the journey back home is a little less planned and makes it fun with the spontaneity.
With so many destinations and experiences along the way to choose from, you can drive back at your own pace and break up the ride to more manageable spurts. We’ll feature some of our favorite stops in part 2!