5 Things To Do In La Paz, Baja
Go For A Stroll Along The Malecon
If you enjoy walking, cycling, rollerblading or running you’ll love the La Paz Malecon.
At just over 3 miles in length, this promenade runs along the La Paz beachfront and is a magnet for families and fitness enthusiasts alike.
Whether it’s during the day or later in the evening the Malecon seems to be the main artery of La Paz with street performers and musicians attracting crowds.
We loved just strolling along especially in the evening when the day time heat had subsided and many Mexican families came to walk together.
With its smooth pavement, the Malecon is perfect for rollerbladers with the young and not so young enjoying skating up and down its length.
There are places in town to rent skates and bikes if you fancy having a go although there is a separate bike lane next to the Malecon.
Sue enjoyed taking an early morning walk along the whole length of the Malecon and back each day and loved seeing the fishermen bringing in their morning catch.
The Malecon also has several sculptures along its length, including a statue of Jacques Cousteau ( who loved the diving in the sea of Cortes), mermaids and various sculptures of the sea life found in the area.
The La Paz Malecon
La Paz Sea Front
Take A Trip To Isla Espíritu Santo
The island of Espiritu Santo to the North of La Paz is a haven for sea life and a trip there is a must-do activity.
We don’t normally do many commercial trips but we’d read that this trip was amazing to do and we’d been given a recommendation for a guide that could take us on a day trip.
Guides will take you in small groups on their boats past the beautiful coastline North of La Paz and out across the channel that divides the Isla Espiritu Santo from the mainland.
The whole journey is amazing as our guide took us to see the mating Frigate birds with the red balloon-like throats, rock formations and we found a pod of playful dolphins before reaching the island.
On a rock formation just off of the island, we found a colony of sea lions basking in the sun and playing in the water so it was time for the highlight of the day, to get in the water with the sea lions and snorkel.
It was just an amazing experience to be in the water with these beautiful creatures not to mention all the other sea life below us with huge shoals of sardines and other fish with lovely bright colours.
All three of us really enjoyed our day and would highly recommend a visit out to the Isla Espiritu Santo.
You can read a more in-depth article about our Isla Espiritu Santo adventure here.
Our Boat To Isla Espiritu Santo
The Beautiful Clear Waters
Basking Sea Lion
Discover The Beaches
The beaches North along the coast from La Paz have some of the most wonderful die for white sand beaches we’ve ever seen.
A frequent bus leaves La Paz and drives out along the coastal road dropping off and picking up day-trippers along the way.
Balandra beach is the most well known with its very shallow crystal clear water and white sand beach.
Annabel and I rented a kayak for an hour to paddle out and see the famous rock mushroom which is really not much to see at all and we couldn’t get much of a photo as there was a constant line of people wanting their picture taken with it.
For looks Balandra wins hands down, we can’t deny that and you can wade right out into the bay and still only be waist deep in the lovely clear waters.
You can’t rent snorkel gear from Balandra so keep that in mind if you want to see the sea life.
On from Balandra, you’ll find El Tecolote beach which we didn’t visit but we understand has much deeper waters, snorkelling gear and watersports available.
Our favourite beach by far ( don’t tell anyone in case it gets spoiled ) is Pechillingue beach.
Now it’s not as stunning as Balandra and it’s near to the port with big ships docked but it’s much quieter than the other popular beaches, has a nice walkable beach, a couple of places to have some food or a relaxing drink watching the sunset in front of you, a place to rent snorkel gear and a nice reef to see lots of lovely fish.
We visited there twice and loved both visits, spending hours just chilling, with Annabel enjoying the water and sand.
Balandra Beach
Balandra Bay
Go Snorkelling
Baja is famous for its rich sea life so any visit isn’t really complete without a view into the underwater world that awaits.
Annabel had only snorkelled once in her life before, in the waters off of Western Australia and loved it so much that she really wanted to snorkel again.
The calm waters around the coast from La Paz are perfect for snorkelling and many sites lay in sheltered bays.
We absolutely loved snorkelling with the sea lions on our Isla Espiritu Santo tour and we saw so many colourful fish.
We particularly liked the snorkelling off of Pechillingue beach North of La Paz and an easy bus ride away.
We’d been told there was a coral reef that ran along a rocky peninsula one side of the bay so we decided to explore.
We clambered out on to the rocks and entered the water from there but in hindsight, it would have been easier to enter from the sandy beach and swim out.
Right from the shallows, we saw some amazing and colourful fish amongst the coral and rocks.
Both Annabel (who seems like a natural in the water and swims like a fish ) and I swam the length of the rock outcrop to the point where there are much more coral and bigger fish.
From there you can swim around to the next beach but we decided to turn back as there were some boats that came in fairly close and we felt a bit exposed.
If you don’t have your own snorkel gear then you can rent right there on the beach which is really handy.
There is also snorkelling opportunities from Balandra beach but there is no snorkel rental available so you need to bring gear with you.
El Tecolote beach which has deeper waters apparently has gear to rent but we didn’t visit so we can’t confirm this.
There are also many other spots that locals can tell you about.
Pechillingue Beach
Try The Local Food
Of course, being by the ocean, seafood is plentiful with fishermen bring their catch in early in the day.
We’re not big on seafood but I must say that the fish we did try was lovely.
Many restaurants specialise in fish, shrimp, calamari and a host of other seafood prepared in any number of ways.
Fish tacos are very common in La Paz and their are taco joints around town just serving this local delicacy.
We preferred the breaded fish in Los Laureles restaurant along the coast road which came with a homemade potato salad, fries or rice and tortillas.
Of course, it’s not all seafood with traditional Mexican food as well as American staples available.
We loved the Freda Cafe as it’s very affordable, popular with Mexican families and has some really great food.
The dishes aren’t huge but satisfy. I loved the Enchiladas Verdes and Sue especially liked their salads.
Nacho’s At Cafe Freda
Wall Art At Cafe Freda
Leave A Comment