Baja is the world's longest peninsula and the last outback left in our corner of the world. It's a place where my children have run free since they were little --- able to hike, kayak, swim, snorkel, ride horses, explore beaches, tide pools and bargain for goodies in the local shops. I've been hanging out in Baja since I was little, as has my father and his before him. I've always felt more at home south of the border. I love the endless empty hills, sunny skies and see-through turquoise water. I love the food, the foot-stomping music, the fiestas, and of course the Mexican people with their easy-going, friendly, everybody-helps-everybody-else attitude.
When I cross the border and drive south along the edge of the Pacific, my senses open up and I'm tickled by a hunger for adventure and a taste of wildness. The further south I go, the more I'm reminded that I'm a very privileged guest in this world. Things in Baja are still so much the same as they've always been --- untouched, untainted and untamed. This is truly a place where man's creations are dwarfed by God's. This is truly a place that warrants preserving. Here are a few reasons why:
1. BAJA'S GRAY WHALE NURSERIES
Baja is where the Pacific Gray Whales come each year to mate and give birth.
All 26,000 of them make an annual 10- to 12,000-mile round trip from their
feeding grounds in the Arctic to the protected lagoons of Baja California
Sur (including Laguna Ojo de Liebre and Laguna San Ignacio and Bahia Magdalena).
Some of the most playful and prolific of all cetaceans, their population
has rebounded from a scant 500 in 1947 when they were put on the Endangered
Species List, to what's assumed to be their original number. So remarkable
has been their recovery, that they were removed from protective status
in 1994. A national and historical treasure, they may only be visited when
accompanied by an official guide.
2. BAJA'S
CAVE PAINTINGS
Baja is home to over 100 (thus far discovered) majestic, prehistoric cave
paintings. These amazing works of art showcase multi-layered, floor-to-ceiling
red and black monos (human figures), birds, rabbits, deer, big-horned sheep,
turtles, fish, sea mammals, and other creatures that shared the mountains
and coastal waters with them. A national and historical treasure, they
may only be visited when accompanied by an official guide.
3. BAJA'S MISSIONS
Birthplace of the Californias: Baja is rich in history from the Missionary
Era, which began in the early 1500's and ended 300 years later when all
the missions were secularized by the Mexican government. While Cortez,
Ulloa, Vizcaino and Cabrillo all explored the Magnificent Peninsula, it
wasn't until Father Juan Maria Salvatierra, a Jesuit priest landed in Loreto
in 1697 that a permanent settlement was established in Baja. The Jesuits
built a total of 18 missions from 1697 - 1767 when the Franciscans, under
Father Junipero Serra, took over. He established only one mission in Baja
before moving north to San Diego and Alta California. The Franciscans ceded
the Baja missions to the Dominicans in 1773 and in the next six decades,
the Dominicans built nine more missions in Baja. By then, however, the
population of native Indians had shrunk (due to death by warfare and disease)
to only a fraction of its original number, so there was no longer an economically
feasible reason for the existence of the missions. By 1846 the era of the
missions was over, but all 28 remain and many house active parishes today.
4. BAJA'S OCEANS
Baja California exists on over 2000 miles of coastline --- not counting
any of the zigs and zags. Off the west coast of both are the cool waters
(55° - 70° Fahrenheit) of the Pacific. This ocean offers up lobster,
abalone, tuna and halibut --- to name only a few varieties of its bounty.
The much warmer (usually 75° - 85° Fahrenheit) Sea of Cortez is
a 1000 mile ocean trench that extends between Baja on the west and the
Sierra de la Madre Mountains of mainland Mexico on the east. It's home
to at least 850 known species of marine creatures, (the richest abundance
of undersea life anywhere on the planet) ranging from shrimp to dorado
to huachinango to tiburn to the magnificent marlin and sailfish.
5. BAJA'S SPORTFISHING
Some of the best big game fishing in the world is found just north of Cabo
San Lucas off the east coast of southernmost Baja. I know --- my dad began
taking us there when I was eight. Back in the early '60s when we first
visited La Paz and the East Cape area just to the south of it, the only
way to get in was by boat or by air. The paved road wasn't completed for
another decade. Our good friend, pilot Francisco Munoz, flew there regularly,
carrying his share of rich and famous Baja Aficionados down there to fish.
Guys like Chuck Connors, Desi Arnaz, Fred Astaire, Ray Cannon and my grandpappy's
pal, Erle Stanley Gardner. Back then the waters churned with rooster fish,
the wildest fighters in all of the Sea of Cortez --- said to be even more
exciting to reel in than a marlin. The Mexican government is dedicated
to preventing this rich sea from being fished dry. Much has been done to
eliminate the devastation caused by gill net fishing. A program called
¡Sueltame! which means "Release Me!" has made it fashionable for
fishermen and women to release their big game fish rather than have them
stuffed to take home as trophies.
