La Paz

Kissed by the soft rollers of the California Gulf, La Paz is one of the Baja’s more accessible towns; unconquered still by the hedonistic onslaught of Spring Breakers and bursting with a real Mexican authenticity that’s difficult not to like. For a brief moment in the middle of the 1850s this corner of the peninsula became the kingpin of the short-lived Republic of Sonora, only to return to its original, sleepy and Mexican state, with pearl divers fuelling the economy and the dusty desert winds blowing over from the hinterlands of the California Sur. In the 20th century things changed again when American cruise liners and aircraft began touching base here, drawn in by the glimmering beachfronts of places like Caimancito, Coromuel and Pichilingue. And around this new boom La Paz grew more modern wings between its whitewashed streets of adobe cottages. Clubs and pubs and eateries touting spicy Tex-Mex popped up and the bubbling Malecón came into existence, tequila and samba flowing from its joints. Today, La Paz tour guides offering trips out into the famed Sea of Cortez, and travellers should be sure not to pass up the chance to spot a whale splashing in the waters around town!