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General Information on the State of Baja California Sur |
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Baja California State covers a total of 72,465 kilometers (3.7% of the national total), and includes a large number of islands.
On the Sea of Cortez: Coronado, Carmen, Danzante, Montserrat, Santa Catalina, Santa Cruz, San José, San Francisco, Partida, Espíritu Santo, Cerralvo and Ballena.
On the Pacific side of the peninsula there are the following islands: La Asunción, Margaritas and Crecientes, among others.
Every one of the aforementioned islands has its own attractions, such as the estuaries and mangrove swamps of San José and the unforgettable Monterrey, which serve as a chance to relax or watching wildlife, several of the species there currently in danger of extinction.
The territory finally became a state in the year 1974, its geographical borders being shared with, to the north, Northern Baja California, to the west, the Pacific Ocean and to the east and south with the Sea of Cortez.
Its coasts, the most extensive of the country, add up to 2,230 kms. and offer a wealth of variety.
On the Sea of Cortez the coastline is abrupt and precipitous given the proximity of the mountain chains, which enter the waters in the form of rocky cliffs, thus making beaches scarce and small.
The opposite is true of the other side, the Pacific Ocean side of the peninsula is formed of slopes that give way to plain and extensive, flat and marshy beaches, such as those that surround Puerto San Carlos and the Laguna de Ojo de Liebre.
Two-hundred and forty-one kms. south of La Paz lies San Carlos, a tourist port, internationally famous for its monumental arch of rock which signals the end of the peninsula, the land dipping down between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez.
Without exaggerating, we could also describe the regions inhabitants as polite and pacific people, just a couple of the qualities that are part of the state's innumerable attractions. |
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| Cabo San Lucas |
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This location is situated between mountainous formations, part of the mountain range that runs the whole length of the peninsula, ending in the famous archway over the gorgeous bay of Cabo San Lucas.
A romantic excursion to the archway in a glass-bottomed boat, along with a visit to the old lighthouse - a monument with over a Century of history -, have become obligatory excursions for tourists to this region.
Surroundings
If you like skin diving, Cabo San Lucas offers you the spectacle of its sand cataracts and coral reefs. The beauty of the beaches of Amor and the Médano and the Hacienda will seduce you into swimming, sunbathing or practicing your favorite water sport.
But without doubt, one of the best attractions that has contributed to the regions international fame is sports fishing: with species such as the marlin (blue, black and striped), flying fish, swordfish, pez gallo and dorado, among others, constribute to the incredible fishing tournaments, the most famous of them being the so called Gran Besbee's. |
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| Loreto |
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In the marvelous landscape where the Giganta mountain range meets with the desert and the Sea of Cortez, with the islands of Coronado, Carmen and Danzantes, you will find Loreto, the oldest human settlement in the Californias, founded in 1697, with the establishment of the Nuestra Señora de Loreto Mission.
Loreto has the privilege of being the head of the first permanent mission and the first capital of all the Californias, which constitute the peninsular region and the New or High California, which extended to the borders of Alaska.
In 1769, the Franciscan Junípero Serra left Loreto to continue his work with the colonization of High California; San Diego, Sacramento, Monterrey, Santa Bárbara and San Francisco are some of the most relevant results of his exploits.
Loreto has been declared as the 'Historic Capital of the Californias,' by the Governors of the two Mexican Californias and also the U.S. California, thus becoming the main focus for tourist development, currently including Nopoló and Puerto Loreto in a coastal strip around 28 kilometers long. |
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Mulege |
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The mission of Santa Rosalía de Mulegé is located on a hill from where you can contemplate the beautiful panorama of the orchards, palm groves, the river and the Estuary of Mulege, on whose banks the town is situated, just three kilometers from the Sea of Cortez.
This place was explored for the first time in 1702, and in 1766, it was Father Francisco Escalante who began the construction of the town's stone church.
In the Bay of Santa Inés, on September 14, 1719., the first boat constructed in the Californias, utilizing wood from the mountainous region of Mulege, was launched; going under the name of 'Triunfo de la Santa Cruz.'
