LA PAZ, MX
La Paz is a place that if you are touring Baja California, you will almost certainly go to. If you are leaving the peninsula for the mainland with your vehicle, you literally have to from a paperwork and government yada yada perspective. But it's a place that is worth going to. There are some amazing things to see here. It is one of the largest cities is Baja Sur. It is located at the bottom of the peninsula near Los Cabos. Nearly 80% of the people in the entire State of Baja Sur live within La Paz or Los Cabos. This should give you an idea of just how rural the rest of the State is. But if you are traveling down from the north by car — congratulations, you have pretty much made it. You are at the population centers, or civilization of Baja Sur and the peninsula in general. La Paz has a large town. It's where you will pick up the car ferry if you are heading over to the mainland. Cruise ships also come through here and the port of La Paz is large. The city itself does have some things to offer. There is a malecon, or waterfront walkway, with restaurants, nightlife, and stuff life that. However, by far, the best part of La Paz is the area surrounding the city. I wasn't all that fond of the actual city of La Paz. But the beaches, the bays, and the things to do within spitting distance of La Paz are really and truly amazing and some of the best things that you can see in the southern part of the State. However, these things will tend to be rather touristy. La Paz is big, — there is access. There's an international airport, highway 1 goes through it, there is general civilization, nice hotels, restaurants, etc. So there is everything you need to get here, and be comfortable while you are here. The photos here are not my own. — Camera was broken here, and other people have done a much better job of documenting this beautiful place.
La Paz is located near the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. It is one of the largest cities is Baja Sur. It is located at the bottom of the peninsula near Los Cabos. Nearly 80% of the people in the entire State of Baja Sur live within La Paz or Los Cabos. It's where civilization begins again, and where you can find the population centers.
The city itself is located along highway 1, about 150 km's north of Cabo San Lucas, or the bottom tip of the peninsula. You can't miss it if you are driving down the 1, you have to drive right through it, I don't know of any way down that would allow you to avoid it.
To get here you can either drive, fly into the La Paz airport, or take a bus from the Los Cabos area. The San Jose del Cabo airport is the largest in the area, with likely the cheapest and most frequent flight options. I guess you could also take a cruise ship here, but I would personally never put myself through that specific type of hell. In fact, it's probably one of the most unfortunate influences on La Paz that the cruise ships come in here. But I digress.
In the area surrounding La Paz, or the main city that is La Paz — I refer to La Paz as really the whole area, — you will find really stunning beaches. With crystal clear water, and white sand for as far as the eye can see. Get in a car and tour around. They range in beauty, and level of tourism. There's lots to see and explore here.
La Paz town is tucked away in a little bay, and the beaches to visit lie to the north of town along the western facing portion of the bay. A few of the beaches there are truly some of the most spectacular I have ever seen anywhere. North along this side of La Paz is also where you will find the ferry port. This is the ferry that you will take with your car if you are heading over to the mainland to continue the drive. More on that in the overlanding section.
TIPS:
1. GO TO THE MECHANIC: If you are driving down and you need some car work done, I would recommend doing it here on the outskirts of La Paz. Mechanics are good. Honest from my experience, and the price is so right. It's a nice feeling to be leaving the peninsula with your rig in a good position before getting to mainland Mexico. So stop and tune some stuff up.
2. GET YOUR PAPERWORK IN ORDER: If you are crossing on the ferry make sure to buy your ticket in advance. You need to go to the Baja Ferries office located here a few days in advance. Make sure that you have all of your paperwork sorted. You will need your TIP (temporary import permit), Title, Proof of Mexican insurance, driver's license, passport, and proof of an immigration entrance stamp. The TIP is important — it takes a while to process — you technically don't need it while you are in Baja for your vehicle, but once you try to leave Baja (aka get on that ferry!) you will need it. Have your TIP ready and in hand before getting to the ferry office. You won't be getting on the ferry without it.
3. GET TO THE FERRY EARLY: The Baja Ferries boarding process is still to this day one of the most inefficient processes that I have encountered on my trip through the Americas. It's 8 different steps that all really should be 1 step. It will take you hours. I would recommend getting there 3 hours early. They tell you this at the ferry office, I thought they were full of shit, but they aren't. The process of weighing, inspecting, reinspecting and reweighing will take a while. Don't get mad or frustrated when you are there. It's all part of the process.
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
A relatively basic hostel with a common area and AC in the dorms. It's a small hostel with only about 20 dorm beds, and a few privates. Shareds will set you back about $20. Location is good here — walking distance to the beach and malecon. They offer some tours like whale sharks and stuff out on the island of Espiritu Santo as well.
There are a lot of hospitality options you could go with in La Paz. There are a number of hostels here, and they are actually pretty good. So for the first time in Baja California there will be a hostel culture here. I didn't stay in any of them, but I will include a few below that I heard were nice from people that I met. Additionally in La Paz it's pretty easy to get an Airbnb for cheap. We had a little traveling group at the time so we rented an Airbnb for our group which worked out pretty well, and ended up being cheaper than a hostel.
There is also a pretty large boutique hotel culture growing here in La Paz. I never stayed in any of them but there are a lot of expensive, — and frankly beautiful, hotels in the area that if you have the budget would be a good time I'm sure. — Don't have any specific info on these though.
Camping is a great option around La Paz as well. In the actualy city I wouldn reccomend camping anywhere unless you living out of your rig and find a nice lit place to park. On the outside of the city there are some nice places to camp. iOverlander will be your best recourse here.
PEACE HOSTEL
A really cool spot here built from shipping containers. Probably the coolest hostel spot in town. It's got a good location as well near the malecon. They have a fully equipped kitchen, and a common area with a TV. It's where I would stay if I went back. Dorm rooms will set you back about $20 per night.
