[]()Click here for the TL;DR click
Our world trip begins after just a short flight of about seven hours on the Californian Peninsula. Upon arrival, we made our way through customs, which seemed to catch someone every few minutes trying to smuggle something into the country. It took forever until we had left the controls behind us and were standing at the bus stop. There's a bus line that goes directly to the old town.
If you also want to use the very affordable bus, head out of the airport towards the parking lot. Airport staff are probably already waiting there for one of the few buses. During the bus ride, we made a stop at the only Telcel shop in town. There's a bus stop nearby. For 529 pesos, we bought a SIM card that has 8.8 GB of data and is valid for 30 days. We only opted for a SIM card because our phones apparently weren't compatible with Telcel's eSIM. Along with the data package, we got a Mexican phone number, but we couldn't receive SMS messages through it. I discovered this when I tried to register us with DiDi a few weeks later. This is the Mexican competitor to UBER and is apparently even cheaper and has better coverage.
In San Jose del Cabo itself, we didn't do much more than stroll around the old town. It seemed to me that something was always happening on the main square in the evenings. Either there was a celebration or local artists were offering their products. These and others in the city's shops were offered at American prices, which makes sense since most tourists traveling to San Jose del Cabo come from there. Since the old town had little to offer, we tended to go to the beaches. One of the UBER drivers tried to talk us into a trip to Cabo San Lucas by telling us that the beach was flooded due to rain, which we declined. Such a trip would have cost us way too much, and in the end the beach was doing great.
For a day trip to Cabo San Lucas, we walked to the bus terminal, which is next to the Walmart. There you can buy tickets for about 200 pesos per person. Paying with a credit card or debit card is possible there without surcharges or hidden costs. In Cabo San Lucas, I recommend you take a boat tour to the southernmost point of Baja California. The trip passes by various beaches and allows you to take many photos of the rock formations. Some of the beaches can only be reached by boat. I found the beaches beautiful, but unfortunately you couldn't find shade at any of them. That's unfortunately a no-go for me. I just get sunburned too quickly in the sun. Apart from the boat tour, we found little of interest in the city. Therefore, around 4-5 PM, we took an UBER back to the bus terminal in Cabo San Lucas, where we waited for a bus back to San Jose del Cabo. After our return, we checked out the Walmart. It had everything you need for an inexpensive dinner. For us, that was two Oriental salads, sliced cheese, and a baguette. After three days in San Jose del Cabo, we longed for some peace. A year in Canada was behind us and the departure had noticeably exhausted us. A sleepy village with wonderful beaches was to become our place to breathe, Todos Santos.
Here too, we traveled by bus. Our hostel was within walking distance of the bus station and we could buy our water at the small kiosk around the corner. From our hostel there's a road to the beach. You have two options (A & B), which both converge onto the same path. I would recommend the upper path, as you'll get eaten alive by mosquitoes on the other path. However, the upper path goes through a hotel complex, which is apparently private property. We weren't bothered as we walked the path over the ridge to the beach. It should be said that access to the beach and all beaches in Mexico are considered public areas by law. Unlike in other countries, staying on the beach cannot be denied or even privatized. South of the access point, you'll find a poorly rated beach club and a few restaurants. On the other side, there are only residential houses. We really enjoyed watching the waves and relaxing. You're not allowed to swim on the beach, I believe because the waves are too strong. Besides the beach, you can also explore the old town here with its galleries and shops. Here too, we didn't find anything really interesting for us. Except for the food. Because not only did we eat one of the best burritos of the trip here, but we could also enjoy horchata and fresh pineapple juice again. Both restaurants had vegetarian options on offer. Todos Santos awaits you with devastating heat that you can really only survive with air conditioning. A siesta is therefore appropriate. From the tranquility of Todos Santos, we moved on to La Paz, our last stop in Baja California. We bought our tickets for the ADO buses online via the website or the app. Arriving in La Paz, we informed ourselves about tours along the waterfront and quickly accepted an offer for a tour to Isla Espíritu Santo. The tour was really excellent. Also because as a smaller group we got seats right at the front of the boat. On the boat, no closed-toe shoes were allowed during the ride. You have to take these off and pack them somewhere. I would also advise you to bring at least one bag for the tour that is water-resistant. Depending on where you sit, you could get splashed during the ride. In the front row, where we sat, water regularly sloshed into the boat. The ride to the island takes a good hour and you just skim across the water. The tour includes stops at various beaches as well as a substantial lunch. This included ceviche as well as fruits and everything to put together a vegetarian sandwich yourself. The highlight of the tour was swimming with sea lions. For this, the boat goes near a colony. It should be said that the animals are not fed or otherwise interacted with. Everyone who wanted to got snorkeling equipment and water wings. In retrospect, I wish I had brought a camera for underwater shots. Watching the sea lions swim, dive, and hunt while you're swimming in the water yourself is simply breathtaking. After about 20-30 minutes, it's time to get back on the boat. The return trip seemed very long to me and we only arrived at the port after sunset. Besides its whale shark and Isla Espíritu Santo tours, La Paz also has an excellent museum in the Center of Culture to offer. A visit is worthwhile, also because it's free and very informative. The last day trip for La Paz, but also Baja California, took us to El Tecolote beach. A bus goes hourly for a few pesos to the beaches from the ADO bus terminal. It stops at all beaches and stations on the route and also on the way back. Find out when the last bus leaves - you don't want to miss it. We rode all the way to El Tecolote beach and then walked left from the stop past the restaurants. There are free sun umbrellas there. You can recognize these by the fact that the umbrella is made of palm leaves. Here, besides swimming, you can also watch pelicans repeatedly dive into the water and catch fish. Next to El Tecolote, there's a hiking route to a bus stop south of the beach. We liked the loop because we could once again view Isla Espíritu Santo in its full splendor. From a certain point, you walk into a national park. Be careful not to get too close to the closed-off beach. Up on the ridge, everything is stone, nothing grows anymore and you can confidently walk there. In conversation with another hostel guest, we learned that he had problems with the police at that spot. When we walked the loop in the late afternoon, no one was there anymore. In the morning, when the other hostel guest was out, it looked different. You can then catch the bus back to La Paz at this intersection. To withdraw cash, I recommend Santander or HSBC. Their withdrawal fee is only 34 pesos.
We spent nine nights in Baja California. On the last day, a taxi took us from our hostel to the airport for 150 pesos. Our next destination was Mexico City. We could have also taken the ferry and continued our journey by bus, but that would have meant we'd be traveling for several days through cartel territory. A flight therefore seemed to be the safer option for us.