On October 2, 1847., this location was the site of a heroic battle against the North American invaders, the Mexican forces resulting triumphant from the fray.
Due to its history, beauty and privileged location, present day Mulege is one of the international tourist's favorite spots, people who are attracted by the trips on the Bay of Concepción and the beaches of Santispac, El Coyote and El Requesón.
These beaches are a well-established part of the local tourist trail, in part due to the proximity of the pre-Historic paintings, archeological finds that have amazed the world and whose mysteries have still to be resolved. |
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San Ignacio - Kadacaaman |
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In a small fertile valley, surrounded by mountain ranges and desert, resides this beautiful village, where the underground river comes to life in a commotion, and which, having dammed its own course, has converted itself into a small, still lagoon, bordered by tulares and giant reeds.
Passing along its banks is the highway which provides access to the main square, adorned with giant trees from India. Opposite, is the imposing structure of the San Ignacio de Loyola mission church, with its splendidly ornate facade of carved stone, a construction which incorporates large volcanic stone slabs - measuring up to 1.2 meters thick - which have no doubt contributed to the fact that the building has remained almost unchanged over the passage of time.
This mission was founded in 1728 by the Mexican Jesuit Juan Bautista Luyando. The construction of this temple was initiated by another Jesuit, Fernando Consag, and Father Juan Crisostono Gómez was the Dominican missionary who concluded the work around the year 1786.
This mission houses a beautifully carved wooden alter, covered in gold leaf, with seven oil paintings and an image of San Ignacio de Loyola, which truly are gems.
San Ignacio has great importance regarding tourism, as it is the closest point of access to get to the grottoes and caves that house the pre-historic paintings in the San Francisco mountain range, where there are over 500 painted sites in an area covering 12 sq. kms.
The vast majority of these paintings contain enormous murals located on rocks, cliffs and the interior walls of caves, heirlooms of our ancestors that constitute an enigma and continue to challenge the experts.
San Ignacio has a good offering of tourist services, including three-star hotels and others of a more economically accessible type, as well as camping grounds for trailers and caravans. There is also a range of restaurants and excursions for the intrepid traveler. |
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San Javier - Viggé - Biaudó |
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In the highest part of the Giganta mountain range, approximately 35 kilometers to the southeast of Loreto, in Ojo de Agua Biaundó, you will find the beautiful mission church of San Francisco Javier, founded in 1699, and had to be abandoned due to attacks by hostile Indian groups.
The mission was re-established in 1701 at the current site, with the construction of irrigation channels and water tanks to aid the cultivation of wheat, corn, beans, vines, fruit trees and olives, some of which are still cultivated today.
Father Miguel del Barco was the one who decided on the present mission building in 1744, due to the original building having been left in ruins. The present construction was terminated and blessed in April, 1758.
To arrive to this beauty spot, you have to travel a 32-kilometer breach, high up in the mountains, bordering the profound and fertile canyons which provide truly spectacular views, and then pass through the Las Parras ranch. |
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San Jose de Comondu - Caamanc Cadeú |
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In a hidden and fertile canyon, approximately 16 kms. long and around 800 meters wide (on average), which opens up in the form of a crevice in the heart of the Sierra de la Giganta, one comes across the picturesque towns of San Miguel and San José de Comondú, with only around 4 kms. distance between the them.
During the construction of the trans-peninsula highway, the inhabitants of Comondú were avoided, thus being left almost without communication. The progressive immigration of the families and the youth of the community were determining factors contributing to the decadence of the last paradise on earth. Currently, the Comondú are better communicated due to the state highway, Ciudad Insurgentes.
La Purísima, near Poza Grande, from which stretches a 23-km. beach that provides easy access to these beautiful and ancient populations, tirelessly fighting to integrate themselves into the development being undergone in the rest of the Southern Californian towns and cities. |
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| San Jose del Cabo |
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In the southern part of the Baja California peninsula, you will find the beautiful and historic city of San José del Cabo, designed by Sebastián Vizcaíno as the 'Puerto de San Bernabé,' in the 16th Century, while he was searching for cover for the Nao de China which traveled from Manila to Acapulco and were frequently attacked by pirates.
