If you have time, a nice drive on a clear day is to take the
road on the west side of the bay which goes up to the company
town of San Juan de la Costa. The road branches off from Route
1 as it heads west and north out of the La Paz area. If you
have the AAA map of Baja California, you will find this road on
the map. Beyond San Juan the road turns to gravel and goes as
far as San Evaristo. The town of San Juan is owned and operated
by RofoMex - a company mining phosphates in that area. If you
go up there and decide to continue on the gravel road, you will
shortly come upon a gate and (possibly) a company guard. If
necessary, fill out the sheet on the guards clipboard (name,
license #, destination, where you are staying), and he will let
you through to use the company roads for several miles along the
bay. A common destination to claim is Punta Coyote (San
Evaristo is quite far). Also, in March, it is possible to spot
blue whales near the shore along the road to San Juan - this is
their season in La Paz Bay.
Puerto Balandra (about 15 miles north of the city) is one of the
nicest of the beach areas. It is reached via the road to the
ferry terminal at Pichilingue, and then by about 5 miles of
newly paved road to the north. The bay has seven sandy beaches
around it with some rocky areas between. In these rocky areas
the snorkeling is fair. The swimming and wading is always
great.
If you take the road further north past Balandra, it continues
on to "Tecolote," a lovely beach on the north side of the La Paz
peninsula. Here the swimming is more exposed to the gulf. This
is the weekend beach destination for many residents of La
Paz.
There is also good snorkeling and swimming on the gulf side of
the La Paz peninsula. The easiest area to reach is Bahia de los
Muertos. Other areas to the north of Muertos are perhaps
better, but are hard to reach with an ordinary car. Look on the
map for Mexican Route 286 which cuts off to the southeast from
the Cabo road out of La Paz. This road goes over the mountains
to Los Planes and is a beautiful drive. Several miles past Los
Planes the road turns to good gravel and continues on to Punta
Arena (fancy hotel - closed as of summer '93) and Bahia de los
Muertos (one of my favorite places around La Paz).
While crossing the mountains to Los Planes, on the La Paz side,
a sign to "Presa Buena Mujer" will be seen on the left (north)
side. By following the dirt road about one mile you will arrive
at a gate through which you may crawl to walk on to the Good
Woman Dam, about 1/4 mile beyond. It is a fun visit and can be
reached by ordinary sedans. Take a flashlight if you wish to
explore the corridors which cut through the heart of the dam (a
few bats ("murcielagos") may be encountered).
In early 1999 the lake behind the dam was quite extensive -
having been filled by heavy rains during the summer of '98.
While I did not visit the dam itself on that visit, it was
suggested that the doors to the corridors through the dam may
have been closed.
Todos Santos: A nice little town on the Pacific side of the
peninsula - home to a growing colony of Americans (northern
variety). I have heard that the "motel" in town is a nice place
to stay. This is also where the "Hotel California" is located -
a place made famous by associating themselves with the Eagles
song of the same name (rooms are about $40US per night). The
"Santa Monica" restaurant has very good food in a simple
setting. There is an Italian restaurant in town which, I have
been told, is very expensive - I don't recall the name.
Just south of the town is a road off to the coast with a sign
indicating "Punta Lobos." It's not far out to the beach and a
rocky point. The beach at Punta Lobos is where the local
fishermen keep their pangas on the beach - it is worth driving
out to the beach just to watch the "lancheros" (panga drivers)
run their boats up on the beach at full speed in order
to get them up as high as possible.
South of "Pescadero" (a few miles south of Todos Santos) are a
number of very long, mostly deserted beaches. A great place for
a picnic. Watch for dirt roads which seem to head off towards
the ocean.
The "loop trip" La Paz -> Todos Santos -> Cabo San Lucas
-> San José del Cabo -> Los Barriles -> La Paz
is an excellent (long) day trip. This is especially good if you
are not familiar with "Cabo" (San Lucas) and wish to see a
genuine resort town. San José is somewhat less resortish
and has a lovely city center. There are many restaurants to be
found in both San Lucas and San José.