6. BAJA'S DIVING AND SNORKELING
The Mexican government has also designated an area off Cabo Pulmo on the
East Cape as an underwater national park. Fishing is not permitted. Only
divers and snorkelers are welcome in this 10 mile long by three mile wide
park covering a coral reef that forms green and rust-colored coral outcroppings
that look like huge heads of cauliflower. In between coral and waving meadows
of seaweed swim needlefish, angelfish, navy blue damselfish, tiny polka-dotted,
spiny blowfish, pale turquoise, lavender, green and pink parrotfish, silvery
triggerfish, poisonous pufferfish, moray eels, countless tiny darting flourescent
fish and the occasional game fish. Snorkeling and diving is great in many
spots on the Sea of Cortez and in La Bufadora in northwestern Baja.
7. BAJA'S
SECRET SURF SPOTS
Surfers' names for their favorite breaks don't show up on any maps ---
probably because they like to keep them a secret from all but the truly
dedicated and duly initiated. There are numerous "killer" breaks on the
Pacific coast of Baja, from the border to Todos Santos. There's even a
surf beach in San Jose del Cabo. Baja surf spots are in a league of their
own....
8. BAJA'S MOUNTAINOUS CENTRAL DESERT
Just southeast of El Rosario, Mex 1 snakes its way up to Baja's Central
Desert and the famous boulder fields of Catavina. Over 100 species of cacti
grow here, 80 of which grow nowhere else on earth. The majestic cardon
are related to the saguaro we have in Arizona. The difference is that cardons
have multiple trunks. They have strong hardwood skeletons that are used
around here as building material on the ranchos. When it rains, they become
rotund and succulent. They get as tall as a six-story building and can
weigh up to 12 tons. Cirios, or boojum trees, live nowhere else on Earth,
except here and in Sonora, across the Sea of Cortez is proof positive that
the peninsula was connected to the mainland at one time in the distant
geologic past. Cirios look like dancing creatures from another galaxy.
They have chunky bases that thin rapidly to one or more gangly branches
--- long ones that wave about like arms and shorter ones that wiggle on
tapered ends, like fingers. On top of their heads grow a crown of yellow
flowers that look like pompadours. The stark, alien landscape is also home
to ocotillos, chollas and that gnarly old-man, the elephant tree.
9. BAJA'S
GOLD COAST
Northern Baja, from the Tijuana border to Ensenada is known as the "Gold
Coast," is home to thousands of American retirees and weekend fugitives
from Southern California. It's also the most-visited area of Baja. Aside
from driving the toll road to Ensenada (don't forget your Mexican car insurance!),
visitors can take three to four day cruises to Ensenada from L.A. and San
Diego. Shopping, dining, dancing, horseback riding and ATV riding on the
beach or just getting away from it all. More people visit this part of
Baja than any other because of its accessibility. It works for me when
I need a Baja fix --- which is frequently!
10. BAJA'S TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL DESTINATIONS
Tourists can fly into Loreto, La Paz and Los Cabos in Baja Sur on commercial
jetliners. The towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo and the corridor
in between comprise one of the west's most visited tropical resort areas.
The East Cape, with its resort towns of Buena Vista and Los Barriles (just
to the north) is one of the most famous sport fishing destinations in the
world.
La Paz is an elegant, sexy, seafront Mexican city that doesn't cater much
to tourists. People looking for a resort-type vacation more authentically
Mexican than Cabo would be well-advised to spend time in La Paz. World
class fishing, diving, dining and nightlife abound here. Carnaval, Mexico's
answer to Mardi Gras is a great time to visit.
Todos Santos, a beautifully restored Mexican colonial town and artists'
colony with great restaurants and some of the hottest surf spots on the
coast. It's located on the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Cabo San
Lucas and La Paz. Behind its sleepy facade, there's a lot going on here.
Stop in and stay a few days. Or months....
Mulege is a sleepy town, nestled in palm groves along the only navigable river in Baja. Six hundred miles south of the border and 89 miles north of Loreto, it's located two thirds of the way down the peninsula and marks the entrance to the incomparably beautiful ...
Bahia
Concepcion. The shores of this bay are lined with small coves --- each
of which houses yet another camp ground. It's all a camper's, boater's,
windsurfer's and diver's paradise. (This photo was taken from under the
giant palapa at Ecomundo,
the area's premier kayaking resort.) There's not much better than packing
a picnic lunch in a cooler on the back of a kayak and heading out to snorkel
or fish in the clear, warm, light turquoise waters of the bay, followed
by a dip in a natural hot spring....
Loreto is beautiful. Loreto is laid back and fun. Loreto is great for fishing too. It tried to become a big resort for awhile, but managed to avert that and stay true to itself. It is, however, home to an Eden Resort with a world-class golf course.
San Felipe, Puertocitos and Bahia Gonzaga. Bahia Los Angeles. Puerto Escondido ... just to name a few. There are more places off the beaten track in Baja than I could ever list here. Do a little research. Your next dream vacation is around the corner --- especially if you're a peace and quiet, back-to-nature, warm weather, warm water, sunrise and sunset Baja-loving junkie like me!
This article has also been published on BajaPortal.com and Recreate.com.