This port was of great navigational importance as it possessed a fresh-water spring, offering a secure source of this vital liquid to the ships arriving from Asia, and was known during this period as the 'Secure Water.'
San José del Cabo was founded on April 8, 1730., and this mission was originally founded close to the beach, on the banks of the estuary, but was later relocated to the town of San José Viejo.
With the passage of time, Father Tamaral built the mission in what is nowadays Santa Rosa, the site where the missionary was finally sacrificed in 1734 during the pericúes insurrection, the same group who had earlier killed Father Lorenzo Carranco at the Santiago Mission (Aiñini).
At the end of, and as a consequence of the indigenous uprising, the prison of San José was built in 1737; the governor being Bernardo Rodríguez Larrea; this prison was provided with a detail of 30 soldiers, under the order that it would act independently of the President of Loreto and without the interference of the missionaries, which caused a succession of problems, among which was the maltreatment of the indigenous population by the soldiers, and grave delays in the colonization of the area, finally ending in the revocation of the original order.
In 1793, this temple was destroyed by flood waters and then reconstructed in 1799. An attack from the ship 'Independencia,' by Chilean insurgents, was repelled on February 17, 1822., but left the mission in such dire conditions that it was abandoned permanently in 1840, due also to a lack of personnel to maintain its upkeep.
Currently, San José del Cabo shines out on the universal panorama. Forming, with Cabo San Lucas, a tourist corridor along a 33-kilometer coastline, where, in addition to the extra-ordinary beauty of the region, made up of dream-like beaches apt for all the differing water sports you can think of, it offers a wealth of variety in terms of tourist services, including an international airport, hotels covering all the categories, marinas, golf course, tennis courts, extra-ordinary restaurants offering the best national and international dishes, nightclubs, sports fishing facilities - considered one of the strongest attractions of the region - and all the other things required by the most demanding tourists when traveling to a holiday destination of this magnitude. |
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| San Luis Gonzaga - Chiriaqui |
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In the valley of Santo Domingo, in the midst of the most desolate desert, some 53 kms. to the southeast of Ciudad Constitución, you will find the community of San Luis Gonzaga, location of the mission that goes by the same name.
In 1721, Father Clemente Guillen found this spot and established ties with the Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Mission. Later, in 1740, a mission was founded at this location.
Father Baegert lived in San Luis Gonzaga for 17 years, resulting in his book 'News from the American Peninsula of California,' one of the most controversial and interesting books about the mission, the indigenous population and the adjoining area, considered as a valuable and objective testimony which has served as a reference book for students interested in the history of the Californian people.
San Luis Gonzaga is one of the most beautiful and surprising oases of Southern Baja California, the waters of the spring being used to provide sustenance for the livestock of the local ranches and for the irrigation of the fruit orchards, which include olives, oranges, figs, grapevines and vast palm groves.
The easiest way to arrive here is to take the road leading to the El Iguajil Dam, at kilometer 194 of the La Paz-Ciudad Constitución highway. |
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| Todos Santos |
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In the Valley del Pilar, just three kilometers from the Pacific coast, there is the pretty town of Todos Santos, originally a weekend retreat founded by the Jesuit Jaime Bravo, in 1723, and dependant on the Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Mission.
The vicinity of Todos Santos, due to its location on the Pacific Ocean, enjoys a fresh climate all year round, and the Ocean proportions the most beautiful of the open sea beaches, the best known of which are San Pedrito, Los Cerritos, Los Esteros, Punta Lobos, La Poza and Batequitos.
At some of these beaches you will find the die-hard surfers. Being located at the halfway point between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas makes the place a favorite of both national and international tourists, attracted by its climate, tranquility and beauty.
A couple of highlights you should not miss if you visit this location are the Casa de la Cultura (House of Culture) and the Manuel Márquez de León Theatre. |
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