PLAYA EL TECOLOTE
The beaches to the north of La Paz town have a number of places where you can car camp. The most popular, and probably most comfortable, is Playa El Tecolote. It is north of the most beautiful of the beaches in the area, 'Playa Balandra', which you are not allowed to camp at. Winds get brutal at night. Thefts also reported here, so be careful. There are also some restaurants on the beach you can eat at and gain access to wifi and facilities.
EATS
The food in La Paz, if you get local, is good.
Especially in the areas around the Malecon, the food can get pretty tourist trappy. Low quality and high prices. I would try to avoid the Malecon for eating, and really anything, and venture out into the streets and try the small little local places on the side of the road.
A few places that I grabbed a bit to eat are below. There's also global chains like McDonald's here in La Paz, so if that's something you're looking for, or something you want to get your mind off of tacos for a day, you have that option. — Along with pizza, sushi, Italian food. Really anything you want.
Restaurants
Found this little taco stand next to an Oxxo gas station on one of the streets. Turned out to be delicious, with a number of options for good prices. Plastic plates wrapped in plastic. The sign.
A pretty big restaurant serving up delicious fish tacos, if you're not over those by this point in Baja. But they make some really good ones. — Off the malecon, so less touristy.
A nice local spot for fish tacos. Good quality, good price. Off the malecon.
NIGHTLIFE
We randomly stumbled into this place on the southern end of the Malecon on a night out, and it was the most fun that we had in La Paz. It was mostly full of locals, which was great. There was a DJ, a few tables set up, and people were playing beer pong. It's a large kind of rooftop or deck kind of space with a view of the bay, so sunset would probably be pretty nice there. It was a fun spot though, and certainly not touristy.
There is a nightlife scene here. There are discotheques and all that stuff. The Malecon is where you will find the majority of the things to do. Walk up and down and there will be people drinking along there, bars and clubs that will be open late, playing loud music. So there are certainly things to do going out here.
I didn't go out too much here — I was only here for a few days, but there were a couple of places that we went out that I will highlight below. The moral of the story here is that if you want to find it, you can surely find the party in La Paz.
This was a cool little place right off the Malecon. It's right around where I found most of the nightlife to be in the city — at least the crowded stuff. It's down a little alleyway called La Paz funnily enough, that's right off the Malecon. There are a few little bar and restaurant spots here and you can sit down, have some beers, some food, and shots of tequila. It was a good place to start out the night or waste away an afternoon.
This was the only big place that I went to here in La Paz. I would call it a discoteca. But it's a really big spot right in the middle of town, near the malecon. It's in the center of where I found the nightlife to be. It's a good spot, always crowded with music and drinks. Very loud music. If you want to go dance, and be out late (if that's your thing) then I would recommend ending up here late night. Will have a great local influence and generally will be a good time. Certainly better than the tourist traps on the Malecon.
SIGHTS
When I speak of these crazy beautiful beaches you can see around La Paz, I am referring, primarily, to this place. It was this place that I saw a picture of when traveling through Baja... was just a dream... and I verbally reacted saying "what the fuck is that!!" It's this stunning beach, that seems to go on forever in shallow water, crystal clear water and perfect white sand. It's unfortunately extremely crowded, with lines up to hours if you can even get in, of cars at the front. I recommend going very early, or on a weekday in low season and it might be amazing. I honestly don't know what the fuck is going on, or how it looks like this, but it's pretty amazing.
For me, the town of La Paz is frankly underwhelming. It's a big city, with not all that much to offer. I didn't love it, I wouldn't recommend it as a city per se. However. The sights and area around La Paz make it all worth it. There are some things to see — primarily beaches, that will blow you away. They are stunning, shockingly so even. Some of the most interesting and beautiful beaches you will find anywhere in the world I think.
Unfortunately, its not like these places have gone un-noticed. When I speak of these outstandingly beautiful beaches, I am primarily referring to Playa Balandra. It's a shame that at times the line of cars to get in can be hours long. Only to enter onto an extremely crowded beach with people taking photos. If you get in there early enough, or in lower season for example though, you will be in for a treat. A few of the sights, and things to do around the area of La Paz are below.
I unfortunately didn't make time to go here, but if you have the time I would recommend it from the things that I have heard. This is a relatively uninhabited, — well I guess fully uninhabited, other than some hotel-like 'glamping' camp, island off the coast of La Paz. It's a small, rocky island with over a dozen white sand beaches that are deserted and stunning. You can go on tours here, — it's an hour-long panga (speedboat) ride out there. You can see whale-sharks and sealions. Some stunning and empty white beaches are the draw though if you ask me.
Rather than point out a bunch of beaches by name here, I will just use this section to highlight the fact that to the north of the city of La Paz are a number of other beauties of beaches. The closer they are to La Paz, typically the dirtier and more packed with people. I would actually avoid all of the beaches to the South of the ferry port at Pichilingue. Some of the nice ones are: Las Gaviotas, Tecolote, and Pulguero Tepetates (4wd preferred for more access).
I have no doubt kind of slammed the Malecon here in this summary of La Paz. I don't like tourist Malecons, especially in Mexico, and ESPECIALLY in towns with cruise ships. However, if you come to La Paz you should at the very least take a stroll down it. The sunsets from the Malecon are nice, and there's lots of things to see. Buy some trinkets from a local slinger, either cause you want one or just cause you want to help. Take a stupid picture in front of those colorful La Paz letters, whatever. Look at the yachts docked in the harbor, and make fun of the rich people on them. Don't be a bad tourist though. That's always a good rule.
SURFING
Nothing here. Flat.
